Reflecting on the past year
The people around the work matter more than the work. The oldest bet in startups is people, not ideas.
I had my birthday last week, time to reflect on the past year. So, cue the obligatory staring-into-the-distance photo. Here goes.
Almost everything good about the past year came down to the people in it. Which, it turns out, is the oldest bet in startups: YC funds people, not ideas. Ideas pivot, markets move, the team compounds.
I co-founded Klime this year, out of the Hacker building, alongside Robert Gaal, Stefan Borsje and Patrick Nijssen, people I really enjoy spending my days with. Before that, a chapter at Kilo, and people there I'd work with again in a heartbeat. Trainees at Codehive who showed up curious and eager to grow. Workshops that landed better than I'd hoped. Helping steer what's next at ChangeBlue. Friendships that didn't exist a year ago and now feel like they always have.
At home, my wife runs a busy GP practice and still somehow keeps the rest of us steady. Three kids who are happy and thriving, a stack of good weekends and camping trips, and a third cat nobody strictly needed and we all completely adore.
The quieter wins made the rest possible. Ten kilos down, kickboxing and fitness back on track. A year ago I said out loud I wanted to train for an Ironman, then buried it under too many work hours. Bad excuse. Relieved to have turned that ship around.
One lesson stands out, the least original and most useful one I know: work with people you like. Surround yourself with people who lift the room, and it pays forward.
Two smaller ones I keep relearning: stay close to your feelings. And for my fellow engineers: our minds love hunting problems, so widen your gaze now and then and be grateful for the small things and the big.
For the year ahead, we're cooking something at Klime. More soon.
What carried your past year, the work or the people around it?
