Foreword

I'd like to tell you my story. It's a crazy one, but if you're an aspiring entrepreneur like me, or even someone looking for encouragement, I think you'll appreciate it. I want to share it because I feel like we hear so often that "it's gonna be hard, being hard is just part of the journey, and it's not gonna get any easier so just get used to it, bud", but it's hard to map statements like that to what it may be like when you really go through it yourself. So, I'll give you a real life example of what it's like from one of us who isn't an overnight success or a c-suite member from xyz unicorn.

If you stick with me through the whole thing, and I really hope you will because I want to be an encouragement to you, you'll know that I can say this with confidence: you can do this, no matter what crazy stuff happens to you. You may lose track of where you're heading, you may lose sight of your goals, you may question your passion and judgement that lead you down this road, but listen to me — do not give up on yourself. You started the journey for a reason, now stick with it so that you can pay it forward and tell your story. You never know where you'll end up, but you'll be thankful you're there.

The story

Just look at that handsome, happy couple, — right??

In September of 2016, I quit my very comfortable job as a software engineer at a growing startup to start a startup of my own. I was in the healthcare space but I'm passionate about EdTech, and wanted to build something that I felt would alter the course for the next generation's education. Shameless plug here, the product is called Prolio. You can think of Prolio as the coolest, best way to individualize learning for K-6 students and get them excited about their growth.

Around Thanksgiving/Christmas time, I had some pretty annoying family things happen. I wouldn't say it turned my world cotmpletely upside down, but it definitely didn't help me focus on my business, that's for sure. So, let's call this one a speed bump. A little annoying, but manageable.

Through that whole process, my wife had this stubborn cough that wouldn't go away. We went to the doctor multiple times, but they always had some explanation. "It's allergies, it's GERD, it's in your head, you're fine, go home." I always had a weird, uneasy feeling about it, but I didn't know what to do so I guess I tried to ignore it. Then one night I was working late, and when I came to bed I realized that she was drenched in sweat. Totally soaked. Not only that, but in the past couple months, she had lost 20 pounds.

14 exhausting days in the hospital

I'll abbreviate this part of the story and save it for another time. Long story short, we spent 14 days in the hospital finding out that my 24 year old newlywed wife had stage IV Hodgkin Lymphoma.

"But Brandon, isn't Hodgkin's at least a 'good' cancer?"

No, it isn't. For one thing, call it what you want, but it's still cancer. For another, I'm trying to start a business and that's supposed to take a ton of time. I was supposed to be able to dedicate that sort of time because my wife and I are young and healthy. Looks like that changed.

"Couldn't you have still worked in the hospital?"

I hope you never experience a situation where you'd have to answer that question. If you do, and you work through the whole thing, I'm not sure it deserves a pat on the back.

Those two are just a couple examples of crazy questions I got asked through this process. So this one's more than a speed bump. More like a road block. But let's not stop there. Let's go deeper.

I spy... bright white circles on my spine?? 😳

In June, I started having back and stomach pain that wouldn't go away. I started going to the doctor to see what was wrong. Again, "it's probably nothing, you have allergies, you have GERD, you have IBS, go home." Tests came back clear, labs came back clear, things actually do seem fine, so maybe I'm just stressed. But then, there was the MRI. The MRI showed two cysts on my spine and some slight herniated discs. We still don't really know what the cysts are, but for now at least we're assuming they're just little pouches of cerebrospinal fluid that aren't related to my symptoms. Comforting, right? Rhetorical question, the answer is no. What would you call this? Another roadblock? Sure, let's go with that.

So let's recap. I got married, quit my job, started a company, dealt with family issues, learned my wife had cancer, and found out I have unexplainable cysts on my spine. On top of that, Prolio isn't growing, and I needed to figure out a way to get it on track. So the startup that I quit my job to start can't get traction, thus our money situation is getting sticky because my wife can't work much since, you know, she has cancer. But, at least I'm young and I've got a lot of time to... You know I'm not going to finish that sentence.

Fast-forward to today

Now that you're all down in the dumps, this is where I tell you things got better. 

Like I said in the beginning, you'll lose track of why you're doing what you do. You'll forget why you started. You'll have days where you think its all a waste of time and no one will ever care about what you're doing. But you just can't predict where you'll end up when you commit to your journey, and stick to it.

Remember when I said Prolio wasn't growing? That's an understatement. It wasn't growing and it didn't really look like it was going to. I knew I needed an edge. I needed a BIG edge or I'd have to admit I wasted a year's worth of salary during the year of my life I probably needed a salary the most. So what did I do? I watched Jordan Belfort's series on Straight Line Persuasion (Jordan is the guy from The Wolf of Wall Street. He's the wolf), and let me tell you, it changed my life. I couldn't believe this dude's charisma. I'm basically a grumpy old man at this point and I don't think I really fall for anything, but believe me when I say he sold me on this  like I've never been sold on anything before.

For two days straight, I watched videos, took notes with pencil and paper, and wrote sales scripts. I worked my butt off perfecting these things. I called my wife from another room while she laid in bed and practiced using the scripts. I called my co-founder and made him act like a busy, uninterested customer. I told anyone who would listen about this sales method.

But then I had an epiphany. I'm a computer nerd. My cofounder is an even bigger tech nerd. Why am I reading off of paper scripts when I can build a dynamic piece of software that can guide me through a sales interaction and take me to the correct section whenever I get an objection or need a rebuttal? 

So of course, we built it. And it was awesome. Interactions were so much smoother. I didn't fumble around trying to find the right section of the script to go to next. I knew what to say when I needed to say it. I was so excited, I started telling people about it.

Guess what? People I told about it were more excited about it than I was. They wanted it, and they wanted it, like, last week. So we took it, polished it up, added teams and billing to it, and we'll be launching it soon.

If you have a sales team, or if you do any direct sales, you're going to want this product. It's called Saleslio. We're looking for partners to run our private beta, and if you'd like to be one of the companies in the first group to use it, fill out this form and we'll get back with you ASAP.

The conclusion

Prolio and Saleslio are awesome. It's hard to even express how proud I am of them. This past year has been hard. When I was going through it, I thought it was completely impossible and unfair to deal with it. But from where I stand now, it's hard to complain. If I hadn't gotten married, I wouldn't have had the confidence or ability to start my company. If I hadn't started my own company, I wouldn't have had an escape from the scary health and family issues in my life (my products are my passion, not my job). If my attention wasn't split between health and Prolio, I wouldn't have scrambled to give myself a competitive sales advantage by building Saleslio. If I hadn't built Saleslio, I wouldn't be writing this article.

Things come full circle. How could I have possibly mapped the past year out when I started? Give me a break, no chance. It certainly didn't go the way I planned, but that doesn't mean it's worse. It's just different. Your story probably won't be like mine. But whatever your story is, embrace it. Hold on to it, and know that nobody is more qualified to go on your journey than you are. If you give up, no one will regret it more than you. No one will be more disappointed in you than you. You have a passion, now chase it. Be flexible, and be VERY vigilant. You never know when your big break might come on your journey or when you figure out how to duct tape everything together at just the right time.

Addendum

I wanted to let everyone who reads this know, Tash is doing well ☺️ she's responded very well to treatment, and as of her interim PET scan, there's no evidence of lymphoma in her body. We know it's just the start of that journey, and there will be more to come, but just know that she's doing well, most days she feels great, and she's just ready to start a new chapter of her life.

^^ Easily the toughest person I've ever met