Someone asked me recently how I have the energy to start another company.
The funny thing is, I don't think building companies takes energy away from me. It gives me energy.
I love the process. The building, the chaos, the late nights, the ridiculous problems, the people you get to work with. I genuinely love all of it.
Jimmy Carr once said something that really stuck with me:
"It's not about the pursuit of happiness. It's about the happiness of pursuit."
I think that's exactly how I feel about entrepreneurship.
And increasingly, I think the same philosophy applies to relationships.
I'm starting another company, and basically all of the investors backing me today also backed my first one. A company that didn't quite work out the way we'd hoped.
Yet here we are, doing it all over again.
I've had teammates from nearly a decade ago come back into my life.
And just recently, I received a really thoughtful message from a former teammate at Superpower about the impact I'd had on their life and career.
Those moments mean more to me than I can properly explain.
I think we spend so much time optimizing for outcomes that we forget the process is where we actually spend our lives.
And how you show up during that process matters.
Whether you're honest with investors when things aren't going well. Whether you genuinely care about the people you work with. Whether you make the journey enjoyable for everyone around you.
I've always tried to bring a bit of goofiness to work. Game shows, ridiculous growth summits, whatever excuse I could find to make things fun.
Because why shouldn't it be fun?
The funny thing about playing long-term games is that you rarely know when the returns will show up.
Sometimes it's ten years later. Sometimes it's someone taking another bet on you after the first one didn't work out.
And sometimes there's no return at all, except having had a great time with people you care about.
Maybe the real treasure really was the friends we made along the way.
As corny as that sounds, I think it's true.
Until next time,
Ajay
