Road to $1M ARR day 53/60: the price to win

no free lunch.

Day 53 of the $1M ARR sprint.

The price to win. Let me tell you what that actually means.

I’ve wanted to be an entrepreneur since i was 12. Told my parents “i want to build something huuuge” without a single clue what that thing would be.

Building things has always fascinated me but only things i could break down and visualize.

Loved physics, did a scientific baccalauréat. All my teachers pushed me toward prepa (frenchies will know) to become an engineer. But 6-7 years before building anything? No way.

So i said no. No prepa. No engineering degree.

Chose business school instead because i wanted to be an entrepreneur. Yes, i was naive enough to think it would teach me anything about that (they should change the name anyway).

€50k later, they’re good at business but taught me jack shit about building a company.

But i got two things far more important:

1. Time to self-teach

2. Network

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During uni i spent 80% of my available time working: reading books, watching trainings, attending online lectures on topics of interest, writing, analyzing companies.

Fueling myself into the entrepreneurship ecosystem because i knew i wanted to be part of it but still had no idea what to build, what challenges to solve.

Final year done. Gap year next. Joined a startup for an internship (hello Tony) thanks to a uni teacher who introduced me to the founder because i aced her class. 20/20. Yupp, i was a bit of a nerd.

Then i worked like a madman. 5am to 11pm. Everyday.

Still remember one day i told Tony i was done with a big task he gave me, instantly asked for something else. The man laughed and told me to go home, take my weekend.

(i went home and worked)

Man i was hungry. Fire in my eyes. Everything to prove.

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i didn’t stop a single second to breathe. Always racing. Always afraid competition would catch up. Always decoding this fear into extra hours of work.

i always needed to do something productive. Read a book about something that could help me. Listen to a business podcast while training. Writing on and on and on.

Consumed and analyzed so many business cases, successful stories, failures, lessons that it built a complete new way of reasoning.

Gave me 1 superpower: decision velocity and very high gut feeling of “this will go wrong” 1-2 months before it does.

i overthink once then build a fucking plan to avoid and optimize future events.

i know this is a very personal newsletter but i feel it will give you a better idea about myself, what happens in my brain and how i got here.

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Anyways. That startup internship became a full-time job. Then i started freelancing. Joined another startup full-time. 18 months total. No breathing.

Working my ass off to build confidence.

That confidence became actionability and optionality mentally to consider building a company.

My latest job was going so well with an amazing team that i was considering staying for a decade if needed. But that thought made me afraid. So i had to jump into chaos.

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Building a company requires 3 personality traits:

1) Utmost confidence: in yourself and your ability to win

2) Knowing how to put ego on hold: Do what you have to do.

3) Sales: if you don’t know how to sell, you’re doomed.

Building a company is an infinite ride. There’s no real milestone, and it took me time to understand this.

There’s always more. When you pause, the market moves. When you breathe, competitors as hungry as you the first day start to accelerate.

There’s only the journey of being a founder. Stressful, intense, long, and the finish line is selling a company. Nothing else.

As long as you run the business, you’re on that treadmill. So you better work your cardio, have strong physical and mind condition. Because everyday is another one to win.

That’s why building a routine is so important, you learn how to embrace chaos while running toward a goal.

Entrepreneurship is tough. Romantise the journey, surround yourself with people you enjoy the company, accept the challenges sent your way and keep rocking.

ARR: $928K → Target: $1M | Days remaining: 7

See you tomorroooww 👊

O.

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accidentally built a million ARR GTM agency by refusing to spray & pray. now racing to $1M just to prove cold emails gurus wrong.

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