My guest today is Arrel Gray. Arrel is the Head of Product at Primer, a startup backed by Founders Fund committed to building a new education system with microschools. Arrel was previously the co-founder of Wonderschool, an a16z backed startup helping teachers start great preschools, and also the cofounder of Soldsie and 17FEET (acquired by Google).
Arrel clearly has an impressive track record as an entrepreneur and there’s a lot I could’ve asked about startup building, but in my initial conversation with getting to know Arrel I was actually more intrigued by a one year break he took to Portugal after his time in Wonderschool. During that time, Arrel didn’t work and focused his time on family, learning Portuguese and surfing.
As someone like myself who feels guilty if I’m not doing work or being “productive,” I really wanted to know from Arrel why he chose to go on this break and what it did for him. In our conversation, Arrel and I discuss the temptation to only focus on the near-term as an entrepreneur, how breaks give us space for self-reflection, and why we should sometimes slow down in making decisions. Towards the end of the episode, Arrel and I discuss strategies for how to take a break if you don’t have a whole year to just relax, so make sure to stick around for that!
0:00 Intro
3:27 Why Take a Break in Portugal?
6:07 Managing Burnout as an Entrepreneur
9:28 What Life Was Like In Portugal
10:44 Arrel’s Self Reflection During His Break
14:46 Not Rushing Our Decision-Making
17:50 Why Startup Founders Feel Rushed
20:11 Taking Breaks Even During Weekends
22:56 Takeaways
🎙 You can listen to the episode on Spotify or Youtube
Be sure to click ‘Follow’ on Spotify, subscribe to the Youtube channel, and also follow @howidecided_podcast on Instagram!
Takeaways
- There are careers, like being a startup founder, where there’s a lot demanded from you and you never run out of things to work on. However, being entirely fixated on the immediate problems in front of you can put you at risk of burning out.
- For Arrel, he initially thought that he’d be bored from not doing work, but once he fought through that urge and took a complete break, he found the space to reflect on past experiences. If we’re so locked in on solving near term problems, we may be neglecting opportunities to learn from past mistakes or failures, which can help us immensely in the long-term.
- A big takeaway Arrel had from his break and self-reflection was to not rush decisions. In Silicon Valley, Arrel felt that there was always urgency to reach the next milestone, so he felt like he also had to make decisions quickly. But it’s often more helpful to take some time to think through the decision and let yourself simmer on it, especially if there isn’t an urgent deadline to make the decision. Further, by taking your time you can also work to put more options on the table.
- If you’re taking a break, make sure to fully take a break and intentionally set a deadline for yourself to start working again. Otherwise if you’re not fully committed to the break you’ll always feel the guilt of needing to work or be doing something. This doesn’t even have to be for a week-long trip — you can apply this idea to weekends as well!
Where to find Arrel
Thank you so much for reading and listening. If you’re interested in decision-making like I am, I’d love to connect and share notes! Think there’s anything I should’ve followed up on in my conversation with Arrel? Who should I have next on the show? Reach out and let me know!
