Turning 24

Today I'm turning 24, and I've been thinking about how much changed in the last year. Around the time I turned 23, I resigned from my full-time job and finished my degree. I thought those decisions would give me some clarity about what came next, but it ended up being the most uncertain year of my life.

I spent four months in Switzerland getting to know the European startup ecosystem, and another two in San Francisco at Founders Inc. I met founders, investors and people building things I hadn't imagined before, and learned a lot from being around them.

All of that gave me perspective, but it also made me realize how much time I'd spent postponing things I wanted to try. If there's something I regret, it's not starting earlier. I had ideas, but I was afraid of failing, of leaving the safe path, and of walking away from the career I'd spent years studying for. I also cared more than I'd like to admit about what people would think if it didn't work.

For a long time I thought of waiting as being responsible. I told myself I was being careful and that there would be a better moment to start, while I kept spending my time building someone else's project. Looking back, I don't think waiting was making me much more prepared; it was mostly giving me a way to avoid the parts that scared me.

I still feel fear now, just about different things. At some point I had to accept that there wasn't going to be a moment when I felt completely ready, and decide whether I wanted to keep postponing my own ideas because of that.

That's how I ended up starting Roomix. I want to improve how people find a home, because so much of real estate search depends on ads and who pays to appear first. I think the results should have more to do with what someone is looking for and which homes actually fit their life.

We launched a few months ago, with no marketing team and very little capital, and now tens of thousands of people use Roomix every month. There is still a lot to figure out, but seeing people use it gives me a reason to keep working through those questions.

Some of the uncertainty is about the product and the market, and some is about the people taking the journey with you. Not everyone is willing to make the same bet, which is also something I've had to learn to accept. Starting didn't make everything clear; it gave me a chance to work on the things I kept wondering about instead of only thinking about them.

If I could talk to myself a year ago, I'd tell myself to start earlier, even with all those doubts. I know I'll make mistakes, but I'd rather learn from trying to build something I care about than spend another year wondering what would have happened if I'd tried.

So I'm turning 24 with plenty of questions still open, but I'm glad that this time I'm figuring them out while building something of my own.