Matt's Story - Part 2
Matt’s friend is keen to join him on a business adventure. But it’s risky. Find out what happens next - does he leave his job? What’s the plan Stan? Well. Stan isn’t here to tell us cause it’s Matt’s story. So. Matt. Do tell, what came next?… [If you missed it, read Part I here ;) ]
‘Yes, quit everything. do it. let’s go.’
Q
What happened and how did you Ouch It? How did it feel?
A
‘What’s the dream, what’s the plan?’
So I had this conversation with Jared where he was saying that he’d join me if I started something. Then I spoke with my wife Joey and said ‘Hey look. I’m feeling like there’s something in this.’ Joey is such a creature of change, like she thrives on it and she’s like - ‘Yes ,quit everything. Do it. Let’s go.’
Which was crazy because we had a newborn baby, we had zero savings, we had no money. But she was very, super confident in, not just my ability, but also in this element that there’s something around us that makes it work, even if it’s painful, it will eventually come through, or will work.
So after that, it got down to nitty gritty which was like - okay we need to figure out what is it we’re going to do, how to do it, what do we create, what’s the dream, what’s the plan, and all of that.
The Ouching It prob came from the three of us - Jared, Steph and myself - collectively cementing a dream and figuring out what the values were that would contribute to the success of our working relationships thriving.
And so we all agreed that we would be super honest from day one and that the idea very much (in terms of the principle of the idea) was on the table. What I mean is, we didn't own the idea, so then we couldn’t be offended if we tore it apart and rebuilt it. Whenever we came together, we’d put the idea on the table and our emotions didn’t need to be attached to the idea. Which is good, because I’m quite direct - I’m just like: I do like it, I don’t like it. I’m quite a visual person in the sense that if someone’s explaining an idea to me and if I can’t see it materialised then I really struggle to invest in it, or believe in it.
As we went we knew there was a risk that our friendships would be jeopardized as we went. That was something that we’d confront and ask ourselves - if everything goes wrong, what does that mean for us as friends? Would we still want to be friends? Like really what does that mean - do we think we could deal with that?
So I think, considering all the eventualities was a difficult thing, because you just want to have friends, be safe, do a job and crack on, and not risk things.
I think on a personal level that was incredibly draining. As we went I was balancing disappointment and hope at the same time - as in I was actively engaging with the next thing but at the same time having to maintain the thing that was hard [my old job]. There was a way I had to exit that well. I had that conversation in a coffee shop in November (where my friends challenged me) and I didn’t leave my job until June.
‘It was really important that we built something that had integrity at its core.’
So, pretty much after Christmas I was like - we’re doing this. There were seven months of secretly planning this thing, working toward it, building everything up - quite naively, we’d never set up a business before.
We were all aware that most first-time businesses fail. I’m the kind of person that will read the Ikea manual before I build furniture. We had hundreds of pages of stuff, we had huge pieces of roll-out paper with sketches, drawings, charts, and maps, and all kinds of stuff, because it was really important that we built something that had integrity at its core. We needed to know what it was, what it was about, what we wanted it to achieve. And then you know, we knew if circumstances change, at least we’d still know what the intention was behind it and you can adapt it, you can pivot.
I think the Ouching It was really around risk. I think being productive and balancing the emotional toll of the negative stuff I was facing personally and then, you know, having a daughter who wasn't even one. I was a father for the first time and running on no sleep.
It’s funny cause every day was a work day. Basically Saturday morning until four in the afternoon was family day - not even a full day. And literally every other day I was working. I was working till 1am or 2am. I’d be working and then I’d feed CJ (my daughter) at like 10pm, 11pm and while I was doing that I’d have my laptop next to me and I was typing stuff and drawing stuff.
But it was worth it. Ouching It was more on an emotional level, being tired. It was a test of balance, where there were a lot of mistakes and a lot of good things.
Q
Who did you Ouch It with and what did that look like?
A
I think Jared and Steph were great, cause they were almost sharing the cost. I think if you’re able to do that - start something with friends. Because rather than just being business partners, they knew I had a daughter. So there’d be times when we’d be sat there in a room going through financial strategies and I’d be feeding CJ. Or where we’d go on walks and I’d have CJ strapped to my chest as we were talking stuff through.
Being able to have people close, rather than just someone you’re accountable to is great, because they see what it costs you. It makes a difference if someone sees you and they say, ‘Ya, I see how it’s hard,’ rather than, ‘Oh ya, every business is hard, and every start-up is hard like this.’
There were elements when we would start to share little bits about OneSixOne, just because of necessity, and people would be like, ‘Ohhh, first year, ‘ and I’d be like - I get that, but that doesn’t do anything for me.
And obviously, having Joey my wife, that was great and is great.
What was actually helpful is because I had that catalyst moment with friends, I would meet pretty regularly with one of them and he’d check in to see how things were going.
The good thing is he was two years ahead of what I was doing in terms of being involved in a startup venture that is going really well. There was a lot of stuff I’d tell him and he’d be like, ‘Oh ya, I forgot about that,’ and ‘Have you thought about this and these are the mistakes I’ve made.’ So on a strategic level that was really good, but I think to be honest the most helpful thing was having Jared and Steph.
When we were starting we didn’t have an office, so it was just my living room, with CJ on the floor, changing nappies, feeding her, giving her a bottle and I think that somehow fueled me beneficially. It fueled all of us probably and I think has done a great thing for us now in terms of now when we hire people, or people that are part of the extended family and the core team. We now are more holistically considerate of what the effects of working with us will have on them and their family.
We wanted to make sure we had the culture stuff really ironed out and I think being able to do that as friends really impacted us and shaped the business.
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Stay tuned for Part III where you’ll see what reeeeeeally took place on the other end of Matt’s Ouching It…