Pros
It's been a wild ride. What started as a general idea 7yr ago has morphed into a full on mission - maximize the use of space. The passion I see from everyone working on our mission is incredible. Few (ok many) bumps in the road, many of them self inflicted. But we've shown to be resilient, and stay in it. Love the team, and the pride we put in our work. Lost some good people along the way, but incredibly fortunate to be where we are with the team we have, making a very real impact. Our team have stuck it out, and built an incredible level of trust, showing grit, hard work, passion and belief in what we do. We are in an incredible time, where space is booming, and AI is being embraced. We're at that intersection, supporting real missions that will keep us safe, and make our lives better, by making better use of space. It's a real opportunity to make a real global impact. Personally, that's why I'm so passionate about this company. I would do it for free if I could.
Cons
Startups are hard, and I certainly didn't always get it right. We chassed the wrong market too early, or didn't understand what the customer wanted before building, or simply didn't know how to sell what we had. I hired a pro CEO early while we were still defining ourselves and the mission, didn't work. We hired a big executive team to fill roles we weren't ready for or needed, not knowing better. We hired too quickly when we didn't have the resources to support. We over optimized operations, and changed systems too often. We hired for the resume instead of culture, and drive. We fell into the "always raising" VC trap, instead of focusing on becoming financially self sufficient. These mistakes unfortunately had real consequences for a lot of people and their families, including my own. But we're learning, I'm learning, and I feel truly fortunate that we've been able to adapt and grow despite these setbacks. So... Startups are hard, and this one is no exception. You won't always have all the tools you need, you'll need to improvise constantly and do things you're not comfortable with, because it has to get done and you're the only one that can do it. But man, the opportunity for self growth is incredible.