I’m Leaving Indago
Don’t worry, it’s going to be fine.
Earlier this month I left Indago, the company I co-founded five years ago and where I have served as the Chief Operating Officer ever since. It was a bittersweet decision to be sure, but with the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and the overall volatility in the private capital markets, it was one that myself, our board and my co-founder/CEO Eugene felt was the best step we could take to move the company forward.
That isn’t to say I am completely removed from Indago; I’m still involved with the company as an advisor, as a founder, and as an owner. I’m still a champion and a true believer in the technology’s potential to change the way we do surgery. I may have stepped away from day-to-day operations, but I am excited to see where the team I helped create, lead, and grow goes to in this next phase of its evolution. The novel coronavirus COVID-19 threw a curveball at the entire world this year and like every other company we did not escape being affected. However, I am happy to say that we weathered that storm and as Indago continues to move forward, we are in a great position to succeed.
I decided to write this post updating the world on my role, but also as I wanted to spend some time reflecting on my own experiences of managing the company over the past few years. Its challenging to really process the amount that the world, and myself personally, has changed, but I thought I’d give it a shot.
Closing this chapter.
One of the strangest things about disengaging from a start-up is the feeling of being adrift. For more than half a decade I have lived, breathed, and focused solely on bringing to market a next generation surgical product, yet that through line is now gone. Talking with other start-up founders, I know this is not an uncommon experience, but it is still an unsettling one at the very least. The real moment where it hits me is in the little things; reflexively checking Slack only to realize there’s nothing there or having an old stand-up meeting reminder ping my watch because somewhere in the depths of an algorithm I forgot to update an alarm setting.
Since stepping back from the company a few weeks ago, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what the past five years have meant to me. That much time in any company is hard to surmise but at a start-up this becomes doubly difficult. For those of you who haven’t had the chance to work in a start-up environment, there is a feeling that everything has a compressed timescale and heightened sense of importance as compared to a more traditional company. There is little to no discussion of QoQ metrics or navigating cyclical downturns in the business cycle at an early stage company. The focus is instead on the immediate: what needs to happen within the next 12 hours, who needs to come in on Saturday afternoon, or how to set up a conference call at half past midnight. In a world of pivoting and corporate breakthroughs, middle or longer-term planning almost becomes anathema. This is not because it is unimportant, but because you are moving too rapidly to ever accurately guess where you will be. I will caveat that in spite of this, one of the things I’m most proud that we did at Indago (and continue to do) is focus on a maintaining a work-life balance. I fundamentally believe if you want the best output from your team, you need to put your employees and their lives first (no Gary V. fan here). You can still subscribe to a philosophy of moving fast and then pushing to go faster, without expecting the team to sacrifice everything. This will just lead to resentment and burnout which are fatal to early stage teams.
So What’s Next?
The truth is I am not really sure what’s next for Daniel Dudley. I’m taking some time to think about what I’ve enjoyed over the past decade or so and to examine what opportunities may be out there.
- Life Sciences: I absolutely love medical device and the industry and people who I’ve connected with over the past five years. It’s been a tremendous experience meeting the physicians, nurses and other trailblazers whose innovations are making a tangible difference in patient’s lives. From a breast pump that looks like it’s designed by for a human woman to glucose monitor system that provide real peace of mind instead of the constant spectre of technological risk, more people are shrugging off the yoke of glacial production evolution cycles for more agile and patient-centered process.
- Start-ups: Start-ups with their associated hustle and grind is something that I keep being drawn back to. The first time I stepped into a start-up (before I even new the term) was Paddle8, at the time a pre-launch website operating out of a borrowed table in the back of a SoHo design shop. There was such a palpable sense of possibility and opportunity, I couldn’t help but get hooked. The #StartupLyfe is definitely not for everyone given its requisite ‘higher than average risk tolerance’ but (much to the chagrin of my wife) this fits me to a T.
- Advertising: Lastly, I cannot discount my first love: advertising. As a strategist (and an easily distractible individual) the constant need to dive headfirst into a new client or a new industry is exciting to me. Some might find these educational sprints exhausting, I look forward to the newness. Not only does this appease by appetite information, but I find it is highly beneficial to my work in strategy. It is easy to get stuck in a certain way of doing things, but if you are constantly switching topics, you are forced to consider an ever growing number of perspectives through which to view things.
If you are not growing, you are dying.
The final thing that I want to say is: Thank You. Thank you to the investors and the community members, to my teammates and my mentors, to my supporters and even my haters. The last five years and the next five (10, 20…) to come have been permanently touched by your involvement. It would take too long and be a horribly dry (drier?) read to thank everyone individually but I truly have appreciated what you all have done. From the help that people have given me to the risks they’ve taken on me and the opportunities that has provided, I make no claim to be a “self-made man.” This has instilled in me a desire to help other founders and companies even if there is no obvious benefit to myself. I try my best to pay it forward and help the next generation of entrepreneurs experience the success I have had
One of the hardest things to do as a founder is knowing when to step away and it came to be that time for me. As a good friend of mine, Jeff Hanson, once told me when I was agonizing over a decision “It’s always the worst time to do something, that doesn’t matter, you just have to do it.”
So, what’s next for me? I’m not sure yet and I think I’m fine with that. Whatever it is I’m sure it’ll work out the end.
