Should a parent with young kids try to bootstrap a new startup?

Build Your SaaS

In this episode, Justin speaks with Aaron Francis about being a new parent and trying to bootstrap a startup. Aaron argued the other side of Justin's tweet thread: "Wait until your kids are older to start a company." Aaron is well-positioned to talk about this because he has twins and is also bootstrapping Hammerstone with his co-founder Colleen. The whole conversation is a nuanced take on the topic and full of important insights, especially on:

• the risks involved (especially if you're not working a full-time job)
• the kind of foundation (mentally, financially, emotionally, relationally) you need to be able to take the risk

Highlights from this episode:

• (00:12) - Welcome Aaron
• (01:05) - Topic introduction
• (02:17) - What's Aaron's story?
• (05:23) - What is a maximum effort era?
• (10:51) - What are you willing to sacrifice?
• (15:12) - What's your daily routine like?
• (17:25) - Context matters in all of this
• (27:56) - Are you sacrificing social connections?
• (30:48) - Blind spots can affect you on your journey
• (33:18) - Pain vs risk
• (37:38) - Being on the same page as your partner
• (41:42) - Going to therapy sooner
• (43:46) - Building a good foundation
• (48:46) - Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
• (53:49) - Sometimes it's easier to try getting a better job
• (01:02:37) - Where can people reach Aaron?

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