Live your life on your own terms

Note: This post is part of a series about building Codiga.

This chapter is not about a particular startup lesson I learned, but rather a philosophy that was reinforced while building my company.

Have the courage to be yourself

We live in a world where success is often tied to money and social status. I find this measure of success quite limiting. You need to free yourself from these social benchmarks and set your own measure of success.

While I can be social sometimes, I prefer being alone in a quiet environment. I also usually do not like expensive things: the price and value of things are too often rooted in useless marketing (think about the Birkin Bag: its $10,000+ price tag is not defined by its craftsmanship but purely by marketing). I do not have a big house: I have no need for it. I dislike expensive clothes and are more of a burden than anything else. I do not buy the latest mobile phone: I will repair my old one if broken and will always repair if the phone is really broken. I wear jeans or sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a hoodie; most of these items come from Costco or any place where I do not have to worry about selection and favor convenience. When people ask me to join them for a party on Christmas, Thanksgiving, or New Year, I often find an excuse because I enjoy staying alone and reading. I love electronic music, but I dislike music festivals: it’s too noisy and crowded. I am vegetarian (for sustainability reasons). And I am repulsed by the vegan religion that is dividing people (e.g., shaming meat-eaters) rather than creating unity towards sustainable and ethical food production.

The bottom line is: I optimize my life for simplicity, efficiency, and rely on common sense for most decisions. I value experiences over things: plastic will end up in the trash within a few months, whereas great memories will last until I die.

For me, success is not about money or social status, but about the achievements and connections made from birth to death. I had the following goals: immigrate to the USA, build a successful company, love, and be loved. Achieving these goals makes my life successful for me; the rest does not really matter.

This goes against what is commonly accepted or what we are trying to make us like. Many people love expensive things, have extensive social connections, and want to be connected with as many people as possible. They want the biggest house, the best food, and the most wonderful watch (who cares about the time when you phone has it). They want to be liked and admired. They want outstanding vacations every other month and do amazing things (skydiving, snorkeling, jet skiing: pick your activity!).

I sometimes have a hard time explaining to friends or acquaintances that I love the life I have. I do not criticize or reject what other people want. But I just have a different way of enjoying my life. Friends or family told me I was not normal in the past and pushed me into attending parties. Or they tried to persuade me to buy expensive items, only to find myself stupid for giving some brain time to such insignificant aspects. Thankfully, these people are not around me anymore.

It’s hard to reject social pressure, but it is necessary to do it to grow and be at peace with yourself and your environment. Nobody should dictate how to live your life. You and only you should define your measure of success and what makes you happy.

Build the company you want

You should never let anyone dictate what will make you happy or what will make your life successful.

This is your life.

Your game.

Your rules.

The same applies to your company.

You will hear stories every day about the new trendy startups that have overnight successes (spoiler alert: while it may happen, this is very rare, and such successes are mostly PR). You will be tempted to change your startup to fit the expected narrative regarding the product, market, communication, etc. This kind of narrative is impossible to follow: like fashion, it changes every other month. Your company is here to stay forever. So don’t try to fit a particular pattern.

Make your company unique.

Build the company you want to build. Never let other people influence you. You are the sole captain of the boat, and you must be the only one making decisions to steer the ship in one direction. Do not be stubborn in your decisions, and listen to feedback from others. Educate yourself. But never let anyone make decisions for you.

Investors once told me I should hire more people and double my burn rate to “accelerate growth”. It never made sense to me: doubling the number of employees too quickly would bring chaos. Hiring too much at such an early stage would disrupt the daily surgical changes we were making to our product. I thought that hiring more would have slowed us down. Some investors insisted. I kept being firm because doubling the number of employees so quickly was not in the DNA of the company I wanted to build. I always wanted to be a lean company composed of a few experts that move fast, rather than a bloated company with plenty of junior engineers constantly asking for support. If I had conceded to the investors' ask, it would have reduced our runway significantly and put the company at risk. But instead, I would have regretted this decision all my life since making a company was so important to me.

In other words: do not be arrogant and do not be a sheep: have the courage to build the company you envisioned from day 1.