This Will Probably be the Scariest Thing I've Ever Written

This essay will probably be the most vulnerable thing I’ve written publicly.

I’ve done quite a number of hard things in my life:

• Studying abroad in an unfamiliar country halfway across the world

• Running a marathon for the first time, with a negative split and time of 3:41:29

• Being in rooms networking with investors and founders for the first time

• Performing a 45+ minute concerto with a 40+ person symphony

• Casually hopping on calls with decamillionaires talking about market strategy

While I’ve created a stack of wins that have built me into the person I am today, there has been one thing that has always brought me unshakable fear.

The topic of making and charging money.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it - this will probably be the scariest thing I will ever write about. But if I want to build a business empire?

Well, it starts with doing scary things:

Becoming an Entrepreneur

I don’t consider myself an entrepreneur… just yet. Why?

To put it simply, I don’t have a business.

I’ve always dreamt of starting my own business one day, but there have always been excuses, doubts, and internalized scripts that tell me:

• “You’re too young.”

• “You’re not credible.”

• “I’m not skilled enough.”

• “Go work a 9-to-5 job instead.”

• “You don’t have x amount of followers.”

But as I began trailblazing a path into the business world that allowed me to:

• Be in rooms with 8-figure entrepreneurs

• Develop the skills to drive concrete results

It became crystal clear:

I was literally debunking my scripts one by one.

Soon enough, I realized that my time was coming up:

It’s time for me to start my own business, to take on personal accountability, and create the life of my dreams.

But if there’s one thing that has been holding me back since Day 1, it’s this:

The Idea of Charging Money

Every business is a value exchange vehicle.

The customer wants or needs something, the seller shares that resource, help, or knowledge in return for monetary value.

Simple, right?

To me, I understood that loud and clear. Provide people value, and you get money in return. That’s business 101.

The biggest problem for me has always been:

“I don’t feel like I’m worthy of being someone who charges others for money.”

Money has always been a touchy subject growing up in an Asian household - one that can inflict great emotional reaction.

Some beliefs I was implicitly told about money:

1. Live below your means

2. Make money to save > invest

3. Making money is extremely hard

4. A traditional job is the only way to make money

5. If you don’t suffer, you don’t deserve to make money

6. If you’re making let’s say, $50/hr, you should be grateful and not ask for more

Looking back, it made a lot of sense. These beliefs were there to keep me safe from taking any unnecessary financial risks.

I grew up in a scarcity-based mindset, but… entrepreneurship operates in an abundance-based mindset.

In order to become financially rich, you must play a different game.

A game so radically different than what the 99% play, that requires you to break the beliefs of everything you know about money.

And what served me well in the past has to be completely vanquished.

Free Work

I’ve always been a big fan of doing free work for others.

That’s what got me into all these doors, and what I’m doing right now, leading go-to-market at Distro, an AI startup co-founded by Alex Lieberman.

I’ve been giving it my all, with ZERO expectation of any monetary return:

• Spending 5-6 hours creating and custom-scoring a launch video

• Leading GTM to achieving 3rd place on Product Hunt for the day

• Brainstorming long-term growth / strategizing organic marketing

• Hopping on frequent meetings with active users and team sync calls

Here’s what my friend, Sonith (who runs Z-Fellows), said as well:

While free work is awesome (especially when you’re working with your mentors), it comes at a great price when you’re starting a business:

For those who do want to work with you, saying you do free work is massively underselling your worth and the value you can provide.

Zero money? Zero business.

The lifeblood of business is cash flow. If you want to run a business, you have to make money. Simple as that.

A New Way of Looking at Things

This goes back to why I and many others pursued this path from Day 1:

The entrepreneurial journey is the greatest personal growth journey anyone can ever embark on.

Along the way, we unlearn the scripts that are holding us back from living our full potential.

And when we do, we create a life that enables us to live freely and successfully across all domains - financially, spiritually, socially, and more.

I share this to be brutally honest, and hopefully, one that some of you can resonate with. The journey is rewarding, though never easy.

This is just a small glimpse into some of the obstacles I go through on a daily basis.

If you’re somebody a few steps ahead, I’d appreciate any thoughts around this topic - definitely one that deserves more conversations about.

And of course, new things are cooking up. New business ideas, new ventures, new opportunities.

As I like to say, it’s just the beginning of everything.

Keep on getting after it, my friend. 👊

Cheers,

Jeston Lu

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