#21 the start-up phase. Chronicles of a Founder Dad.
Bit of a cooked week this one — even by startup standards.
Monday night: I’m on the train home when I get a call from Allie, in mild hysterics. Indi’s smashed her head on the kitchen island. There’s blood everywhere. So instead of winding down, we’re in the emergency room at Monash Children’s.
But, we’re taking the win 🥳 When the doctors tried to inspect her head, Indi shook her head, said “no” and “help”- in context!! Two clear, purposeful words. That moment alone made it all worth it.
🚨 The unicorn showed up.
When I visualised our dream team, I imagined someone with:
Primary healthcare experience
Lived in experience as a parent carer of the problem
Based in Melbourne
Ties to the US
A pulse on AI + health-tech
And the kind of energy that lifts everyone
And then: Dr. Anna Braun appeared 🦄 Welcome to the team, Anna.
Meanwhile, the work? Nonstop.
In the operator/founder model of one builder (Jeff), one everything-else (me) the ‘everything else’ really is everything. This week I touched:
Interviews and Onboarding
Accounting
Pitching
Content creation
Graphic design
Product design
Performance Marketing
Brand work
Investor calls
Business Development calls
Financial modelling
Strategic planning
It’s felt a bit disjointed, if I’m honest. But that’s just how this phase rolls.
All the tools in the world won’t help if you don’t know where to start, what matters, and what good looks like. You just have to keep moving, even when it’s chaos. Challenging myself each day to ensure I’m keeping the main thing the main thing and being effective, not just busy.
The emotional rollercoaster is the real headline.
In “normal” life, you get ups and downs in seasons; year to year, maybe month to month. In startup life? It’s hour to hour.
You can go to bed thinking you’re the next unicorn and wake up and feel like a fraud.
One call and you're pumped: “We’ve nailed this.”
An hour later, you’re shattered by feedback, doubt, or overwhelm.
One second you’re high on the mission and vision…
The next, you’re crushed by the size of the mountain still to climb.
It’s a daily mindf**k 🤯
I’ve by no means mastered it, but here are 3 things helping me:
The empathetic sounding board.
Find someone in the thick of it who gets it.
Not someone who’ll jump on the pity party wagon, but someone who’ll hold space for you to say it all out loud. That clarity is gold.Reconnect to the mission.
When you hit the bottom, consciously take time to remember why you’re doing this. Feel it. Visualise the new reality you’re building.
Get excited and go again.Stay in your lane.
All distractions are equal.
People will have opinions on everything; your raise, your GTM, your roadmap, your pitch deck, your existence.
Someone will always be “competing.”
Someone will always be a bit negative.
That’s all OK.
Your job isn’t to convince or beat anyone.
Your job is to stay true to what you are building, how you are building it, and why you’re building it.
Now, time for 10,000 calls, 500,000 tasks, and 200,000 opinions on how we should do them.
Looking forward to reading this later and hopefully taking some of my own advice.
Have a mega week – Orrin