Aloha,
As we move into December and the holiday period, I’m sure that all of us will be glad to see 2020 fading into the rear view mirror. We here at Iwahai, like all of you are certainly hoping that a better year awaits us just thirty two days from now.
One of the things that has been hardest in terms of building a startup in 2020 was the lack of community and networking. I took part in a couple of virtual programs here in Honolulu and we were fortunate to take part in Y-Combinator’s Start Up School sprint a few months ago - but beyond that - we haven’t really been able to engage in community.
What with lockdowns, work from home (WFH), and us being in the center of the Pacific Ocean - the sort of team building, networking, and talent acquisition that startups thrive on has been something we’ve really missed. We are fortunate to be a small team with diverse skills - but we are quickly reaching the point where we are going to need to expand.
In particular, I have my eyes open for candidates who will be able to fill the roles of CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) and CFO (Chief Financial Officer). These are both roles that I have been doing my best to fill while we hone our technology and deploy our code to the app stores and the public web - but they are both places where I know that there are lots of people who are far more talented and experienced than I am. I also know that without that kind of skill, our progress will be held back.
At the moment, we are still making progress in our work but there will come a point in the next few months when I will need to find the owners of those positions. I’m really looking forward to it. It will involve getting out, being social, looking at other projects, meeting other founders, and building relationships. If there is anything that I have missed during 2020 - it has been that. Whether it is being able to smile at someone (without a mask) or being able to engage with a stranger and share the sorts of ideas and thoughts that build a friendship or a partnership.
It’s how I met many of you - and I look back fondly on those days.
Here’s hoping that 2021 reopens those doors - and opens many more as well.
I hope you all have a wonderful week.
Christopher Damitio
CEO - Iwahai, Inc.
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