Raised £10 million, left startup, figuring out what do next - AMA
Hey hackers!
I thought I'd share my story here as I've recently left my VC backed startup and have admired the indie hacker lifestyle/ approach for a while.
7 years ago I co-founded a company called Hubble (https://hubblehq.com) in the UK. It was originally an office space marketplace, we've since pivoted during the pandemic to a hybrid working platform. I started Hubble with my co-founder when I was 22, straight out of University. Over the course of my time I was CTO and have done everything from code the original platform to growing the team to 50 people and leading the engineering, product and design teams. We raised over £10 million, won Deloitte's 26th Fastest Growing Technology Company in the UK, Property Week's Innovator of the Year and Best Places to Work (2 years in a row!). I was also part of Forbes 30 under 30 list.
So why decide to leave? Before the pandemic I was increasingly finding that I wasn't enjoying my role anymore. The highs and lows of startup life had worn me down and I didn't have the same energy and enthusiasm I had had in the early days. I could feel that I was no longer bringing my best self and doing my best work for the business. As someone who is normally very driven and loves a challenge, I knew something wasn't right. I don't know if it is burnout. But it feels like it's at least on the verge. I eventually got to a stage where I thought, if this was a normal job I would leave. That isn't a good feeling, especially if you are the founder.
The pandemic was tough for Hubble but we've ultimately come out of it stronger. It has been re-positioned and re-launched and I truly believe in this new direction. I am very excited for the future of the company, but how I feel was never to do with the viability and future of our business!
What's next? I'm trying to figure that out! But also not put too much pressure on myself just quite yet. I will probably start something new, and may go a different route to before (hence the post on Indie Hackers!). But I need to re-build my energy first. I'm also doing some part-time mentoring, so I can help others to not make the same mistakes I did, and pay my bills :)
So yeah, feel free to ask me anything, suggest reading/ activities to help with the soul searching or get in touch if you're interested in mentoring.
Hi Tom, my friend and I are also building a startup right out of grad school. We are building a travel searching, planning, and sharing platform (https://loopit.dev/) and were fortunate enough to participate in the Georgia Tech's CreateX startup program. If possible, I would love to chat with you regarding managing a startup and growing a product. Please reach me at: wuddevin@gmail.com
Thanks for any help!
Considering you went straight from university with (I'm guessing) no real-world experience to draw from, to growing and leading those teams - I'm wondering how did you manage the dilemma that the people working below you are probably way more experienced and knowledgeable than you were about 'how' projects and development should be run?
Hey Dave, good question. To be honest, I just embraced this. From the outset my intention was always to hire people better than me who knew more than I did. I was always really open with the people I managed about this (which can definitely take people aback if they've been part of more traditional management hierarchies). I was really just there to guide towards our goals/ vision, learn from them and fill the gaps in the team as we grew
Hey, Tom, I would love to be mentored by you. Shoot me an email. rjn@mail.ee
Me also helloanishjain@gmail.com
Awesome, will send you an email
Thank you.
Curious if you did the post uni travel bit? Might not be the best time for it now, but maybe do a little travel planning for when it opens back up again?
Hey Mike, no I didn't. But funny you say that as I am travelling and being nomadic for a bit. So hopefully that scratches that itch :)
Hey Tom,
Definitely looked on Hubble for office space at previous companies I've worked at - great product!
Out of interest, what are you doing to rebuild your energy?
It looks like the new direction for Hubble is focused on on-demand workspaces and Hubble perks. Is that right/is there anything else?
Stefan
Hey Stefan, that's cool you've used it :)
I'm still trying to figure out what the best thing to do is to re-build. I'm trying to get into healthy habits and routines. I recently read a book called Rest and I'm trying out some things in there to do with deep work, deep play, exercising etc. I also have a tonne more books that I've been recommended that will hopefully help me soul search a bit and figure out what I truly want.
Yeah, we pivoted Hubble to be much more suited to hybrid working, so companies can use us (can I still say us?) to find their HQ, get passes for their teams to work anywhere and enable teams to work from home, all in the same place and all for one monthly fee. Essentially enabling teams to work however they want to.
Makes sense - sounds like time, the exercises in the book and other books will help get you to where you want to be!
You can still say 'us' haha... that makes sense in terms of direction. Interested to see how that works out for the business.
Wishing you well on your next move - whatever and whenever that is!
I remember the startup I worked at back in the day found our office through Hubble - cool product!
Thanks for sharing your honest experience.
Do you think that it would have been possible to have built Hubble or a Hubble-like business without funding? Would love to hear your rationale too!
Hey Jack, that's amazing! Good to see a happy customer :)
Good question! I think it would have been possible, but we couldn't have got to where we are quite so quickly without it. There are some businesses I think that NEED funding in order to even get started, because you don't make any revenue until you've reached scale. We made money pretty much from day one but raised money in order to accelerate the growth.
Well done for being brave enough to step down. Having been through it, do you think you'd raise money again?
I definitely wouldn't say no to raising money again, however I'd be a lot more conscious of the trade-offs and stress that occurs when you take money and have to grow at a certain rate. Right now, I think I'd like to try bootstrapping next time around, but I know that also comes with it's downfalls and could just be a knee jerk reaction!