Why I Went From Solopreneur To Entrepreneur

Last week, I announced that I’m joining Floada, the intelligent contract portfolio, as a co-founder and Head of Sales.

This means I won’t continue as a freelance seller for early-stage founders.

However, I've gained some key insights from this experience over the past year.

(Enough for two buyers from previous jobs to meet me for coffee last week to pick my brain.)

Here’s what contributed to my decision to join Floada full-time 👇

1️⃣ I planned to stay Brazil but had no visa, so I had to return to Berlin. Filing for it from here, I realized how much easier it is to get clients in Europe—both for myself and my mandates.

Same time zone, easier meetings, and no language barrier.

2️⃣ Juggling multiple mandates wasn’t fulfilling. Many posts here talk about getting clients; few mention the fulfillment part.

It requires constant context switching, and not all projects are equally exciting or promising.

3️⃣ You need to diversify your network, ideas, and energy like an investment portfolio. Some of my contacts got “used up” because I’d tapped them for more than one mandate. In short, some went to waste.

4️⃣ Learning a new industry and product takes much longer when done fractionally—especially in complex tech. I once tried selling a complex solution on the side through my network. It didn’t work.

(The FTEs took 2-3 months just to grasp the basics.)

That said, there is demand for this model. Most early-stage founders either don’t know how to sell or need an extra hand.

Plus: being experienced in early-stage selling (which I’ve done for the last 10 years; incl. setting up new regions for scale-ups) is rare.

Selling for Salesforce isn’t the same as selling for a no-name brand with little data, no market insights, few resources, and almost no materials.

When Ferid approached me, the timing was right. I had worked with enough founders (nearly a dozen; sometimes just free sparring for customer discovery) to make a more informed decision on my next opportunity.

I’m excited to now take all of these learnings and focus them on one venture.

On a personal note, I’ll stick to what I learned about my lifestyle preferences while I was a solopreneur.

Things that give me balance and fulfillment, like spending time with family and friends or going to the gym to reflect without my phone.

Sounds trivial?

In many of my previous jobs, I let those habits slip and often came close to burnout.

(Working with former pro athletes and leading behavioral scientists at BetterUp confirmed the importance of that balance for peak performance.)

I’ll also continue my podcast on the side. It’s a great creative outlet.

While it will (in)directly contribute to Floada via my personal brand, it’s something I look forward to each week.

Hope this helps some of you.