It's okay to be selfish

You don't have to do what everyone else is doing.

You don't have to chase venture-funding. You don't have to have a big exit. You don't have to chase growth at all costs. You don't have to build a business the way they say businesses should be built.

You can build a lifestyle business instead — one that fits into your life, not the other way around. One that puts your family, your health, your time, your freedom, and your happiness first.

When everyone preaches founder-led sales calls, you can just do email.

When everyone glorifies the grind, you can put in 40 hours. Or 30.

When everyone has big teams, you can stay small.

When everyone says to validate first, you can just build.

When everyone covets domination, you can carve out a quiet corner.

When everyone hopes for a moonshot, you can find enough.

When everyone takes a loss, you can turn a profit.

When everyone goes for blitz, you can be a calm company.

When everyone celebrates disruption, you can remember it's not a zero-sum game. Their wins don't have to be your losses.

When everyone works late, you can leave at 5. Or 4.

When everyone reinvests profit, you can take distributions.

When everyone worships exponential, you can accept linear.

When everyone sacrifices their family, you can choose not to sacrifice yours. You can choose yours over a business.

When everyone wants an empire, you can just run a business.

It's okay to not take sales calls. It's okay to not take any calls.

It's okay to not be marketing constantly.

It's okay to spend most of your time coding if that's what you love.

It's okay to take the afternoon off to play video games.

It's okay to take a long lunch with your family.

It's okay to do it on the side until you're profitable.

It's okay to take time away when you need it.

It's okay to actually enjoy what you do every day — and not feel guilty about it. It's okay to cut out what you don't enjoy doing every day — even if that's bad for business.

It's okay to talk to your spouse about business decisions.

It's okay to prioritize your kids over your KPIs.

It's okay to not have a co-founder. It's okay to have one.

It's okay to take money out of the business.

You can design a business around you — not redesign you around a business. There's calm in the former, chaos in the latter.

You don't have to do what everyone else is doing.

It's okay to be selfish.