TheWordsmith.ai

I started my career in large companies. I worked at Synopsys, the leader in software for chip design, for 9 years as a Research and Development Engineer and subsequently as a Product Marketing Manager. Subsequently, I worked at one of the most recognized brands in the world, Visa, as a Director in the marketing department. Being in Silicon Valley, I eventually made my way into startups - 5 of them to be precise. Here is a brief account of my experience

The Good: I learned a lot that I could never have imagined learning at Visa or Synopsys. You are more hands-on at startups, you own and make decisions like it's no one's business. A new tool? sure! Moving paid media from social to paid search? Let's do it! Sponsoring a random newsletter? Why not? So on and so forth. And if you are willing to put in the effort to drive results, career growth can be fast. I went from Director of Customer Analytics to Chief Marketing Officer in less than 5 years. But you need to be in the weeds, even if you are the CMO.

The Bad: You leave a lot on ythe table in terms of cash and other tangible compensation. I have taken pay cuts and traded them for equity with an unknown and high-risk future return. After I left Visa, the stock I had been granted as part of my compensation paid returns through its appreciation for 3 years before I sold it for an alternate investment.

The Ugly: This is where it gets, well, "ugly". One thing I've come to realize and experience first-hand is that founders are ruthless, no matter what stage the startup is at. Every founder wants to make it to the unicorn club and exit with millions if not a billion dollars. No matter how well they sell the position you are interviewing for, when the rubber hits the road, there are no loyalties and promises. You are on the chopping block.

So, after working for startups for many years and seeing the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of startups, I couldn't but pause and think - Why am I leaving so much on the table to make someone else's dream of becoming a multi-millionaire come true, knowing full well that if I am not furthering that cause from their perspective, I am out looking for a new job, and paying them back my already reduced salary in exercising stock options to stay in the game? It makes no sense.

So, getting back to me. I started my career in software engineering and eventually ended up in marketing, and becoming a Chief Marketing Officer. Given the pace at which AI is evolving, I decided to take my engineering capabilities and learnings as a marketer for 10+ years and bet on myself to create a content generation tool for marketers, built by a fellow marketer.

Statistically speaking, there is a 90% chance my product won't even get off the ground and a 99.9% chance I will never make a multi-million dollar exit. but I own the destiny and the journey. Every strategy I deploy and every tactic I experiment with will either improve those odds or make them worse. But I know I will end up wherever I do because of my actions alone and not because of someone else's motivations, expectations, fears or incompetencies.

So here's to every indie hacker out there trying to make it on their own. We are in this because we are betting on ourselves. Hit me up if you want to talk about startups, products, marketing, or taking a leap into entrepreneurship.