An Explorer on an Expedition

So many times I’m in a conversation with someone new and they will ask:

What do you do?

I don’t always have a good answer because what I’m doing currently seems so nuanced and foreign and uncertain and foggy to others.

And being open here, it only exacerbates what I’m already feeling inside.

But the role of startup entrepreneurs I’ve embraced is that of the Explorer on an Expedition.

My mission is to discover, identify and learn the customer and their problems/challenges intimately and solve them with products/services that they will gladly pay for.

To think of it like this helps me on the trail. But that’s not a good headline for so many who don’t understand the gig.

Because here’s the truth …

We’re figuring it out as we go.

I don’t have a crystal ball.

I’m not a prophet.

But I’m following a compass to find our path, learning and adjusting as we go.

So often it feels like we’ve walked in a big gigantic circle for weeks. It can feel defeating if we wallow in it.

One day we crest a hill and see the beautiful valley and the sun rising over it.

Then promptly hit a swamp.

This is why entrepreneurship can be an occupational hazard in itself.

And as I reflect upon the journey, it makes me think about the quote I see all the time on shirts or Jeeps.

Not all who wander are lost.

I do feel lost, much of the time. I do feel like I’m wandering.

But we’re on a quest, a mission.

For me, it’s about Purpose + Profit.

I want to Do Good AND Do Well. And the reward be measured by how much good I do in the world.

But that’s today. Ask me how I feel tomorrow.