”It is a most mortifying reflection for a man to consider what he has done, compared to what he might have done.” – Samuel Johnson

This photo is licensed under the Creative Commons License

Ok, so maybe the quote is a bit overdramatic. Looking back, we’ve had a great year. We built a good brand. We incorporated and managed to shake up some business, including one very key partnership in particular. I cannot wait until we’re able to launch and showcase the fruits of our labor. This year has been a great year for laying a strong foundation, but we’ve also had our fair share of setbacks. I’m reminded again how dangerous it can be to mix friendship with business. It seems to me like the best relationships for business are ones that start out nearly purely professional but soon turn friendly (all the while staying focused on success, of course). It doesn’t seem to work so well the other way. Whenever I have dared to pull friends into business, it seldom ends well.

I’m also reminded of how easy it can be to underestimate the scope of a project (or maybe overestimate our abilities.. or both?). I’ve drawn the analogy of feeling like an architect working on a cathedral. I’ve laid out the plans, acquired all of the materials, but instead of leaning on a strong team of masons to lay the brick, I’m on my knees with the trowel. Maybe this isn’t exactly fair either. I’ve worked with a handful of very talented designers and programmers this year – but ultimately I feel like I’ve failed to scale and delegate properly. Part of the problem is that it’s very difficult to find talent that understands the business domain that we’re working in. Mostly though, I think I just have trust issues. I still have major paranoia about outsourcing important work to people who I’ve never met, in most cases.

Looking forward, I believe 2008 is going to be a pivotal year for us. “Us” really will become an us, instead of just me and a loose-knit team of freelancers dotted across the globe. Securing a physical location for our office and recruiting a team of developers to work on-site will go a long way in enabling this business to scale rapidly. I’m really excited to think about writing a blog post a year from now, and comparing it to the sentiment of this post.

I still believe the year has been a success. I think back on the paragraph which Paul Graham opened with in his essay How to Start a Startup:

”You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible. Most startups that fail do it because they fail at one of these. A startup that does all three will probably succeed.”

We’ve done an excellent job at managing costs. We’ve incorporated processes which allow us to build software more effectively than a huge segment of the competition. But we’re still struggling with building a team of talented people. This is one of my primary goals for 2008, and I’m confident that this is just another obstacle that will be negotiated. Like Graham says, “Hard, but doable”.

So here’s to reflecting on past success and failure, but more importantly to a fantastic year ahead.