stephen hedlund’s Post

I just celebrated my 1 year anniversary at Rillet Other than having children, it has been the most wild ride of my life. In the last year: - the team has grown from 15 to 46 - we’ve grown to over 200 customers - we raised $25m from Sequoia - we made it on NetSuite’s internal competitor list - we were hosted at the Nasdaq - my NetSuite memes have gone viral - my accounting intern has gone viral - and we’ve had just a ridiculous amount of fun along the way And here’s what I’ve learned so far: 1. The people make the startup possible. I work very hard and when I’m not struggling with crippling self doubt (seriously), I think I’m pretty good at my job. But I’m not exaggerating at all when I say I often feel like the least competent and laziest person here. Startups require a great deal of luck but they don’t happen by accident. They require a team of incredibly skilled individuals who are willing to do whatever it takes to literally will the company into existence. 2. You want to work on things that provide positive pressure. Building anything is inherently stressful, but when you work on something you’re passionate about and the learnings accelerate your career, it’s all worth it. It’s like raising kids. So hard. But worth every wrinkle. 3. You can just do things. I run marketing at Rillet, not because I have any background in marketing but because I started writing content for LinkedIn and making memes. Our founder’s and my content here has literally changed the perception of the company. So much so it’s annoying to me. As a finance person, I thought marketing didn’t work. But if you don’t talk really loud about what you’re building, why would you expect anyone to know about it? I joined Rillet because I believed deeply in my core that someone was going to build the next NetSuite. And I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I passed on the opportunity to be in the trenches. Thanks Nicolas Kopp for letting me in on the party. 1 year down. 49 more to go.