Identifying what’s neOne of my “superpowers” is problem solving. This is a big part of why I excelled in the business. I was given an assignment, or a problem presented itself, and was able to solve it, thinking inside or outside of the box. My challenge is that now there’s no person giving me an assignment. There’s no direct order or a clear problem.

What I have is a general sense of the problem and a general idea as to what some of the solutions might be. Ironically this is no different than the early stages in a high-tech startup. And in a startup, one of the most important things is the ability to “pivot” – that is change directions at a moment’s notice. Sometimes doing a 180. What’s probably the most important thing in a startup up isn’t what you do, but what you don’t do. Do what you’re good at, saying ‘no’ to the things you aren’t, and finding passion through purpose.

So here I am back in startup mode – able to leverage the things I’m good at in a way that serves nobody other than God, Joel, and the community. That is a pretty expansive addressable market. Saying ‘no’ is going to be more important than ever.