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What’s It Really Like To Be A Startup CEO?

brett fox
5 min readMay 18, 2020

My heart is beating too fast, and it won’t slow down.

It’s 3AM, and I can’t sleep. Again.

I get out of bed, and I walk to my office. I am shivering even though the temperature in the house is 72 degrees — nerves. I turn on the computer, and I check my email.

Picture: Depositphotos

Dammit!

No email from the new investor like he promised. Why can’t these guys do what they say they are going to do? Why?!?

3:30AM: I head back to bed. At least I didn’t wake up my wife. Maybe, now I can get a little sleep before the alarm wakes me.

5AM: The alarm goes off. I had just fallen asleep, and now it goes off!

Okay, get up and go workout downstairs. The exercise will do me good. I am shivering as I walk downstairs.

6AM: Finish the workout. Shower, shave, have my protein shake, read the paper, and answer some emails.

7AM: I kiss my wife and daughter goodbye, get in the car, and head to work. Even the bad days are good, but I don’t know how good this one is going to be…yet.

Steve calls. It’s always good talking to Steve. We talk about what’s going on his life for a change. It’s a good distraction.

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brett fox
brett fox

Written by brett fox

I work with startup CEOs to help them grow their businesses . I built several businesses from $0 to >$100M. Learn more at https://www.brettjfox.com

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