So I want to tell you a story of when my startup almost went under through something completely out of our control, in the most absurd way possible.
So basically, I started this company four years ago.
And for the first few years, I want you to imagine how painful the whole process was.
Trying to hustle to build a product and like figuring out all this stuff and sucking at it and then trying to convince people to like use this thing.
And just like hustling on back to back cold calls and just like having sales calls and just trying to make this thing work and build a team and build a company.
But all that to say, two years in, you're starting to feel some semblance of success.
Like you're starting to make a little bit of revenue.
You're starting to cover your costs.
You're starting to be able to make sure like, okay, I have enough money to cover the team.
Things are starting to work.
And so in this moment, my co-founder Vitaly, pulls me aside and he says John, things are going pretty well right now, but we need to take some time off and really start to think and ideate on the long-term vision to make sure we can build something super successful.
And so we plan to go on a week long ski trip together.
But here's the thing Vitaly has just one single request from me, which is John, I need you to make sure to unplug for this entire week like airplane mode no distractions, no email, no slack.
Let's really focus on the long-term.
Not knowing that the universe was about to serve us, the cruelest twist of fate and like the biggest, are you serious?
Moment of our careers.
And so we drive off on this road trip, have a great time.
We're talking through the business and we're getting McDonald's.
It's like one of my vices.
And through the course of this ski trip, we're getting hyper clarity on what we're gonna do.
This next stage to build a billion dollar company.
And looking back now, I'm really grateful that we were filming all these stupid TikToks at the time, because you can literally see on our faces how happy and at peace we are, because by the end of this trip, we had so much clarity on what we were gonna do for the next stage of the company.
We had so much conviction like okay, we're gonna do X, Y and Z and this is gonna be our pathway to building a billion dollar company.
But at the end of the trip, we're on the way home, we're driving home And I just have this weird feeling come over me.
I'm like Vitaly, like I know we're supposed to fully unplug, but like we've kind of done all our work here.
Like I just had this weird thing since I, I just, I want to check in on the team.
Like I'm going to turn my phone back on.
You know, when you turn your phone on and it like kind of freezes to open up and turn on all the notifications.
I just distinctly remember seeing like 35 notifications.
And it's like Silicon Valley Bank, our bank, our bank that we have all of our money and cash in is going under.
Like I have multiple texts from all of my founder friends that are like a day old or eight hours old.
They're like, holy shit, John, dude, like, what are you doing?
Like, I'm going to try to move it here to this bank, this bank.
Like, who's your contact?
Do you have any contact?
And I'm just like In that moment, as I'm trying to process the calamity of this, I realized, like how absurd this situation is.
So I'm like, it.
I'm just going to film this whole thing and we're going to see where this goes.
I'm on a trip right now with my co-founder and apparently our bank is about to go under.
So we have to go figure out how to move all of our cash.
Another bank and i'm calling all the different banks and literally no one is picking up because they're all customer support trees and they're all robots.
So we're gonna see if we can open up a live corporate bank account in order to move our million dollars of cash plus.
Like literally, we're just like someone take our million dollars please, and no one's taking it.
I'm on the phone with our VC trying to figure out what the hell to do, like how to move our money, which in this market panic, is basically frozen at our bank because there's so much chaos going on.
All the people that are working in the bank are like freaking out and there's so many people trying to move money.
And also the bank will literally default and collapse if all the money goes out.
And we're like, f*** it.
We have to take matters into our own hands and we are in the middle of nowhere.
And so we look up the closest in-person bank branch, which is a Chase bank branch like an hour away from us.
All right, we found a chase in the middle of nowhere.
We're going to go try to open up a fake account here.
We'll see if they'll take us.
And so we get inside.
I kid you not, it's literally like a scene out of a DMV where the energy is just so low.
It's like, Like, it's just so defeating.
And we're sitting in line and the full weight of the situation hits me of like, holy .
Like, how are we gonna make payroll?
Like, how are we gonna make sure that our team is taken care of?
Like, how are we gonna continue surviving?
Like, what am I gonna do about all our investors' money?
Like, everything is hitting me in that moment.
Like everything we've worked so hard for is on the line through something that I'm like I don't know if I have any control.
And so we finally get connected to this bank manager.
We're actually trying to set up a corporate bank account.
We're happy to wait yeah sorry, you can only open our corporate bank account before 4 pm.
And we're just like what?
The like?
Our bank is literally going under.
Can you please, for the love of god, help us?
And she's like don't care.
And we're just like oh, my god, what the did we do?
Like this, is it so?
They told us that they don't have any more appointments instead of bank accounts, because it's almost five and because they don't wanna work past five.
They're just not gonna take our money.
So we're gonna figure out what to do next.
And so we just have no option other than to just get back in our car in complete disbelief.
And we basically drive home in silence with like the every so often chuckle of like, holy , I guess we're done.
Like just having no idea other than acceptance, because we had exhausted all of our options and all of the processes with all the other banks was gonna take at least 24 hours.
And so in this moment, We really have no other choice other than to just get home and go to bed.
So the whole night, I'm just lying there in bed thinking to myself, what am I gonna tell the team?
And so the next morning, I'm meandering into the office like a zombie.
I just feel like a dead man walking.
And on my phone, the same phone that threw us into chaos becomes our savior.
I get one of the best notifications of my life, which is that Mommy Yellen has fully agreed to fully back the assets of Silicon Valley Bank.
And so for the first time in 24 hours, I feel like I can finally take a breath.
I was just like in my chair like this, in shock.
Just realizing that like, no matter how hard you work in this journey, there are gonna be so many things that knock you on.
Your just like complete haymaker for no reason.
And in those moments you have to just stick with the punches and stay cool, because you'll always figure out a way, right?
And you'll always learn from your lessons, right?
For us like immediately multiple bank accounts open, never dealing with that again.
But it's just like no one could have guessed the journey like.
When you start something like this and you pour your heart and soul into it, you obviously have a vision of where it's gonna go.
But you can't predict like the sideways winding complete like curveballs, life is gonna throw your way.
But once you get through them as absurd as that situation was like to come out the other end and be like relatively unscathed.
It's just like man, I guess I'm enjoying the ride.
And I realized that I just have so many of these stories.
Like they're just like battle scars that have accumulated through the journey.
And so I figured why not try this format?
And if you guys liked it, you'd let me know.
And I've got tons more war stories to share with you.
