Keep Firing Yourself

Starting a company is hands-down the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

It challenges you technically, sure. But that’s the easy part.
The real battle is emotional, mental, moral — a full-on identity pressure cooker that doesn’t let up.
And the bigger you grow, the heavier the weight gets.

I’ve told some people they should start something.
I’ve told others they absolutely shouldn’t.
Because this path isn’t for everyone — and that’s okay.

But for those who do take the leap, here’s a philosophy I live by:

Keep firing yourself.
Over and over again.

Let me explain.

The First Job I Had to Fire Myself From: Everything

When Nexubis started, it was just me.

Design, dev, client comms, finance, tax compliance, pitching, strategy, QA — all of it.
I was a one-person creative agency slash accounting department slash inbox janitor.

As the months rolled on and contracts got bigger, the pressure ballooned.
Toward the end of 2023, I was averaging four hours of sleep a night — for two months straight.
I worked around the clock. Weekends included. It was brutal.

Money was great.
My mental state? Not so much.

That’s when I realised:
If I didn’t start replacing myself, I wasn’t going to survive this.
And the business wouldn’t either.

What I Did About It

Hire #1: Design & Dev Support

→ I fired myself from some client delivery

Hire #2 & #3: More Creatives

→ We could take on more work — but admin started stacking

Hire #4: Operations

→ I fired myself from 70% of daily admin
→ My calendar finally breathed

We kept growing.
New service offerings. New clients.
But I was still doing design and dev work — while trying to act like a CEO.

That’s when I hit another wall.

You can’t grow a company if you’re stuck working in it instead of on it.

So I kept firing myself.
One responsibility at a time.

Design? Delegated.
Client delivery? Delegated.
Briefings, onboarding, contracts, invoicing, even ops oversight? All handled.

Now?
I’m not in the onboarding meetings.
I’m not on calls approving design mocks.
I’m not deep in the weeds anymore.

And that’s exactly how it should be.

What I Focus On Now

• Guiding the company forward
  
• Investing in people and process
  
• Marketing and writing
  
• Building systems for scale
  
• Thinking long-term
  
• Making myself redundant — again
  

Because every few months, my role changes.
And if it doesn’t, we’re probably stagnating.

Letting Go Is a Skill

Firing yourself isn’t easy.
Especially when you can do the job, and do it well.
But holding onto it stunts growth — yours and the company’s.

You have to trust people.
Set standards.
Train well.
Step back.

And then move on to the next thing only you can do — until you fire yourself from that too.

Final Thought

The point isn’t to disappear from your company.
It’s to make sure you’re always solving higher-leverage problems — not clinging to control.

Keep moving. Keep letting go.
Keep firing yourself.
That’s how you scale.

And that’s how you make room for what’s next.