codercorgi in Astana til 10.30, then Chiang Mai

Despite the newfound success with my startup, my personal life has been challenging Earlier this year, when I went to visit New York, I was really excited to spend time with my friend But when I arrived, I immediately got an acquisition offer, and I spent the whole month locked in my room preparing data and going through DD I didn’t even get to share one meal with my friend, and unfortunately she passed away shortly after I left New York I have enough money now to afford a table for two anywhere in the world, but it’s impossible to fill the other seat This past year I completed our largest acquisition yet, and it was quite stressful dealing with the lawyers, bankers, and accountants Speaking and thinking became so cumbersome that when I met with my girlfriend I’d regularly reply with grunts or nods She would chastise me and say that I was never present because I was so hell-bent on finishing this acquisition Well, I was able to get the deal done, but she broke up with me because she ran out of patience I told her that I could change, but she said it’s too late and that her heart had left me 🥲 It was hard to hear this from the person I planned to marry I fear that I’ve unintentionally made some Faustian Bargain What else would explain my cancer diagnosis right after hitting $1M ARR? Each new level of startup success came with it a new trauma Sorry to write a super personal post, I promise I will get back to the regularly scheduled positive + actionable startup advice soon But the fact of the matter is I have literally sacrificed everything for my startup There are other founders who seem to have a healthy social life while also running a startup, but I haven’t been able to figure out that balance I write this post because it’s clear to me now that if I don’t figure out this balance I may end up with a pretty lonely + sad life I’ve started going to therapy and trying to find things that make me happy outside of lowering churn and increasing user counts It’s led me to rekindle my love for creative writing and I take a lot more walks now Tbh I still miss my girlfriend and I still put a high number of hours into my work But each day I find new things outside of my startup that make me happy, and that’s been very encouraging I’ve got a lot to figure out, but for now, I’m cautiously optimistic about this more balanced life!