Many startups face a variety of different issues in their first seasons of existence but in our case it boils down to one word, Time. There are only 24 hours in the day and nothing will remind you of this fact more until you join a startup.

The past few months participating in Venture Lab with Graphrite has certainly taught me the value of time. On a four person team of all seniors, coordinating our time and efforts every week was a constant challenge. Even with established meeting times, understanding our next moves and carrying them out was equally challenging. In many ways it felt as though items were staying on our to-do list for weeks at a time and progressing with our idea was an uphill battle.

After the first few weeks, however, we got in to a steady pace and as a team developed an understanding of what was actually possible to get done. Gaining a firm grasp on our capabilities as a team was an immense help in planning out our goals and task list for a normal week. While it may have felt slow compared to what we used to set out before us, getting through what we needed to let us gain ground in our venture inch by inch. Understanding the immense value of a limited amount of time specifically within the realm of our startup, gave us a greater respect for each other’s time as well as a respect for the business and just how much time was demanded for such a venture.