We celebrated 3 years in business this past month.

3 years in business.

3 years as a startup NPO organization.

The Small Business Association reports that somewhere between years 2 and 5, the number of startups which fail rise from 30% to 50%.

Inc.com says that the number killer of startups is the founders inability to pivot ~ mainly due to their own ego

Inc. says:

“People that quit their jobs to become founders are called “dreamers”–or uncontrollable creative types.”

Well, some of that may be true, haha!

But they go on to say:

Founders fail because they want to be seen as the smartest person in the room–and not seen as the student.”

I think I’ve learned more in these past few years than I’ve learned in my entire life (including learning to walk, talk, use the toilet, and such).

Now to the part which suggest my hard headedness (thanks, mom! Or maybe that’s just all me ?), after our second year at work, I learned, without even asking, that our pilot school had seen some serious turnaround!

That made me begin to think there was more to this than meets the eye.

Now, in year 3 we find ourselves in a feasibility study to see if there’s a possibility that what we’re doing can have a national impact.

Before you think this is a post to brag about accomplishments, what you need to know is that I have had to keep himself out of the room most of the time because, to quote one of our evaluators, “he is a disruptive force.”

I’m still leaning towards that as a compliment.

So, all that to say, I look around at what we’ve experienced, the mountain top moments, and the times when you hear, “You’re funding has been cut,” – I am truly grateful for the experiences that we’ve had, that I’ve had.

This weekend I’ve been putting together a folder of all the screenshots that I’ve taken over the past 3 years ~ almost 1k of them ~ students, educators, parents, and others who have sought us out to express their gratitude for our work, and I’ve gotta tell you ~ man, it’s humbling.

“Thank you for coming to my school…”

“I needed to hear your message…”

“Today was going to be the day I took my own life, but I heard your talk…” ?

“You’re talk changed my life…”

“My mentor group is the reason I go to school…”

Thank you to all if you who’ve had a hand in this.

To the next 3 years.

To a Life that Counts.

With Hope!

John