Introducing the 500 word founder: Concise regular ramblings of an early stage tech CEO
Welcome to The 500 Word Founder by me, Jonny Burch.
I’m a designer and first time tech founder from London, UK. In late 2018 I founded Progression, a tech company focused on helping teams to build and share career ladders and progression frameworks. I’ve since bootstrapped the company to profitability, found a great co-founder, helped teams across the globe and raised a seed round on Zoom during a bonkers 2020. I’m sure I’ve already forgotten thousands of learnings and mistakes that I’d rather have written down and been able to reflect on. So that ends now.
After semi-regularly writing on my blog through 2018 and 2019 then skipping 2020 (I’d like to blame the world, but I just got out of the habit), this year I’ll be aiming to write this regular short newsletter primarily to enforce reflection but also to share any lessons that I learn as we continue to build and grow our company.
To further encourage me to write, I’m keeping it short (max 500 words) and regular (weekly?). An easy 2 minute scroll with a cup of tea.
I’ll aim to cover:
Challenges and honest updates from life as a founder and CEO
Work vs life and maintaining both
Observations on tech in general, trends and predictions.
I’ll be keeping tech bro philosophy to an absolute minimum.
So join me and keep me accountable as I build this habit.
(This one’s 277 words, by the way.)
Jonny
P.s. I’ve been inspired by and would fully recommend the words of my friends Dave Bailey (short, actionable), Toby Mather (Honest and thoughtful, CEO perspective) and Anne Laure Le Cunff (regular as clockwork, keep turning up!)