I joined a business someone started, personally invested $200k, and forwent income for a year. This is after leaving a prestigious finance job after 5-6 years in the industry and quitting a senior role at a Fintech.
Company’s sales is flat, and it’s running out of money. If this doesn’t work out, I’m a guy who quit the previous start-up (not doing very well rn) after 1 year, blew money, and joined another one that’s also not doing well.
I feel like I’m not employable and that maybe my judgment is poor. Has anyone experienced or gone through this?
I would argue that your experience gained during the time at both startups is actually very valuable. If you want to talk to people about poor judgement, just look for about any angel investor or early seed investors. At that level it’s pretty hit or miss. What have you learned from your experiences? Are there mistakes you wouldn’t want to repeat or advice you’d give to a younger entrepreneur?
I know it can be stressful and miserable to watch a business flop, but at the same time my hot take is I’d still be a part of that than work a boring 9 to 5 for some corporate machine. I haven’t ever invested significant money into a startup that wasn’t my own, but I did work for a small startup my freshman year of college. It was so frustrating to watch the founders make stupid decisions. They leased a space that was way too big for what we needed, restructured pay at least 3 times my first year with them, and so many other silly mistakes. Even though I quit after 2 years because I was tired of the constant changes and leadership issues, I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything! It’s easy for me to say since I don’t have any skin in the game, but don’t be discouraged. I would hope that after your time at these startups you have some good memories and friendships. Now can be a good time to re-evaluate where you’re at, what expenses need to be paid for, and the most realistic way you can make those expenses. Best of luck!