My startup journey by age

(with a few hard-learned takeaways at the end)

22: Started as a marketing intern LevelUp, then jumped to sales in Chicago.

24: Joined sales at Braintree for 6 months. Learned real quick I hate selling for bps (basis points).

25: Around #20-ish employee at Instacart. Launched a bunch of markets across the US and made a little 💰. Moved to SF.

27: Left ^ because I thought I needed to be a director at some failed startups. I even ran a subscription cleaning biz for a while. Ended up consulting for e-commerce brands while plotting my next move.

28: General Manager at Ritual.co. We crushed it... until COVID crushed us.

31: Head of growth at All Day Kitchens. Fun role, but there’s a lot to unpack there.

33: Got the itch to build something. Started consulting with restaurants. Scaled to $25k/month, but it wasn’t sustainable.

34: Co-founded Spice, a growth & digital ops agency for restaurants (in partnership with Darkroom).


Here’s what I learned

- Between 25-30, I learned more than I ever thought possible. The key? I was thrown into roles with WAY more responsibility than I probably deserved. Shoutout Instacart & Ritual.co for taking the gamble.

- Working for companies crushing it is way more important than whatever title you’ve got. It seems obvious now, but it wasn’t then.

- When choosing your next move, don’t just run away from a bad situation—run towards the biggest opportunity.

- Everyone thinks they can pick the next startup winner, but trust me, it’s rare to find that perfect mix of talent + market fit.

- If you’re chasing wealth, you’re better off working for market leaders than betting it all as an early-stage employee.