Should a parent with young kids try to bootstrap a new startup?

In this episode, Justin speaks with Aaron Francis about being a new parent and trying to bootstrap a startup. Aaron argued the other side of Justin's tweet thread: "Wait until your kids are older to start a company." Aaron is well-positioned to talk about this because he has twins and is also bootstrapping Hammerstone with his co-founder Colleen. The whole conversation is a nuanced take on the topic and full of important insights, especially on:the risks involved (especially if you're not working a full-time job)the kind of foundation (mentally, financially, emotionally, relationally) you need to be able to take the riskHighlights from this episode:(00:12) - Welcome Aaron (01:10) - Topic introduction (02:22) - What's Aaron's story? (05:28) - What is a maximum effort era? (10:56) - What are you willing to sacrifice? (15:17) - What's your daily routine like? (17:30) - Context matters in all of this (28:01) - Are you sacrificing social connections? (30:53) - Blind spots can affect you on your journey (33:23) - Pain vs risk (37:43) - Being on the same page as your partner (41:47) - Going to therapy sooner (43:51) - Building a good foundation (48:51) - Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (53:54) - Sometimes it's easier to try getting a better job (01:02:42) - Where can people reach Aaron? Thanks to our monthly supporters Pascal from sharpen.page Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) Ward from MemberSpace.com Evandro Sasse Austin Loveless Michael Sitver Dan Buda Colin Gray Dave Giunta 🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★