Like roughly 4M other American’s this week I had the chance to experience totality on Monday. I dragged my family from North Carolina to Ohio to share the moment surrounded by family and friends. It was indescribable, but I’ll try anyways. There are very few moments in life that you know are once in a lifetime and where pictures won’t do it justice. We only had 3 minutes to observe the sudden temperature drop, the 360 degree sunset, and of course the solar flares that crept out from behind the moon. There was no moving the eclipse to fit around your schedule or multitasking. You simply had to be present and experience the moment.
In the week that has past I’ve reflected a lot on why it meant so much to me, what I would’ve done differently, and what lessons I can take back to my work life.
Priorities are Priorities for a Reason
We almost didn’t go to the eclipse. Our kids had spring break the week before and going to the path of totality meant a 7 hour drive with kids (talk about time standing still) and missing at least 1 day of school. It was inconvenient. Maybe the kids were too young to remember. It wasn’t going to last that long and couldn’t nearly be worth it could it? I’m so, so glad that we went as I don’t think we’ll forget it and would have almost certainly forgot about whatever else we would have done otherwise in comparison. Some things are so important that they are worth organizing your day or week around.
With an eclipse there’s no moving it around, pushing it off, or going back and revisiting it. If it’s truly a priority then you’ll prioritize it above everything else. It will be the central thing that base all of other decisions off of. Having a priority sharpens your focus and makes lots of other decisions easy. It’s amazing how memorable a day that is shaped by a priority is and how rudderless one without it can be.
Priorities are revealed by choices and choices are shaped by values.
Scarcity drives value
When was the last time you celebrated a sunset or looked at the moon? An eclipse contains both of these celestial bodies and yet when we see them separately they don’t have as much value.
Several of my friends who were in the path of totality were initially unsure if they were going to step outside and see it, but as they heard about more and more people who flying in from across the country or making a big deal about it suddenly they got excited about it as well. Now those same people are looking forward to the next eclipse and making plans to go to Iceland or Spain in 2026.
Sometimes we get lucky and once in a lifetime opportunities literally show up overhead and only require a minimal amount of effort on our side to take them. I remember when I first joined the startup ecosystem in New York that it almost seemed like a guarantee that larges amounts of VC dollars would be there and that it was almost a forgone conclusion that the majority of founders would build a business doing $100M in revenue. Clearly things are different now the founders I meet are generally more grateful and celebrate each milestone knowing that there are no longer any guarantees.
Best is Best
There is a huge difference between 99% and 100% when it comes to an eclipse. The difference isn’t 1%, the experience is completely binary and is the difference between something kind of cool and something exceptional. I had seen a partial eclipse once before when I was a kid in a shoebox and it was a cool memory- totality was something well beyond that and I simultaneously felt personally small and part of something bigger at the same time.
Imagine being just 10 feet away from the path of totality and not putting in the extra effort to keep walking because you’d already come so far or didn’t think it really matter. There are some things where good enough is good enough and others things where you need to be at 100%.
Knowing which things are which is one of the most important things a founder will ever learn.
Perception is what matters
If you’re making plans you’re missing the moment
Like most millennials “Insta or it didn’t happen” is a core tenant of how I think I’m supposed to act during a memorable event. Like many others who had the same experience I wanted so desperately the capture the moment— afraid that if I didn’t record it or canonize it somehow that I wouldn’t remember it. This is why we do family photos every year or so.
As totality entered its final 10 seconds I thought it would be really cool to get a picture with my kids with the eclipse in the background. I called them over and and tried to get them oriented. I was holding my youngest and my oldest seemed to know where to stand, but my son couldn’t quite get situated. I tried to get him set and as a result traded the last few moments of a once in a lifetime event with my back to the eclipse for this picture 🤦♂️.
Probably not winning any photojournalism awards anytime soon and honestly this photo should have been deleted immediately instead of put out into the internet. The message to me is clear though had I not been so focused on how I was going to remember the moment I might have enjoyed that moment more.
People, not experiences make memories
Everybody looks back fondly on the good ole days, but wouldn’t it be great to know it was the good ole days when you were in them? (paraphrased from what I think was an episode of The Office)
As I scrolled through my grainy photos and videos of the 3 minutes and 40 seconds that were the eclipse I noticed that every time I pointed my phone to the sky my camera got blurry and unusable, but when I pointed to the people I was with things became more clear. What my videos showed are a group of people— some who had only met a few hours before— who were universally excited. I saw people hugging and laughing and kids staring at the sun. Others were just quietly sitting and reflecting. People can see the same thing but have radically different experiences. They can also have radically different experiences but come to the same conclusion.
I’ve noticed that when I look back at the organizations that I’ve been a part of the fondest memories that I have are the relationships that I’ve been able to create. Funny how in my work life chaotic, shared sacrifice tends to bring people together.
In startups there’s no guarantee that you’ll be the next unicorn or change the world, but when you look down and focus in on the impact that you’re having on the people around you you’ll get a full measure of what matters.
