At the time of writing this, it’s Christmas Eve and I’m sat on the plane between Copenhagen and London. I’m leaving one home and am on my way to another, D’s and my London home. I’m also leaving 2015 behind and next time I return to my family and friends in Sweden, it’ll be 2016 and that is going to be one amazing year.
2015 has been a testing year, to say the least. Running a bootstrapped and cash strapped startup is hard. I’ve made a lot of mistakes this year, but I’ve also learnt an enormous amount. Back in 2012 I decided to write a blog post a day and I’ll be picking that up in 2016. I’ve missed writing this year and I know that some of the things I’ve gone through can benefit others.
I’ve always been a very honest person, probably sharing too much on the personal side at times, but I believe that kind of transparency, not the least with regards to the mistakes you’ve made and what you’ve learnt from them, is one of the best ways to pass on learnings of what has worked and what hasn’t to others.
Whilst 2015 has been testing, it’s also been incredibly rewarding. Even if what you see on Glimt.it is only 10% of what I’d like it to be, I’m bursting with pride of what our small team has accomplished. From the clients we’ve signed to what we’ve put in place from scratch. Through my years of working agency side, in house and with startups I’ve learnt from some of the best people in the industry and it’s been an incredible journey to take parts of the approaches, tools and processes I’ve over the years find work and put them together in a way that works for my own company and the kind of company I want Glimt.it to be.
I’m fascinated with leadership, flexible working and freedom under responsibility and these are some work related topics I will cover. Public speaking, writing and mentoring equally so. Honesty about the brutal loneliness that at times is startup life is also one I’m keen to bring out in the open a bit more. And the hard thing about the small but still very hard things in the early stages of startup life.
Hacks, daring to jump and trusting your instinct are amongst other topics that will make an appearance. As is the importance of switching off, but also busting the automatically assumed negative connotations around “working” too much. Then there is that little and terribly misused word ‘busy’ that gets me going. And last but not least, there is the ever expanding realm of UX, innovation and storytelling in multi-device design that gets me jumping in my seat with excitement.
I could not be more excited that a new year is just around the corner. There is something about new beginnings. The chance to start afresh, set things right from the start and that time of the year when the days only get longer and lighter.
Despite all the hardship and tears, thank you for this year 2015. I’ll remember you as the year that’s been my most testing to date, but also as the year that taught me the most both on a personal and professional level. Let’s see what 2016 has to bring.
