I’m finally in a position to do a “Year in Review” post that I’m comfortable writing. In March I left my full time job to pursue Glossi, our startup, full time. In May, we were accepted into an incubator and had an amazingly productive four months. Unfortunately, none of us were passionate about the direction Glossi was headed and we’ve ended the year pursuing a new venture, Makers Alley.

I learned a ton about myself but along with that came the realization of how much I don’t know. Working as one of three cofounders on a startup forced me to develop a much broader set of skills. I understand the whole technology stack better and can actually make a passable website now (mostly thanks to Bootstrap) but I can also discuss trademark and copyright law with lawyers as well as do some tax planning with an accountant. I’m not too interested in pursuing law or accounting as a profession but it’s great being able to follow along and chime in every once in a while with something useful.

More important than the skills, I’ve learned more about myself in the past year than I have in my entire professional life. I’ve discovered that money is not as important to me as I thought and that the control over my day is important to me, even if it does mean more work for less pay. I have a better understanding of my strengths and how they are best applied. I also know what my weaknesses are and am working on a few goals for 2013 which I’ll publish over the next few days. I’m still trying to figure out my exact passions but at least I’m starting to acknowledge that they need to be discovered.

Lastly, I want to acknowledge how lucky I am to even be in this position. It’s wonderful having a wife and family who support me through all this, I know it can’t be easy.