Startups and running. These are two of my favorite things.
For the past seven years, I have been working on Bambu.
A WealthTech startup that builds digital wealth technology for financial institutions.
It has been a wild ride. As all startup experiences are.
Certainly, it was the most unforgettable experience of my career.
And what makes it unforgettable is that it is hard. Not easy. Hard things are often the most fun.
You rarely hear people talk fondly of a job that had no real challenge. No real purpose and that didn’t tax them to their limits.
The 9-5 never gets top billing for a reason.
What’s hard about it?
You have to figure it out as you are doing it. What technology is the future for wealth? What should we build? How should we build it? Who will build it?
Only one way to find out. Build it. Ship it. Learn from it. Customers tell you real quick if it is right or not.
Here is what works.
Simple. Intuitive. Quick. Beautiful. If you can make wealth in all those things customers will buy them.
And once they buy it you have to keep working on it. Never stand still.
Just like Ultra Running.
And right now the World Champs of Backyard Yard Ultra are coming to a thrilling finish.
The backyard is where runners run a 6.7k loop on the hour, every hour till only one person is left. A last-person standing event. No set finish time or distance. Only ends when one person is left.
4 days ago 75 of the best ultra runners started running these 6.7k loops. Now, at close to hour 90, there are 10 runners left. When you read this it will be coming towards 100 hours of running.
Watching this on YouTube is thrilling. People running loops and going nowhere. It’s so special.
Because just like startups. Hard things are memorable and special for a reason.
Here is the link to watch the closing stages. How far will it go?
Only the runners know.
Just like building a WealthTech. Who knows where the finish is?
Live tracking here: https://my.raceresult.com/
Follow the race here: https://www.youtube.com/@
Best,
Ned Phillips
Founder & CEO