“Waiting for permission.”
Those were the exact words a Cohort 6 alum used. They had business ideas they’d been sitting on for a year. In week one, they incorporated.
A year of waiting. Then a company.
I think a lot of you know that feeling. I do. I’ve been there.
You want to build something, but every question leads to three more. You keep reading, keep researching, keep telling yourself you’ll start once you’ve figured it all out. Meanwhile, the idea is still sitting there.
Here’s a note from a Cohort 6 alum that stayed with me:
“Figure it out later” became a checklist they could actually work through. That’s a real shift. You can do something with a checklist.
We’ve seen the same pattern across cohorts. People come in with an idea and a lot of questions, then take the step to start their companies. I love seeing it.
And then the next set of questions shows up.
This is the slide I use to describe that feeling:
Most people come to Launch Club before they have a company. They’ve been sitting on an idea, sometimes for a long time. Can I even start this on my visa? What structure makes sense? What does compliance actually involve? They don’t know where to begin.
I walk through it with them. We work through how to incorporate, why the structure matters, and what they’re signing up to maintain. I explain what I learned building my own company and help them identify the questions to take to their attorney. They take a step, come back with questions, and we work through the next one. That’s how an idea they’ve been sitting on starts becoming a company.
One alum registered their company and got their DUNS number. They talked about the check-ins that kept them moving. Another described finally putting their attention into building instead of overthinking. Those steps matter. They give you something to build on.
I built my own business while figuring this stuff out. Sponsored my own H-1B. I share what I did, what I learned, and how I think through the next problem. I’m still building too.
There’s a business to run after the paperwork. Customers to find. Something useful to put into the world. That’s the work I want us doing.
To the alums doing it, and helping each other along the way: keep going. This is why I do it.
And if you’ve been watching from the sidelines, sitting on an idea for a year: what are you waiting for? What’s the next step you can actually take?
Go take it.
- Sid
I’ve put a fuller picture of what we work on in Launch Club on the site. Cohort 7 starts Wednesday, September 23. If you want to join us, apply here.