💡Zero - Ep #12
No one ever plans on Hitting Zero... Let alone in two cities (Tokyo & Chicago)...
But this weekend we came dangerously close to blazing past our burn rate based on a $7000 engine rebuild on the Odyssey and $1300 worth of unexpected moving fees associated with our sea shipment from Japan.
Hopefully, you will never hit Zero... but just incase, here are four key learnings I discovered at bottom.
Few Folks have had the privilege of starting a company in a foreign country with four kiddos... and failing at it...
So my hope is that you glean a deep insight that propels you forward on your journey.
Today's "Sunday Sip" is inspired by Mary Ann a close friend from the Philippines, who was our house helper and encourager. As we hit Zero and pivoted towards Chicago she sent me this message:
- "You have to be strong Sir Jo, Don't give up! It's fine that you start with 0 income! It's fine if you have loans! It's fine if you will pull your kids from their Skool.
- Remember...
- All numbers begin at 0, and it will keep increasing right?"
Like many life changing and paradigm shifting texts... this one came to me late at night and it was incredibly timely.
Deep wisdom and perspective were exactly what I needed when I longed for an escape from the valley of despair...
When what I really needed was to find a pathway through it.
Mary Ann has been such a gift to us in both our life in Japan, and the transition to Chicago. And someday we'd love to help her immigrate to US so she can continue to be an integral part of our family.
When US checking went to Zero, she pulled a personal loan to help us cover our expenses in Japan for the month.
For the three weeks leading up to our exit, she traveled an hour round trip to come to our home to clean, do laundry, and help us pack... All for free.
...And we never asked for any of this.
We had other friends donate to us unprovoked which unlocked our US banking and AMEX enough to float international tickets back to Chicago to start again.
While there are countless things I've learned from this arch of my global leadership journey... I'd like to hone in on a four step progression I gleaned at the bottom:
- Extreme Ownership
- Extreme Acknowledgment of Circumstances
- Extreme Grace
- Hope Renewed
1. Extreme Ownership
"I did this"... was one of the most powerful phrases I found as my wife and I were navigating crisis mode.
While there were multiple decision we made together along the continuum of "Strategic Exit from JNJ" to "All in Entrepreneurship in Tokyo"...
There were many decisions that "I" made which led us to where we were... Zero.
For instance if I could do it all again and reset the board as if it's another game of Catan, I would have quickly pursued a job in Japan first.
The lead times of entrepreneurship are just too long, and if I had landed a job with Visa Sponsorship to secured some cash flow, then I could have stretched out our burn rate for an additional 6 to 9 months.
Even if that job was lower pay than than what I had had with JNJ and lacked an Expat package, it would have been the fastest way to generating some income in country.
But... and this is a big but... I may not have discovered the flaws with my original business model if I hadn't gone all-in on it. Failures and all.
Regardless... the past is the past, but it was critical for me to find some level of extreme ownership for why we hit bottom in Japan.
Owning the reality that, "I'm the problem" also meant that, "I could be the future solution".
2. Extreme Acknowledgment of Circumstance
When I made my strategic exit from Johnson & Johnson... My wife and I put up a list of fears/risks that we saw before us.
While we were propelled forward by our "Whys"... putting our fears on paper enabled us to burn down the highest risk first.
But if you've ever worked as an engineer on an R&D project team, you know that there are some risks that can't be mitigated...
... The Project Killers.
It could be insurmountable technical feasibility challenges, executive leadership prioritization shifts...
Heck, even shifts in currency strength have killed regional projects.
In the same way, there were three circumstances that killed our ventures in Japan.
1. Insurmountable cost associated with joining Japanese Health Insurance.
To make make a long story short, because we had lived in country for two years as an expat but only paid US social security, the Japanese government expected two years of back taxes for us to get on Japanese medical plan, based off of a grotesquely inflated salary due to JNJ covering International Schooling and Housing.
I won't share exact numbers but imaging getting a bill for around $80,000 upfront in order to use medical insurance...
Ya, we were cooked...
2. JETRO Constraints
JETRO is the Japanese External Trade Organization... and they help foreigners start business in Japan...
...Kind of...
Or they at least help foreigners other than me. 🧐
Near the end of my entrepreneurial journey in Tokyo I had a brand management pitch meeting that hinted at flaws in my business model... and by chance, it was in the same building as JETRO.
So I decided do to a walk-in appointment to talk through my business model and existing challenges, to see if there was a pathway to legally get a business off the ground in Japan.
Short answer...
...No
There was just no way for me to legally get a business of the ground compliantly based on the amount of cash flow necessary to start a business and self sponsor my immigration status in Japan.
... We were cooked again (well done)
3. Weak Yen
During my time living in Japan off of a US salary, I was a little bit blind to how awful the currency shift really was in Japan.
Whether I landed a job, sold brand management packages, or coached, the weak Yen crushed revenue potential where razor thin margins in Tokyo were common.
Second all of our debt liabilities were in USD (credit, student loans, and the personal loan for our kid's international Skool)
So without an international business model that generated 60% revenue in USD it wouldn't be feasible for us to overcome these liabilities
While having extreme ownership is a critical first step, it's also important to acknowledge how much timing and circumstance can cause an entrepreneurial venture to fail.
It's not always you... it just might be something you didn't know yet...
Regardless... We were cooked (burned to a crisp)
3. Extreme Grace
And this leads to extreme grace.
The grace needs to be extreme... because the feeling of shame and perceived judgements also weigh heavy when you hit Zero.
The reality is...
You screwed up AND the Dice of Life didn't roll in your favor...
So learn...
Get better...
And when you're ready...
Roll the dice again.
That's really all you can do.
It's possible to forgive yourself while also taking responsibility for how you arrived at your present failure.
This grace also keeps you from bitterness and feelings that circumstance never goes your way.
Grace brings closure, learnings, and hope.
4. Hope Renewed
And Hope propels us forward.
It provides the momentum and fuel to try again.
It's funny, as I reflect through my journey hitting Zero, I was reminded of one of the first TikToks I ever made...
2037 videos ago...
It was simple.
"HEY Pretentious Engineer Here... I know you didn't ask, but... Hope is not a plan"
That was it.
Like 5 views, no virality, and limited value to an nonexistent audience.
But I think it provides levity to my journey as a whole.
While hope was never my plan, it empowered me to try again...
and again...
and again...
and again..
and again...
2000+ videos... 20,000,000+ Views... 40,000+ Followers, and 150+ Members in The Big Brain Club
The hope to try again...
Benediction:
So may you find hope renewed even if you're at Zero.
There will always be a tension between our present circumstances and what we're capable of.
May you find grace in your failings and a hope to try again.
And as always friend...
Keep changing the world!
