Newsletter #59: my 2024 recap, post-exit existential crisis, and a creative project

Hi there,

I hope you’re feeling good.

I’m writing this newsletter all wrapped up in a blanket on a Saturday afternoon.

This morning, I opened my windows to a beautiful blue sky. We hadn’t had one for a little while here in London. It was nice to see! I went outside for a walk, grabbed some groceries, cooked a nice lunch, smashed it, geeked a bit on my laptop, had a nap, and now here I am.

In today's edition, we’re discussing my 2024 recap, post-exit existential crisis, and a creative project.

Let's dive in.

Work

Since 2018, I have been writing down every important thing that happens to me so that they don’t fade away in my memory. I’m certain I’ll be happy to come back to these notes in 10 or 20 years. In the meantime, it’s a sweet list to reflect on at the end of each year.

In edition 27, I shared my recap of the year 2023.

What about 2024?

Well, 2024 was certainly a transformative year.

On a professional level, here are the main accomplishments I’m taking away from it:

• Closed my own company after a 7-year ride.

• Joined Shopify as a Lead Technical Architect. This is my first ever full-time job contract. All my previous work experiences were a couple of internships, an apprenticeship, and freelance contracts.

• Reduced the publishing pace of my newsletter but managed to keep a 60% open rate.

• Published 120 posts on LinkedIn, averaging 2 posts per week, which resulted in a total of 970,000 impressions.

• Organized a second event for the French community of freelance Shopify developers. They traveled from cities all across France just to attend the event.

• Got interviewed by Taylor Page and Karl Meisterheim on the Liquid Weekly podcast.

• Got interviewed by Chris The Cool Nerd on his Twitch channel (in French).

On a personal level, what I’m taking away includes:

• Moved to London, in the UK.

• Discovered new cities: Cambridge, Málaga, Manchester, Miami, Toronto. What a beautiful ride!

• Went back to Bordeaux and Berlin.

• Went to 4 concerts with my brother.

• Started running, ran 5k in 29min, 10k in 1h03, and a half-marathon in 2h26.

I’m so grateful for this incredible year. Honestly, even if I had achieved just a tenth of this, I’d still feel over the moon. I have a close circle of people I love, a job I truly enjoy, and good health. The rest is all bonus.

In 2025, I’m keeping the same direction. I’ll continue to enjoy life with my loved ones, work hard, discover new things, and keep learning.

Inspire

For several years now, I’ve been really interested in two phenomena I keep reading about.

The first phenomenon is the “lonely at the top” feeling that a lot of successful artists talk about. They describe these crazy highs and lows, going from performing on stage in front of 100,000 people to sitting alone in a hotel room, watching TV.

There is also this mix of loneliness and anxiety that comes from not knowing who you can really trust. Who’s around because they genuinely like you, and who’s there just for your money? It’s hard to tell, and by the time you figure it out, the damage is already done.

I’ve never been through anything like this, and I probably never will, but I truly feel for them. What sticks with me is how they all describe it in such similar ways, sometimes even using the exact same words.

The second phenomenon is a variation of that “lonely at the top” feeling, but this time in the world of entrepreneurship. It’s a sort of “post-exit existential crisis”.

After exiting or selling their companies for more money than they ever dreamed of, many entrepreneurs express a lack of purpose, loss of identity, and fear of insignificance. There is also the guilt that comes with knowing how privileged they are compared to others.

A recent example of this "post-exit existential crisis" is an article called “I am rich and have no idea what to do with my life”. It was written by Vinay Hiremath, the co-founder and CTO of Loom, the video recording company that was sold to Atlassian for $975 million in 2023.

In this raw article, Vinay opens up about his post-exit life and the sense of lost purpose and direction he's grappling with. He shares his year-long journey of self-discovery, which includes dabbling in robotics, ending a 2-year relationship because of his own insecurities, challenging himself by climbing Himalayan peaks, and now, teaching himself physics in the jungle in Hawaii.

As he continues searching for answers, his article concludes with a few interesting questions:

“Why do I feel the need to only be on a journey if it’s grand?
What is wrong with being insignificant?
Why is letting people down so hard?
I don’t know. But I’m going to find out.”

Learn more by reading Vinay Hiremath’s article.

Explore

I intend to do a lot of exploring in 2025, both in and out of tech, and on and off screens.

One of those explorations will be a creative project.

Yesterday, I received a delivery containing material for it…

I’ll dive into it and keep you posted when the project is out!

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading this edition until the end.

I'll talk to you soon.

Take good care of yourself.

Coralie