Yes, it sucks, but I believe this is true.

There is a saying we learned in the incubator: “life does not stop because you start a company.” Which means, your other job, your other commitments and all of your family duties do not grind to a halt after you get a wild hair to start a company.

Obviously, this fact was one of the deciding factors in me leaving iTipArtists. I knew this lesson to be true before we started iTipArtists but I was so psyched to start the company, I was hoping that fate or providence or…something…would help me figure out a way for me to make a go of it all (because my IDEA was so AWESOME, see Lesson #1.)

I thought maybe Mary and I could do a sort of job sharing and pool our time to make a go of things. But this was a big mistake. Mary and my schedules did not work well for this. Mary recently retired when we started iTipArtists but she still had consulting work to do. This was very tough for us to coordinate getting things done at a good pace as her work was a week away here, a week away there. But, there it is, life does not stop because you start a company.

I suppose, when some folks start a company, they stop working and re-mortgage their home or take out monster loans to cover the living expenses gap before the company starts taking off. I understand this in a new way now. However, this was just not an option for Mary or I with either of our values as they are. But, more on the subject of comfort, time, investing and companies in Lesson 9!

Anyway, it is good to know what a good number of work hours is for the future. This lesson was one of limits for me. Humbling and very important.