The Road Ahead

Or else, the hard thing about hard things.

I loved reading Ben Horowitz’s book, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, which inspired me as a young person who only knew about business from the outside. While my friends were excited about building or working in top tech companies, to me, it was daunting. Growing up through financial crises, I admired leaders who could solve even the most challenging problems and inspire their teams. But, working under great leaders like Paulius Uza, I never realized the hard work behind their success. So, as I matured and became more aware of the challenges, I didn’t aspire to become a CEO or director but to build great things with amazing people who helped others in their everyday lives. That’s why I spent years building in the health tech industry.

Years later, I was hired as tech lead for the FLR Finance project and soon became the CTO. It was a proud moment, and while I felt confident in my technical skills, I still didn’t feel like a C-level executive. My job was simple: follow the CEO’s lead and make sure his vision and mission were implemented. I did my best, and the company experienced remarkable growth for a year and a half. Although I felt we needed more time to ensure better product quality, I focused on doing my job to the best of my ability.