I’m writing this just passing my 25th hour of fasting (I fast every 3 weeks for 40-48h to kill potentially cancerous cells and prevent this nastiness from coming back). I’m low on energy (you usually get clarity and an energy boost when hitting past 40th hour) so forgive me if I write a bit of gibberish.
I have this intrinsic need of sharing what I’ve learned. Seeking feedback and improving. Kaizen. I fight between my thoughts of “who am I to give lessons” and feelings like I have much more to give, than what I’m giving now. I owe this to myself and to others. I believe we are here to serve others. That’s how we find the meaning in life.
And while I don’t think I’ve “made it’ (will I ever feel it since that threshold is constantly being pushed back?) I know I made enough mistakes to learn and share some valuable lessons that other fellow entrepreneurs and creators may find useful. I even think failures, mistakes and constructive criticism teach us more than any success.
I think I have a lot of valuable experience.
For over 6 years I used to run the London chapter of an international NGO organisation Girls in Tech and I also co-founded and run the Polish chapter prior to that. We were running workshops, meetups, teaching soft and hard skills needed in tech (and life in general, haha :).
I had a short flirt with corporations working as a management consultant (disliked it with all my heart). I also failed one startup (Evoque was a platform connecting PR specs and journalists) and I’ve built two more companies. Well, Oishya is not really a startup but a B2C ecommerce offering Japanese knives but oh, the memories I have lived through establishing a female founded business in a patriarchal conservative world of Japanese blacksmithing 😅.
When I left my corporate job, I co-founded Untrite (2015), a B2B company which initially was a software house and a software consultancy. Now, we provide AI-powered tools for some of the largest and most respected enterprises and public sector. I’m incredibly proud that people put trust in us, a little known, niche startup from London. It’s in our great interest to overdeliver, to prove ourselves and build a reputation, so that our moms can be proud of us 🙂
I often feel like the dog from this meme:
but luckily I surround myself with talented, ambitious and hard working team who is knows much more than me and from whom I learn a lot.
As they say; “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.”
That’s why I decided to start #hankkaLessons posts on Fridays. To share things I wish I had known earlier. So others can understand that an overnight success sometimes take years and that nothing is as it seems. So they don’t stress themselves feeling like a failure. We’re all here a bit lost, just trying to figure thighs out. No matter that strong headlines and bios tell you otherwise. To share what really is important in order to lead a happy life and be successful (and definitely it’s not your school diploma).
I work on things I love and I wish to show other people that it’s possible for them. You can create luck with a bit of preparation. We are our own best friends and worst enemies. It depends only on ourselves whom will we choose to set free.
For now, it will be short’ish posts on Fridays. Eventually I plan on sharing 1min videos on #startupLessons + transcript with links and recommended readings, books, articles …. which will likely end up as your open tabs until you give up months after and close them not having read anything 🙂
I also want to put more structure into content I create. And spill it out more. Not holding back. Half baked but published is better than ideas put in a drawer. Feedback helps you grow, tune your ideas or find others who will help you grow what you intend to do. It’s extremely important to get your projects out there, share it with the world. Because the feeling of being seen will help you hold yourself accountable.
The current plan is to publish on:
Tuesdays – What we do at Untrite (Linkedin , Medium) and AI-related subjects (because it’s freaking interesting!)
Thursday: #AIthatMatters – Dr Juergen Bohn and my podcast on AI areas that matter. We record upfront and publish biweekly.
Friday: #startuplessons for tech / untrite (shared on my personal linkedin, medium, hankka.com, and whenever suitable – on my instagram – as it’s more visual medium. There will be more of my #startuplessons from Oishya (B2C lessons).
The end goal: showing fellow startupers and corporate the struggles but also passion and opportunities in giving a chance and collaborating
Anytime: whatever doesn’t fit the above bill but I find valuable to share.
If you feel like it, subscribe to my newsletter on my hankka.com blog, where I will be sharing these posts too.
Have a great weekend Everyone!
