Painless1099

ACe Callwood: Totally. I read a great article from Ben Huh (Founder of Cheezburger) other day that said “You’re not a true startup unless you flirt with death every few months.” I think there’s a real element of truth to how grueling a startup can be. Tempers flair, depression sets in, and yes, sometimes we feel like quitting. The big thing for us is we constantly weighed the alternatives to startup life and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. We’re a group of guys stoked on building awesome tools for people like us…and if it’s not us, who else is going to do it? Keeping those kinds of thoughts in mind is really helpful for pushing through the low points. On top of that, this isn’t our first rodeo and we all trust each other immensely. This helps to put things in perspective and reminds us that the lows are only low for a little bit and they don’t hurt that much in the grand scheme of things.

AC: Either "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift, or "Tubthumping" by Chumbawumba. Looking at the lyrics, they’re both pretty applicable to building a company, but mostly I picked those because I may or may not have road trip footage of the crew jammin’ to both songs. (In an exciting plot twist, Painless1099 is pivoting to a boy band.).

AC: A young Denzel Washington (like, pre-Training Day Denzel) for me. Denzel’s understudy would probably be Jude Law or Queen Latifah. Edward Norton definitely plays Justin. (Fight Club Norton, not American History X Norton.) I think Matt would get Eric Bana mostly because Matt does an amazing Australian accent. And Daniel is either Sean Connery or Will Ferrell – maybe a mix of both because he’s wise and hilarious at the same time. Upon review, this movie should 100% exist.

AC: Negative. As a team, I think we have 4 or 5 businesses under the belt – all of which included multiple members of our current team. Having a rapport as a team has helped us hit the ground running. In a lot of ways, Painless feels like the culmination of the bumps, bruises, and lessons we’ve picked up over the years of building products together.