The Rollercoaster of Building a Startup
Building a startup comes with an intense rollercoaster of emotions, where some days feel amazing and others feel like everything is falling apart. On this particular bad day, frustrations centered around slow sales progress and a lack of clarity, especially after a shift in focus toward product development caused sales numbers to drop significantly despite having a dedicated team. This was particularly painful given the previous year's tenfold growth and continued product improvements. Yet even in the middle of that low point, a stubborn optimism persisted — a deep internal conviction that things would work out, even without knowing the exact path forward. That feeling of confidence, despite the difficult circumstances, became a source of energy and motivation. The takeaway was an acceptance that nothing is perfect, paired with a renewed commitment to keep pushing, to build the best legal product possible, to grow the marketing and sales efforts, and ultimately to enjoy the journey.
Journal pages and transcript
The bad days will become good days 9.3.26
Building a startup is hard. And the crazy part I still live every month, is the rollercoaster effect! It's insane how some days are AMAZING & some other are the worst ever. Today was a bad one. Suddenly, all the efforts feel like worthless. All the teams, customers - clients, the sales, the marketing, the whole world seems against me. Seems! That's the key I should try to stay focused & remember it. Because the reality is definitely distorted. But when working so hard, for so long - these things hurt. Bad. I feel the need to scream or cry.
Probably both at the same time. Today my frustrations was related to slow sales progress & lack of clarity. I feel that pushing & pushing has made crazy progress last year. We did 10x on our numbers & the product is getting better than ever. But since my focus shifted to product - the sales plummetted. Despite having a team - the number went crazy down. And that is very frustrating & scary. But there is more. And it's the best part. It's the feeling to still be optimistic. That's probably why so many people say we need to be insane to create a company. Being down, in a shit situation, but still feeling confident that we will make it. And I am convinced
that we will get there. I am sure there is a way. I just accept not knowing the path to get there. And that is probably the best feeling ever. Knowing, deep inside me, it will be ok. We will manage. This gives me so much energy. So much power. It's insane. And writing those words now makes me feel it. Make me even more realize that I can do it. I can be a Harvey or a Legora. We already have customers choosing us over them. Our product is better, our security is better. We need more marketing & sales. But am sure we will pull a few stunts this year with the amazing team.
So it's time to accept that nothing is perfect. To keep pushing for the love of crafting the best legal product out there. To make this vision known to people. To let them know that we are not perfect, like any human, but that we are pushing hard to make Whisperit amazing. The best legal operating system. And that we are just getting started. So watch us. And remember to enjoy the journey! With Love, Romain