What a Difference Two Years Can Make

About this time two years ago my husband applied and got accepted to participate in a 4-month program called the  Founder Institute
"The Founder Institute is a global network of startups and mentors that helps entrepreneurs 
launch meaningful and enduring technology companies.".
Through his participation in this rigorous program, he started BlogMutt.com. 


Last week I wrote that I did not love it when my husband quit his consulting gig to pursue creating his company.  This past week Scott had the opportunity to appear on the Channel 9 morning show here in Denver to let viewers know that BlogMutt.com is hiring contract blog writers. He received over 200 applications that day from people who want to write blogs.  


Creating jobs is the upside of entrepreneurism.  As an entre-spouse this is a part of entrepreneurism that I like a lot. We both think pay days are great. These are the days when a healthy chunk of money brought in, goes out. Out to people who can now pay their bills, get their cars fixed, send their kids to summer camp. Out to people who help BlogMutt.com succeed. 


It has been said that entrepreneurs have a vital role in economic development and are key contributors to innovation and job growth. Sounds pretty worthwhile.  If your spouse is considering a venture, and it makes you nervous, you might find you can bear the risk when you consider that the venture may provide gainful employment for a few, or a lot, of people.

Where is that puck going to be?

Risk and security are two reoccurring themes for me in my relationship with an entrepreneurial husband.  In my last post I talked about how a situation could be perceived as risky by some and not by others.  I was pretty positive in that post, and while that is my ideal state of mind, I don’t always start out there.

Last year at this time, Scott was just getting his third venture, a blog writing service, off the ground. He also had a consulting gig that required him to fly out of state for 4 or 5 days, 1-2 times a month. He doesn’t like to travel and as his interest in his new business grew, he liked the travel less and less. He knew his future was not going to be that consulting gig, but rather the new company, Blogmutt.

I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been. --Wayne Gretzky

I think you could call this a Catch 22 – if Scott  did not concentrate on the new business he would be stuck on a plane flying to his consulting work. If he stayed in the role he did not care for he could fund the new business but not have enough time to work on it. After months and months of transition, he finally decided to leave that work so he could develop his business.

Let me say that I was not thrilled with that decision. Logically I understood it. And I really liked that he had a business he was interested in and excited about. But it meant that I would be responsible for financially supporting our family for the short term, short to be defined by the company’s success. And that bugged me, and looking deeper, I would say that scared me.

Scott was very dedicated to the new business and doing all that he could to ensure its success.  I tried to figure out how to deal with the pressure of being the only breadwinner. I decided to buy disability insurance, so that if anything happened to me, our house payment would at least be covered. That helped me to mitigate the pressure I felt, and somewhere along the line, with that and the growing success of Blogmutt, I became comfortable with my role.   

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." (Also Gretzky)