here is the article mykhalevych.substack.com/p/ai-gym-rev...

Half of new members quit within the first 6 months. Half of all members churn every year. That’s the industry average!

Imagine running a business with that level of unpredictability impacting your revenue.

4/ I’m strongly convinced that when you’re still finding your path, location matters. The environment doesn’t teach you directly. It gives you the raw material to learn and grow.

3/ I didn’t understand this until I moved to the Netherlands. Here, the environment is the input. And despite what people say about the startup ecosystem in the EU, you’re surrounded by builders, thinkers, movers.

2/ Maybe that’s true for experienced founders. But for someone just starting out, location can be the difference between 0 and 1 — and I felt that myself.

In Uruguay, I lacked input. I simply didn’t get enough input to produce any output.

3/ AI tools solve your initial cost problem but create a whole new set of challenges. Unique selling proposition is no longer just about building something. It's about executing brilliantly.

2/ AI has lowered the barriers to entry, which means:
- Everyone can build
- Ideas are less unique
- Competition is FIERCE

5/ A business that's truly yours. That can last decades. That you can potentially pass to your kids.

Maybe there's more than one way to build something meaningful. Maybe success looks different for different people.

4/ well, sometimes happy, sometimes just exhausted.

I'm just a first-time founder thinking out loud. Questioning the script we're all supposed to follow. The Mars and Rolex path? That's not just success. That's THE success.

3/ The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced: THIS is the dream. Not a quick sale. Not being a cog in someone else's investment thesis.

Right now, the startup world feels like everyone's sprinting towards the same finish line. Investors happy. Founders...

2/ THAT'S real success.

No constant investor pitches. No forced exits. No diluting your vision with every funding round. Instead, they've built something profound:

➡️ Generational businesses
➡️ Complete ownership
➡️ True independence
➡️ Sustainable growth on THEIR terms

4\ Each client was a unique snowflake - solving their specific need, but not revealing the broader product potential I imagined.

The real work? Understanding if your solution has genuine, repeatable value beyond these one-off engagements.

Humbling. But necessary.

3\ But a handful of custom projects doesn't mean your product solves a widespread problem. It doesn't mean you've discovered a scalable solution that resonates across the market.

2\ Those initial clients? They weren't a validation of my product's universal value. They were simply proof that I could do custom development - essentially, that I could execute a specific project.

6/ The startup world loves stories with clear endings. I'm learning to appreciate the chapters in between.

Here's to all of us still on the journey, still pivoting, still learning, still believing the next turn might reveal something important - even if it's not our final destination.

5/ I don't have all the answers. I'm not posting revenue milestones or funding announcements. But I'm embracing that each twist in the road is teaching me something essential for whatever comes next.

4/ Just somewhere along the path, figuring it out day by day.

Maybe you're here too? That place where you've learned enough to know how much you still don't know?

3/ Without each of these steps - even the ones that didn't pan out - I wouldn't be where I am now. And where I am now isn't the end either.

I'm sharing this because right now, I'm in the messy middle. Not the beginning, definitely not the end.

2/ Each time, what I thought was the destination turned out to be just another step on the path. And I'm learning that's okay - that's exactly how this startup journey works.
I used to worry these redirections meant I was failing or wasting precious time. Now I'm trying to see them differently.