The Beginning of Something Ambitious
Looking back at my 21-year-old self, I'm struck by how audacious it all seems now. Building food delivery drones? Creating research platforms? The confidence—or perhaps naivety—of youth allowed me to tackle problems that, in hindsight, were monumentally complex. But that's exactly what entrepreneurship at a young age is about: jumping in before you fully understand how deep the water is.
When I first started exploring the idea of autonomous food delivery drones, the world seemed ready for disruption. We were living through the early stages of the drone revolution, delivery services were booming, and the intersection of these two trends felt like an obvious opportunity. What I didn't fully grasp then was that obvious opportunities are rarely easy ones.
The Drone Days: Learning to Fly (and Fall)
The food delivery drone project was my first real taste of entrepreneurship. It wasn't just about building cool technology—though that was certainly part of the appeal. It was about solving a real problem: how do we make delivery faster, more efficient, and more sustainable?
I spent countless hours researching drone technology, studying aviation regulations, and mapping out delivery routes. The technical challenges were immense. We weren't just talking about flying a drone from point A to point B. We were talking about:
- Navigating complex urban environments with obstacles
- Ensuring food safety and maintaining temperature control
- Building reliable autonomous systems that could handle unexpected situations
- Complying with rapidly evolving aviation regulations
- Creating a business model that actually made economic sense
Each of these challenges could have been a startup in itself. Together, they represented an almost insurmountable mountain for a young entrepreneur with limited resources.
The Reality Check
The hardest lesson I learned during this phase was about timing and resources. Having a great idea isn't enough. You need the right market conditions, sufficient capital, regulatory support, and—perhaps most importantly—the right team to execute. As a 21-year-old, I had enthusiasm and technical skills, but I was missing several critical pieces of the puzzle.
The regulatory landscape for commercial drone delivery was (and in many ways still is) incredibly restrictive. The economics of drone delivery at scale required massive upfront investment that was difficult to secure without proven traction. And building the kind of team needed to tackle these challenges required networks and credibility I was still developing.
But here's the thing: I don't view this as a failure. It was an education that no classroom could have provided.
Pivoting to Research Platforms
One of the most valuable skills you develop as an entrepreneur is knowing when to pivot. After spending time in the drone space, I recognized an adjacent opportunity that played more to my strengths as a software engineer: research platforms.
The academic and professional research world was (and remains) surprisingly underserved by modern technology. Researchers were using outdated tools, fragmented workflows, and spending enormous amounts of time on administrative tasks rather than actual research. This felt like a problem I could actually solve.
The pivot made sense for several reasons:
- Lower regulatory barriers compared to drone delivery
- Ability to build and iterate quickly with smaller teams
- Clear monetization path through subscriptions and enterprise licenses
- Strong network effects as researchers collaborate and share
Building for a Different Audience
Creating tools for researchers taught me about the importance of deeply understanding your users. Researchers aren't just any users—they're critical thinkers who demand precision, reliability, and features that genuinely enhance their work. They can spot superficial solutions from a mile away.
I spent time interviewing researchers, sitting in on their workflows, and understanding their pain points. This user-centric approach was something I had understood theoretically with the drone project, but executing it effectively with the research platform gave me practical expertise that has shaped how I approach product development to this day.
Lessons That Shaped My Perspective
Now, with more experience and perspective, I can identify the key lessons that my entrepreneurial journey taught me:
1. Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution
My initial attachment to drones was about the technology—the cool factor of autonomous flying machines delivering food. But successful entrepreneurship is about solving real problems for real people. When I shifted focus to research platforms, I was more focused on the pain points of researchers than on any particular technical solution.
2. Timing Matters More Than We Admit
Many great ideas fail not because they're wrong, but because they're too early or too late. Drone delivery is becoming reality now, but the timing in my early twenties wasn't quite right—at least not for someone with my resources and network at the time. Learning to assess market timing is crucial.
3. Your Network is Your Net Worth
This cliché exists because it's true. The connections I made during these ventures—advisors, fellow entrepreneurs, potential customers, and even competitors—became invaluable. Some of my strongest professional relationships today started during these early entrepreneurial experiments.
4. Technical Skills Are Necessary But Not Sufficient
As a software engineer, I initially believed that if I could just build the right product, success would follow. But entrepreneurship requires sales, marketing, fundraising, team building, and strategic thinking. Technical execution is just one piece of a much larger puzzle.
5. Failure is Feedback
The projects that didn't work out weren't failures—they were expensive education. Each setback taught me something that made the next attempt more informed. This reframing is essential for maintaining the resilience needed for entrepreneurship.
Why I'm Still a Dreamer
Despite the challenges and the projects that didn't pan out as planned, I remain fundamentally optimistic about entrepreneurship and innovation. That's why I created We Are Still Dreamers—because I believe we need more people willing to take ambitious swings at hard problems.
The world changes because people dream up better futures and then work to make them real. Not every dream materializes exactly as planned, but the collective effort of dreamers and builders moves us forward. My drone delivery vision might not have worked out for me personally, but the industry is now delivering real value because many people shared similar dreams and kept pushing forward.
Today, as a software engineer, I apply the entrepreneurial mindset to everything I do. I look for problems worth solving, I think about user needs first, and I'm not afraid to challenge conventional approaches when I see opportunities for improvement.
For Fellow Dreamers
If you're considering taking the entrepreneurial leap, especially at a young age, here's my advice:
- Start before you're ready. You'll never feel fully prepared, and that's okay. You learn by doing.
- Build in public. Share your journey, your failures, and your learnings. The vulnerability builds connections and opens unexpected doors.
- Find mentors. Seek out people who've been where you want to go. Their pattern recognition can save you years of wandering.
- Validate relentlessly. Talk to users early and often. Build what people actually need, not what you think would be cool.
- Take care of yourself. The entrepreneurial hustle culture can be toxic. Sustainable success requires sustainable practices.
- Keep dreaming. Even when projects don't work out, maintain your optimism and belief that you can contribute something meaningful to the world.
Looking Forward
My entrepreneurial journey at 21 was just the beginning. The experiences, lessons, and connections from that time continue to shape my career and perspective. I'm still building, still learning, and still dreaming about the possibilities that technology creates for solving meaningful problems.
Whether you're an entrepreneur, a dreamer, or someone who's simply curious about building something new, I hope my story reminds you that it's okay to start before you're ready, to pivot when needed, and to maintain your optimism even when faced with setbacks.
We are still dreamers, after all. And the world needs more of us willing to chase ambitious visions, learn from the journey, and keep building toward better futures.
What dreams are you chasing? What lessons has your journey taught you? I'd love to hear your stories and connect with fellow dreamers who are building, learning, and growing. That's what this community is all about.