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I’ve been in your shoes…

At 26 I was "successful", but I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that I was missing something. Was I saving enough? Investing enough? Investing in the right things? I wasn't 100% sure.

It’s literally the spark that encouraged me to build a company around this entire situation. Here’s a post I shared on LinkedIn that resonated with many others like you and I:

This platform is for anyone curious, actively looking for a financial advisor, or unsure of their options. At the least you’ll know where to come when the time is right.

Alternatively, you can reply directly to this email, visit our website or download our mobile app (iOS or Android)!

No pressure, just options.

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The Boring Stuff is the Good Stuff

Working at a startup is pretty boring. We all know the version we’ve been sold: the Red Bull-fueled late nights, the flashy parties, the billion-dollar exits, the motivational montages with swelling music. You watch The Social Network or hear about WeWork’s rollercoaster ride and think, "Wow, building a company must be insane. Wild. Glamorous. Explosive."

But that’s not how it actually goes down.

Startups, like most of life, are built on repetition, patience, and a whole lot of tedium. They're built by fixing bugs, sending sales emails that go unanswered, and reworking the same pitch deck twelve times. I’m usually hunched over a beat-up laptop on a janky table I got off Facebook Marketplace. Maybe a second monitor if I’m lucky. An iPad. And a coffee.

That’s it. That’s the glamorous reality. That’s what scaling a startup looks like in its rawest form.

What you don’t see on social media is the real work. It’s unsexy, quiet, and often mind-numbingly repetitive…and that’s exactly where things are built.

Example #1: Raising Capital

When we closed our first round of funding, I thought it would feel like a movie. We’d blast music, throw a party, buy a $400 bottle of champagne. I’d finally take that obnoxious Vegas trip where someone brings out sparklers for no reason.

But no.

We raised $100K from one fund. Then $75K from another. A few angel checks trickled in. Then we spent 2-3 months neck-deep in due diligence before finally closing with another fund right before Thanksgiving.

We made a little announcement in Slack. Mentioned it on a team call. Then everyone went back to doing what they were doing. In January (2025), we made it public. We got some hype, some viral moments, and my phone blew up with messages. But the actual experience of closing the round? Quiet. Sober. Surprisingly normal.

This happens all the time. You see startups announcing “$10M SEED ROUND CLOSED!” in headlines, and you think, "Holy shit, they made it."

But if you dig deeper, it’s often a story of grinding it out for three years, stacking SAFEs and convertible notes just to scrape together the runway they need. Maybe they even closed the round in a moment of near-collapse.

And if I’m being honest? A lot of those companies aren’t even thriving, they’re just surviving.

Big announcements are usually just that → announcements. They don’t always reflect the real, gritty, behind-the-scenes reality of trying not to go bankrupt.

Example #2: Going Viral

We’ve had viral posts. I’ve had TikToks pop off, LinkedIn posts that rack up views. You get a rush. A dopamine hit. You think, "Okay, this is it. This is the moment everything changes."

But nothing really changes. Because hype is temporary.

You still wake up the next day to a bunch of bugs to fix. You still get on Zoom calls with users who don’t convert. You still follow up on DMs from people who ghost you after expressing interest. You still have a team that needs clarity and direction and goals to hit.

The majority of startup life isn’t sexy. It’s working through slow product rollouts and long sales cycles. It's telling the same story over and over again to investors who half-read your deck. It's helping your team solve the same 10 issues week after week.

When we won the 1871 pitch competition, it felt awesome. For a day.

But no one handed us a $10M check. We didn’t suddenly go viral. The business didn’t 1000x overnight.

It was just another small, meaningful moment. A brick on the wall. Another reason to keep going.

Hype is a sugar rush. Consistency is the protein shake. What you really need is the slow, boring fuel that keeps you moving.

Find Something to Look Forward To

This is the part people underestimate. If you want to survive long-term in any game—startups, investing, life—you have to build in things to look forward to.

It doesn’t have to be flashy. But it has to mean something to you.

For us, that’s Morningstar’s Investor Conference.

We’re presenting on stage next week for four minutes. Four minutes to explain who we are and why we matter. We’ll probably hint at something big, tease a product update, and then get off stage.

Does it change everything? No. But it gives us a moment. A goal. A milestone to chase.

Same with our decision to open an “office” in Freedom Tower. Sounds baller, right? Makes for a killer LinkedIn post. But in reality, it’s access to coworking space 1-2 times a week for the handful of us based in New York. That’s it. Just a slow, steady way to start building some in-person culture for a team that’s been fully remote.

You don’t need constant excitement. Just enough future-facing momentum to keep the train rolling. Even if it’s a janky-ass train.

Boring Is Where the Growth Happens

This lesson shows up in every area of life.

In investing? The best strategy is boring as hell.

Put $10/day into an index fund like SPY or VOO. Pay off your student loans a little extra every month. Use your bonus to invest in your kid’s 529 plan. Rinse and repeat.

You’ll see your coworker roll in with a Mercedes, or your college roommate post a selfie from Bali, and you’ll wonder: Am I doing something wrong?

You’re not. You’re doing it right.

Because the people who look like they’re winning now aren’t always the ones who win in the long run. The ones who win? They just kept showing up. They kept going. They compounded tiny wins.

Day after boring day.

Don’t get distracted by the noise. Keep watering your boring little tree and one day it’s a f**king forest.

Final Thought

The friends I’ve made in this founder journey? Most of them aren’t founders anymore. Some pivoted. Some burned out. Some ran out of money. Some got bored and chased something new.

And I get it. This sh*t is hard.

But I also believe that the difference between making it and not making it usually comes down to one thing:

Who can stomach the boredom?

Not the chaos. Not the highs. Not the rush. The boring.

Who can show up when it’s 3pm on a Tuesday, your inbox is quiet, your revenue is flat, and nobody’s paying attention? That’s the real test. So yeah. The day-to-day might be dull. The work might feel invisible. The rewards might be slow.

But if you can find peace in the monotony, and give yourself just enough reasons to keep going…you’ll be amazed what can happen in a year. Or five. Or ten.

Let the others chase the flashy moments. You? Keep stacking bricks.

Because the boring stuff is the good shit.

What’s Coming Next:

Over the next couple of weeks I’m speaking on a few panels through Chicago’s AI conference week and obviously Morningstars Investor Conference on the 25th. There will be highlights and takeaways to share!

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