The Startup Life: Floor plans, tweets, and getting discouraged

So it’s Saturday and it is hot, humid, and windy. I’m throwing camera equipment in the back of my car and heading up to New Bedford from the Cape; Dena and I need to shoot a new video for our IndieGoGo campaign. We had a lot of movement in the first week of the campaign and this week has been dead. We barely eek out 1% of our goal. I have to admit, I’m feeling a bit discouraged.

Shooting at the Elm St. Garage

We have no idea where to shoot the video and then I remember that the Elm Street parking garage has a great view of the city. So we find ourselves on the top level of the garage, attempting to set up the shot and park my car in a way that blocks the wind from the microphone. Being on camera seems to get easier each time, and although we are sweating and our hair is getting stuck in our mouths, we manage to finish in one take. We dance around like goofballs, and call it a wrap. We’re hot, thirsty, and tired. But we are far from done for the day.

We head on to the Green Bean in downtown NB for some drinks and to review the floor plan that Dena prepared. We need to finalize the furniture list, itemize our budget, and do boring things like calculate monthly operating costs and set up a six-month cash flow projection. (Blech!)

Dena waiting patiently while I tweet things.

Dena (showing floor plan): So I divided the floor into sections, and each section has a list…
Me: Wait, can you just stay like that for a minute? I need to tweet a picture of this.
Dena (waits patiently)
Me: Um, the sun is too bright. Big shadow. Turn this way. Sorry.
Dena: Do you ever feel like this social media stuff makes you ADD?

Welcome to my new typical Saturday afternoon. I had heard that running a startup was the hardest thing I’d ever do, and I’m starting to understand why. And I have a sneaking suspicion that Dena and I are just scratching the surface.

We even paint our own signs!

So for your entertainment and my personal catharsis, I will be blogging some reflections, experiences, and lessons from the “startup life” in the coming months. In the meantime, here are a few lessons I’ve learned in the past week:

1. Discouragement is not an option
2. Discouragement is not an option
3. Discouragement is not an option

On a side note, we’re kicking butt on IndieGoGo this week and we’ve raised another 10%! Woot! (Must have been the rooftop dancing.) Additionally, we scored some great press in the New Bedford Standard Times: ‘Co-working’ space to open this fall in New Bedford.

Thanks for following along and supporting us on this journey! Stay tuned for more wild excitement in the coming weeks. Oh, and while I’m at it, we need a fun idea for our next video shoot. Any suggestions? (You can watch our previous videos on vimeo.)

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Sarah

Co-founder at Groundwork!

Sarah lived all over South America, produced a documentary about Patagonia, and worked in digital marketing for a decade before settling in New Bedford to start Groundwork. She loves running a coworking space because she gets to meet motivated, intelligent, and interesting people.

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