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
• (01:10) - Topic introduction
• (02:22) - What's Aaron's story?
• (05:28) - What is a maximum effort era?
• (10:56) - What are you willing to sacrifice?
• (15:17) - What's your daily routine like?
• (17:30) - Context matters in all of this
• (28:01) - Are you sacrificing social connections?
• (30:53) - Blind spots can affect you on your journey
• (33:23) - Pain vs risk
• (37:43) - Being on the same page as your partner
• (41:47) - Going to therapy sooner
• (43:51) - Building a good foundation
• (48:51) - Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
• (53:54) - Sometimes it's easier to try getting a better job
• (01:02:42) - Where can people reach Aaron?

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