there’s no set plan for being a founder

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, and always up to something in social good x tech.

this publication is a place for me to reflect on productivity, health and tech, and drop unique opportunities in the space right to your inbox daily. if you’re new here, sign up to tune in!💌

scroll to the end for my daily roundup on unique opportunities!

onto today’s topic: there’s no set plan for being a founder 🔨 

unlike most jobs where there is a pretty set timeline for schooling and recruiting, founding a startup or creating something of your own can’t really be promised with a structured procedure. it’s an extremely personalized journey.

you certainly can, however, increase your chances of finding an idea that’s validated and tested.

first things first, being a founder is extremely hard, and even more rewarding. you carry the weight of success and failure on your back alone, and it becomes an entire lifestyle that’s only compatible with very few people. that being said, it’s still something i want to do, and i’m sure many of you share that feeling. 😁 

i’ve realized that founding a startup can’t necessarily be planned for, but an idea or opportunity isn’t going to randomly drop from the sky either.

here’s how i’m intentional about making progress in my professional life:

• i do 2-3 month-long projects sprints throughout the year. ⚒️ 
  i explore different problem spaces, experiment with product ideas, and talk to potential users about it in 2-3 month sprints. currently, i’m building a fitness-tech app with a friend.

• i read up on startups and market trends very often. 📖 
  i like to stay in-the-know as much as possible by reading vc newsletters (strictly vc is good) and scrolling on twitter for 5-10 mins for updates in tech. i also write about a cool startup every saturday on this publication which exercises my muscle of doing market research and asking relevant questions.

• talking to cool people! 🫂 
  constantly reaching out to people and having insightful conversation is perhaps the most importance piece. you never know where an idea and shared passion for a problem space could spark, so increase your chances of it happening. the world of startups is run by people — i try to entangle myself further and further in the web of it.

what are you working on right now?

daily opportunity + resource drops 🔍️