The holiday season is often about taking time away from work to spend with family and friends, but as entrepreneurs ourselves, we know that is no easy feat for a founder. The entrepreneurial journey is 24/7, and with all the ups and downs, it can be an isolating experience fraught with burnout. But with the right support system, being an entrepreneur and scaling a company can be an incredibly rewarding experience. So we decided to speak with our portfolio leadership to see where they get their support from, and what they’re grateful for this holiday season.
“I’m most thankful for the entire EverlyWell team this year — which has grown from 13 to 50 since last holiday season. As a solo founder, I’m so grateful for colleagues who will run alongside me and who care deeply about our mission. It’s been a great transition to watch this year!”
“I am extremely thankful to NCV for allowing 101 to incubate in their offices for many months. Not having to worry about an office or rent allowed us to focus and blast off quickly. Perhaps just as importantly, the daily casual collisions with the NCV team also helped us solve problems and form our own thoughts - super helpful value add. The second thing I am extremely thankful for: NCV allowing us to completely overstay our welcome - helped us solve even more problems and form more thoughts!! Thanks NCV!”
“I could not be more thankful and appreciative for the amazing people on the AlertMedia team. Everyone here, some of them taking great risk to join us when we were small/early, has been an absolute pleasure to work with, and each has contributed meaningfully to AlertMedia’s success. Finding the best people has been our focus from the very beginning, and it remains our focus. That approach has resulted in a surprising and spectacular level of productivity, efficiency, customer success, and employee happiness (#3 on ABJ’s Best Places to Work!!). I’m thankful every morning I come to our office, because the people at AlertMedia are making my job so enjoyable and rewarding!”
“Just last week, we had 8 new employees start on the same day. It was our biggest new hire group to date, and we had to get a little creative with seating arrangements. We started the year out with 30 employees and could fit into a corner of our office space. Now, our office is bursting at the seams. Moments like this, when we’re compelled to look up from the work and take stock of our growth, inspire a lot of gratitude. This team we have built is amazing and I’m thankful to be their leader.”
“I'm incredibly thankful for my new wife (as of September) and all her support during the highs and lows of leading a high-growth startup. Her patience, perspective, and unwavering backing let me tackle each challenge with confidence. Beyond her… I'm thankful for a very long list of people.. including Next Coast for supporting us last Winter and the incredible partnership consistently demonstrated by Mike and Tom.”
“I’m grateful for my collective team - and that means our investors, employees, advisors partners, and families. It’s very challenging to go through a pivot, especially when you have raised capital and your profile to run after something else. To keep your team intact, and then to execute against a different set of goals, takes a tremendous effort and I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by the best people I could be associated with.”
“This year we are most thankful that Gen Z has finally(!) become the emerging “hot” topic when it comes to consumer and employee trends. We’ve been talking about Gen Z – and leading original research – on the generation as consumers and employee trendsetters for several years. Our new book on Gen Z comes out next year. Seeing this new, fast-emerging generation finally starting to get the buzz and attention we believe they deserve is very exciting for us as researchers and strategists, and we’re thankful for the interest because we believe this new generation will change the world. The sooner and more accurately we can share our understanding of this new generation, the sooner leaders can better unlock the generation’s tremendous potential.”
“My team as a whole. They are fantastic and their hard work and dedication make it much easier for me to sleep at night than if I didn’t have them.”
