I Wept More in 2024 Than All Previous Years Combined

In 2024, I quit a great job to launch a startup. This was only months after buying our family’s first house.

My wife and I were chatting late one evening and I posed the question: would it be ok if I took a really huge risk? Katie, being who she is, said yes and I believe in you. So I cried, then drafted the email. It felt good in the moment (testosterone, idk?).

I intended to take a sabbatical, but a few days later I became truly scared. I didn’t cry this time, but built a website overnight, emailed Politico to give them an exclusive, and launched a company in one day.

Stepping backwards for context: I’ve started businesses before but for the past 15+ years I’ve been attempting to climb the corporate ladder. I think I wanted to prove to myself that I could report to others, as well as wanted the experience that came with working in that environment. For all 15 years, I had two rules for myself: work harder than anyone else and leave once you hit a ceiling.

Momentum keeps us young. But I will hit 40 years of life in February, and the truth is that it was time to take ownership of my momentum. Easier now than later, right?

Easy is the wrong word. It was hard.

I pelted mud against the wall wondering what might stick. Thankfully, countless of my contacts came out of the woodwork to support me—I landed some large clients right away. One huge blessing was that I didn’t need to reach out to anyone: people kept reaching out on their own.

But I took on way too much way too fast; I failed two clients pretty significantly. Not every failure was my fault, but something I learned in the process was that large corporations have bureaucracy and constant changes in leadership. I had a few tough phone calls with very good people to tell them that I couldn’t work for them anymore. I wept again.

Failure hit me hard.

But then I was given multiple opportunities to support small(ish) businesses, people who can make decisions quickly. One thing I realized was that I could build long term relationships with this type of customer. After all, they are willing to go down with their ship just like me.

And again, I became over-ambitious, as each client referred me to another and another and had more work than I could handle. I worked through the night too many times, which impacted my mental health, and the fear of failure combined with the lack of sleep hit me. I wept again.

But there is a thrill in success; in thinking that you can defy gravity. Still, gravity remains.

There have been more ups and downs in the past six months than I can count. But going into 2025, one lesson I’ve learned is to set boundaries. Litenflame would love to work for you next month or the month after, but I’ve discovered the concept of a waitlist.

Back to gravity: I’d like to encourage would-be entrepreneurs. We are now profitable; it is possible, but relationships matter more than profits. Setting boundaries matters. Prepare yourself before jumping into the void; it’s going to hurt. But I would do it again.

I wish each of you the very best of 2025.