Stoicism and Startup Resilience: How Marcus Aurelius Changed My Perspective

It's Christmas Day in the west, but I'm in Ethiopia, so technically Christmas isn't until January 7 ;). While I was in Kenya, I picked up Meditations by Marcus Aurelius in a book store. I've heard about this book through YouTube mostly, and through authors like Ryan Holiday. After reading it for myself, I got great insights that helped me grapple concepts I've struggled with in life.

Marcus Aurelius's Meditations found me at the perfect moment. After months of fundraising rejections, cultural misunderstandings, and the constant weight of representing not just myself but my community in every room I entered, I was ready for a new framework for resilience.

The Choice to Be Hurt

The central revelation from Meditations is devastatingly simple: we choose to be hurt by external circumstances.

"You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." - Marcus Aurelius

Building a startup when you're not part of the established tech elite comes with unique psychological burdens. Every "no" from an investor carries echoes of historical exclusion. Every networking event where you're the only Black founder in the room becomes a reminder of systemic barriers. Every time someone suggests you'd be "great for developer relations" instead of technical leadership, the sting of stereotyping compounds.

But Marcus Aurelius taught me something profound: the pain isn't in the rejection, it's in my interpretation of the rejection.

When a venture capitalist passes on Sereel, that's a business decision. When I interpret it as validation of imposter syndrome or confirmation that the system is rigged against me, that's when the real damage occurs. The philosopher's insight is that I control the narrative I tell myself about external events.

The Nomad's Stoic Realization

Nomadic life has been an unexpected laboratory for testing Stoic principles. As Marcus wrote:

"Remember that very little disturbs the wise man, and that a wise man has inner resources."

Living across Africa, Europe, Asia, and Latin America taught me that being American means people will project their opinions about America onto you before they know anything about you personally. In some places, I'm seen as privileged by default. In others, I'm viewed with suspicion or assumed to embody American arrogance.

Pre-Stoicism, I would internalize these projections, either feeling guilty about unearned privilege or defensive about unfair assumptions. Post-Meditations, I understand that these judgments reveal more about the judge than the judged. My responsibility is to show up authentically and let my actions speak, not to manage other people's preconceptions.

The Obstacle Is the Way

Ryan Holiday's The Obstacle Is the Way became the perfect companion to Marcus Aurelius, applying Stoic principles specifically to modern challenges. The core insight: every obstacle contains within it the seeds of equivalent or greater benefit.

The obstacle of being outside traditional tech networks forced me to build Sereel in emerging markets, where the pain points are more acute and the solutions more necessary. The obstacle of fundraising difficulties pushed us to focus on revenue generation and sustainable business models earlier than venture-backed startups typically do.

Most importantly, the obstacle of feeling like an outsider led me to question assumptions that insiders take for granted. Why should capital markets be geographically restricted? Why should access to financial infrastructure depend on where you were born? These questions only arise when you're forced to see the system from the outside.

Even programming itself seemed to get easier with this new mindset (along with, of course, the development of generative pre-trained transformers and model context protocols). Every red graphic from a bug wouldn't remind me of blood, but of new opportunity to learn and choose not to be afraid. I now have this feeling that I love the pain of growth. I see it in my physical development as well as Sereel's development.

The Purely Observant Mind

The deepest Stoic practice is achieving what my guy Marcus calls the "purely observant mind" - the ability to see things as they truly are, without the distortion of emotion or judgment.

"When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this because they can't tell good from evil."

This isn't cynicism, it's radical acceptance. People will act according to their understanding and constraints! My job isn't to change them or be hurt by their limitations. My job is to focus on what I can control: my actions, my responses, my commitment to building something meaningful.

In startup terms, this means:

• Investors will pass for reasons that have nothing to do with your potential
• Competitors will underestimate you because they don't understand your perspective
• Regulatory environments will be frustrating and seemingly arbitrary
• Cultural differences will create misunderstandings

All of this is expected. None of it is personal. All of it can be navigated with clear thinking and persistent action.

Practical Stoicism for Builders

The real test of philosophy is whether it changes your daily actions. Here's how Stoic principles have transformed my approach to building Sereel:

Morning Reflection: Each day starts with acknowledging what I can and cannot control. I can control our product development, our team culture, and our response to market feedback. I cannot control regulatory timelines, investor psychology, or macro economic conditions.

Evening Review: Following Marcus's practice of evening reflection, I examine the day's challenges. Did I respond from emotion or reason? Where did I waste energy on things outside my control? What can I learn and apply tomorrow? Keeping a daily log helps with this tremendously.

Obstacle Reframing: Every setback becomes a question: "How is this obstacle actually showing us the way forward?" When traditional VCs weren't interested, we found product-market fit with customers who actually needed our solution. When regulatory uncertainty created barriers, we developed compliance frameworks that became competitive advantages.

The Long View

Perhaps the most powerful Stoic insight for entrepreneurs is the importance of taking the long view. Marcus reminds us:

"Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature's delight."

Building Sereel isn't just about creating a successful company - it's about contributing to the long arc of financial inclusion and technological democratization. The daily frustrations, the quarterly pressures, the annual setbacks - all of these fade when viewed against the magnitude of what we're accomplishing.

Stoicism doesn't eliminate struggle; it reframes struggle as the natural condition of meaningful work. The goal isn't to avoid obstacles but to develop the character that can navigate them with wisdom, courage, and persistence.

As I write this on D25, surrounded by the chaos and uncertainty that defines startup life, I'm grateful for the ancient wisdom that's helping me build something new. Marcus Aurelius faced the burden of empire; I face the challenge of building global financial infrastructure. Control what you can, accept what you cannot, and never stop moving forward.