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Founders...January Makes Your Year
- Steve Walsh
- 1 minute ago
- 2 min read
I once had someone tell me something that stuck with me:
“Founders... January makes your year.”
At the time, he was talking about recurring revenue businesses.
If you land a customer in January, you get 12 full months of billing.
If you land that same customer in December, you get one.
Same product.
Same effort.
Wildly different outcomes.
That lesson matters even more for early-stage founders.
Because January isn’t just about revenue — it’s about momentum.
What you do (or don’t do) in the first few weeks of the year quietly compounds for the next eleven months.
Where founders get it wrong
Most founders treat January like a warm-up lap:
“Let’s ease back in”
“We’ll finalize strategy this month”
“We’ll push harder once things get moving”
That mindset costs you a year.
Early-stage companies don’t win by being perfectly prepared. They win by starting earlier than everyone else.
January is leverage
A customer conversation in January turns into:
clearer positioning by March
better traction stories by May
stronger fundraising conversations by summer
A relationship started now has time to mature. A habit built now becomes your operating rhythm. A mistake made now is cheap — and fixable.
The same action taken later in the year is heavier, riskier, and more expensive.
If you’re an early-stage founder, January should be about:
Talking to customers, not polishing decks
Shipping something small, not redesigning everything
Starting conversations you don’t need yet
Building signal instead of chasing validation
You don’t need a perfect plan. You need motion.
One simple question to ask yourself this week
What am I doing in January that I’ll be glad I started early when it’s June?
Because just like recurring revenue…
Momentum compounds too.
January makes your year.
Until next time—keep building. Cheers,
Steve Walsh Hands On Angel