The JamPad’s Message to Arizona Founders for 2022

An Intersection of Rap and Tech Startups

First off: I hate new year’s resolutions. I believe they’re useless shots in the dark for those that don’t have enough discipline and talent to follow through on what they’d like to accomplish on a daily basis throughout the year.

However, with that being said, the concept of stepping back around this time of the year to get a 40,000 foot POV on how things are going is a great idea. Most founders are likely thinking along the lines of the following; how’d we progress to product-market fit, state of funding, team, technical. challenges we’re facing, next steps for scale, etc. So, having taken that step back, I came across an old song that happens to be a favorite of mine; Lose Yourself by Eminem. I’d like to zone in on the very beginning of the song as a macro message to founders who are on the cusp of breaking out at scale for 2022.

Look
If you had
One shot
Or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted
In one moment
Would you capture it
Or just let it slip?

So, for those of you who’re on the cusp; don’t stop. Keep putting those 18 hour days (sometimes 24…), continue to sacrifice & punt everything in the present for the future, continue building beautiful technology that people want, continue taking on the immensely daunting responsibility of being a startup founder where it’s all on you, and continue to fail forward with great haste. Just, in 2022, go harder, faster, and better than anyone else on the field. Again, if you had one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted, would you capture it (like 1% of the population), or just let it slip (like 99% of the population). Trust me, you’re so, so close.

In 2022, we’ll find out what you do. Now, get after it.