We turned 2. Two years ago this weekend we launched Straightface and aimed to make it easier for Kiwis to look good and feel good with a great shave. Whether you needed razors for your face, legs, or other places. Thousands of Kiwis have given Straightface ago so we are well on our way.
Now that we are in our terrible twos, we are going to continue running around causing trouble for the shaving industry here in New Zealand, who for years, have charged too much and given too little.
But you know what, it's still scary.
Learning
For all the things we did right, we probably did more things wrong. The idea of delivering an awesome razor to someone's door is pretty straightforward, but telling that story, executing that idea, automating what we can, making sure our energy is going into delivering you lovely customers more value is hard to do.
I am cool with mistakes or acknowledging them at least. I think it's one of my best skills. I think you have to acknowledge what you are doing wrong or what is not working to then be able to fix it.
Some of improving the service here at Straightface was me learning new things. Some of it was giving up control of some things to other people who are better than me at those things.
Just jump
I find there are always themes in my life. Recently, many people have come and talked to me about an action they need to make but they are waiting until it's the "right" time, or until they "feel ready". The truth is, you never feel ready before you do it. You only realize you are ready after the fact. I felt the same way about launching Straightface 2 years ago.
I was plagued with coulda, woulda, shoulda's. I felt completely over my head. I understood the concepts but as Einstein said - in theory, theory and practice are the same thing, in practice, they are not. I am highly optimistic but wrapped in self-doubt. Every positive idea is counteracted by a negative possible outcome. It makes doing anything quite the challenge.
When my friends talked to me about their decisions and needing it to feel right, I told them the story of mother birds kicking their baby birds out of the nest. The baby birds don't feel "ready", they like the safety and security of the nest, and why wouldn't they. It is a risk to leave, what if their wings don't work, what if they fall, what if, what if, what if.
It is not going to be perfect. It is going to be messy. That is just life. But you throw yourself out of the nest and you flap your wings like hell, and maybe, just maybe, you will fly to heights you never thought possible.
Moment of Gratitude
This is going to sound sappy, but to everyone who has subscribed to Straightface. Who has used the product. Who has given us feedback. Who has read my emails. I really appreciate it. It is a continuous learning journey for me. It provides me with constant moments to improve, especially how I react to situations.
I would be lying if I said that where we are now was where I thought we would be. I have delusions of grandeur (see above) and I thought we would have more products, more subscribers, more everything.
But when we launched Straightface I had no idea of all the things I had no idea about, so it's been a very interesting challenge and I want to say thank you to everyone for coming along on this journey with me.
Be Awesome, Shave Well, Go take that leap of faith, you got this.
Luke
