After some hesitation, I send out what I have: one e-mail to an advisor who has been helping me hone in on my idea, and the other to an employee at a company that may become my first customer. I have been spending my first month trying a number of things, but it feels like nothing cohesive has emerged. How will the results of some experiments and a description of what it is I plan to do– spelled out in a document and slide deck– going to be received?

The first month has made me feel like a beginner in so many aspects, learning a new problem domain, understanding what that problem might be, being overwhelmed by the many sub-problems that might emerge, and trying to figure out what might be important. And then the responses come in, and I start parallel conversations with the advisor and the potential customer.

It’s a good start. Are you free to chat later today? I’d like you to try fleshing this part out. Oh, you really don’t know how this industry works, do you? From what I’ve seen, businesses in this sector may also require you to build out these other features. I don’t think some of the things you’re working on are important right now, but some others are.

It’s difficult to make oneself vulnerable and get feedback on one’s work. It opens oneself up to all kinds of comments and anxiety about how others perceive the effort you put in. However, when the responses come in, the conversations that result make me realize that people are actually taking me seriously, and with the feedback, I get a much clearer sense of what I will be doing for the next few months.