𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐀 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝𝐈𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭.

𝘈 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺) 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 "𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵". 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵.

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

I have had the privilege of working closely with founders and founding teams at about seven startups, joining each at very early stages. All of them were innovative, but two stood apart by being genuinely first-to-market. 

They invented products that simply did not exist before. In both cases, hundreds of startups and corporations eventually followed their lead. Today, their inventions are familiar to every single person on LinkedIn—and beyond.

This, to me, is true legacy.

Within each of these two startups, there were a handful of individuals—including the founders—who became the pillars of that legacy. Without each of them, these groundbreaking innovations simply would not have happened. 

While we often chase the dream of financial security through an "Exit", the true, lasting legacy is built by extraordinary people.

Perhaps calling them "legends" isn't quite right, because most of their stories—the gritty realities behind startup successes and failures—aren’t told. They are masked for understandable business related purposes. 

Know this: these remarkable individuals walk among us.

So, here’s to the few of you I was blessed to personally work with. It has been both a privilege and a deeply humbling experience. You should feel incredibly proud. What you have achieved goes beyond monetary rewards.

You, "created". You, have legacy.

𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐲. 

@YouKnowWhoYouAre

Here is a non-subtle hint about one of the two aforementioned.