A few of my friends have announced the closure of their businesses. Some are food companies with a ton of money and a ton of resources, others are bootstrapped startups.

Not only that, but I talk to a lot of people. They say in the tech world, information flows as fast as beer and beer flows fast. Basically, there are a lot of startups that are struggling and rumors have it a lot of companies are extending their runway, doubling the time to get from point A to point B. This essentially means cutting 50% or more of their current talent, assets, marketing, you name it.

With a global pandemic, rising interest rates, and interesting things like a Silicon Valley Bank run, this has been a rough period for startups. A lot of my friends tell me that in the past, it was so easy to raise money compared to now. Don’t get me wrong, it was always hard (unless you’re born rich, had rich connections, were a certain look or style).

I’m a product of this. My first startup raised about a $1.5 million dollar pre-seed round and the startup I helped out with in the early stage raised a series B of $226 million dollars. (by the way, I generally had nothing to do with raising money from a reputational perspective. It was the CEO or executive team that assured investors of their success) To be fair, this is not normal in food, and it’s absurd in food tech.

Hopefully within this article, I want to give a sense of stoicism to the situation but also inspire and comfort, that what you do is valuable, and will always be valuable. After all, you’re still alive.

We’re Just an Ecosystem

In an ecosystem, you have predators, prey, and all that. Flora and Fauna both thrive when the grass is green, the water is plenty and the air is serene. Sure, things thrive and survive, but in general, it’s a stable and flourishing ecosystem.

When a crisis happens like a flood, fire, or external forces, things get wrecked, and destroyed. There is no safety in nature. Even the apex predator dies through external means out of their control.

Evolution is the basis that the next generation will inherit genes to overcome a previous obstacle or grow from an unintended opportunity. This means that if destruction does happen to the ecosystem, the new incumbents will generally sprout and grow. Though it is not impossible for an old incumbent to keep on thriving. It gets extremely messy when you’re in the middle of a small startup and a food behemoth.

Though not impossible, it is very hard for the current generation of startups to survive in the current climate and things will die. Death is abstract, complex and disheartening but it’s natural and happens to everyone. Though I encourage startups to fight for their life and get what they need to survive, there is no shame in accepting death.

But the point of startups is that they are hard, and you need to embrace survivorship bias to succeed, whether it’s true or not.

The basis of this is to not scare you, but to understand a perspective that is humbling. What is bad about nature is that it’s unforgiving, and when you’re dead, you’re out. What is amazing about the society we built is that you are alive, you are educated, and most of all, you’re always able to have a another chance.

You are Talented 

Once I joined my startup, I said to a friend that after Better Meat Co, I’d be unemployable. I would think that the skillset I needed in startups just wouldn’t make me attractive to businesses. Of course, that was not true. Doing a startup and sharing that experience on My Food Job Rocks allowed people to see what I was doing and respected me for it.

The experience you get in startups is interesting. As I reflect on my time at Motif Foodworks, I realize that most big corporations deal with systems and people, and startups deal with solving a problem and they clash. When you hire really experienced scientists, VPs, or whatever, there is a level of adaptability that may or may not be achieved. There are people who are so stubborn about systems and stuff that it impedes progress.

You definitively need systems to scale a startup and it’s good to build systems early as long as you forgive yourself that things may change.

The new startup I’m working on, it’s just us two. It’s the same feeling as with Better Meat Co where we are solving problems really fast. Are there clashes when it comes to personality and systems? Yes, of course, but my cofounder is very good at communicating and we work to get things done.

I know a ton of clowns who are just good at selling themselves but don’t do actual work. They can get a high-level VP job very easily and do just fine. It’s super frustrating that these people don’t know just how detrimental they are to a startup but I’m digressing.

The point is, if you’re shutting down, have been laid off by big tech or are just unemployed, the skills you’ve learned are super valuable and the biggest issue I’ve seen when it comes to people trying to get a job is that they have a hard time truly understanding what they’ve accomplished and have a hard time expressing this to others.

There are plenty of people who are a masterclass of getting an interview, going through the process, and getting hired even though they haven’t really done anything. Some inflate their value, steal credit, or flat-out lie and still get the job.

But hopefully, if you’re reading this, you’re not like that (most people also don’t know that they’re like that). It takes a lot of time to understand what you’re good at and how to express it. It took me 10 years to tell everyone what I truly do and even I feel embarrassed when I say it all.

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(Also if this interests you, email me at podcast@myfoodjobrocks.com and I’m happy to fix your resume) 

You Are Alive

I always take notes in the book VC: An American History by Tom Nicholas about Whale Hunting. In the past, kings and rich people would invest in whale hunting boats to go and capture, slaughter, and harvest whale blubber, bones, and meat. Most wouldn’t be successful in this venture and would end up in unfortunate situations.

The rich men at this time believed and behaved the same way as current Venture Capitalists in that they diversified their whale hunting fund and that they would fund whale hunters that were successful in the past.

Can you imagine that the only way to get rich during that time is to travel the seas hunting whales? There were risk-takers who would do this, but the success rate for whaling was surprisingly low, almost comparable to a successful startup venture.

When I look at the past and compare it to the present, it humbles me that I can make a living through other people’s money to build something that won’t kill me instantly.

When we look at the history of human existence, the best part about failing a startup is that you’re alive, and the experience and hardship of what you’ve created, the time, the blood, sweat, and tears, stay with you for life.

No one can take this away from you and there are people who will need your skillset in the future.

The absolute best thing about being alive and living in today’s world is that you can always try again.

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I was supposed to post this article last week but refrained cause I felt it lacked empathy. A couple days ago, my uncle passed away surrounded by his wife and two daughters. I think how we handle death is extremely important. The best thing about death is that we can reminisce about how great a life someone has had and the legacy they built. The worst part about death is that we don’t know the potential person they will be now that they’re gone.