All In Startup: Launching a New Idea When Everything Is on the Line

Chapter 11People Don’t Buy Visionary Products; They Buy Solutions to Their Problems

It was dark. Owen felt dark. He must have been more than 14 miles out. The ride back was taking forever. He was avoiding any eye contact with Sam. He was trying to pretend that looking out the window at a dark desert was the most exciting thing to do. After he answered the basic questions—Are you all right? Yes. Do you need to go to a hospital? No. Where do you want to go? The hotel.—Sam could tell he didn’t want to talk and had let him be.

That hour in the desert that Owen spent waiting for her had given him time to think. A lot of time to think. The kind of thinking he hadn’t sat down and done since he opened ReBicycle.

At first, he thought about calling Lisa, but it wasn’t like she could do anything, and he didn’t want her to worry. He told himself that was the primary reason he didn’t call her. The real reason wasn’t quite so unselfish. He knew that if he called Lisa, he’d have to explain how he was getting back, that a woman he had only just met was driving all the way out to the desert to pick him up. Not that he had done anything wrong, but the pain in his knee was bad enough and he didn’t feel capable of tiptoeing through that minefield of a conversation.

He was feeling sorry for himself. He hadn’t allowed himself to feel that way in a long time. It felt good. Like a release. There was no crying, but he wouldn’t have been against tears.

His mind raced. Images of Lisa, Gary, the whole ...