I got my first grant to Sapiens First on Monday! It was the first I applied to, and the grant-maker accepted on the same day. One for one?

Here is some advice I would give to myself on March 2nd when I decided to found Sapiens First:

• Patience and persistence. I’ve really resonated with this idea that you overestimate what you can do in a day, but underestimate what you can do in a year. I’ve noticed that being patient, consistent and doing a little bit each day has been positive for my mood. It also teaches you to practice a long-run view.
• Optimism. Starting an organization demands that you get lucky. You can’t force luck to happen, and your self-esteem can’t rely on good things happening to you. However, you can maximize your exposure to luck by being persistent and meeting lots of people. That helps me feel more optimistic and not pin my hopes on any one opportunity.
• Focus. Focusing on one thing at a time is essential. One summer in Berkeley, I decided I would only do one thing a day. If I had lunch plans, and someone called me to have dinner, I told them no, we’ll have to do tomorrow instead. I’d argue it’s good to do this for work projects. Today’s sole task is to XYZ (eg. revamp the website). If it’s important, it should be important enough to dedicate a whole day.
• Choices. Choosing what to focus on takes some thought. I’ve accidentally put the cart before the horse, for example reaching out to someone before I was ready to talk to them. Normally that happens because I felt desperate to make something happen. Which means I didn’t have enough patience and persistence.
• Networking. You never know where a connection might lead. For an organization like Sapiens First, essentially anyone and their mother might have a productive role for the company: a funder, a volunteer, a employee, a collaborator, an introduction to a politician, etc. This has to be balanced with meeting deadlines and such. But I rarely say no to a call, it just might happen for a couple weeks.

Getting the first grant feels great! The validation feels great (though I’ve come to believe that funders know much less than entrepreneurs about what is a good idea). More importantly, I feel that I can keep working on this project, and have the funds to support myself and our early activities in the early months.