Acting like a grown-up

One of my investors gave me a good slap today. She does that every now and then and I love her for it. While discussing about managing investor relations and dealing with my team and my board, she sent me this email:

You are no longer CEO of a little startup that makes no impact. You are now CEO of a funded company dealing w/some big players both on the investor side and customer side. Unfortunately, you don’t get to play the I’m young card. Actually you aren’t young anymore

Now, there aren’t a lot of people these days who are willing to “stab you in the front” like that, as Oscar Wilde once put it. I’ve been fortunate to have a few of them around me, and as painful as it is to hear their blunt observations, it’s amazing how big of a difference these little moments make. Acting like a grown-up – that’s one thing I never really thought about, but I guess it makes sense. Because the more mature you feel and act, the more that reflects in the way you manage things. Or, at least that’s what the grown-up in me thinks. The other side’s now gonna go and play some Moshi Monsters.