Someone recently asked me what year four of a startup feels like compared to year one. I'd been trying to find the right way to describe it. After watching the All Blacks take on the Springboks, it hit me: it's exactly like rugby.
The ball doesn't stop moving
In year one, everything felt like it stopped and started. You'd close a deal, take a breath and plan the next move.
By year four, the ball just doesn't stop moving. There's no huddle. You're playing the strategy you set out at the start and reacting in real time to whatever's in front of you. Tired or not, the clock keeps running whether you used the last five minutes well or wasted them.
Knowing your role
What's actually held our team together this year is everyone knowing which role they're playing on a given day, without me having to say it out loud.
Some days you're in the scrum, heads down, grinding through something unglamorous. Some days you're out wide, ready the second an opening shows up. Some days your whole job is defense, making sure nothing gets through while the rest of us are committed forward.
The teams that struggle are the ones where everybody wants to be the one running with the ball.
Separating the noise from the game
And there is a lot of noise. Funding headlines, competitor announcements, opinions on what we should build next. None of it is the game.
Four years in, the actual skill isn't working harder. It's telling the difference between the noise and the ball, and knowing which one deserves your attention right now.
Adapted from Ahmed Marmoush's LinkedIn post, originally shared on September 17, 2026.
