The Price of a Dream
When people look at a successful company today, they generally see only the final result. They see the buildings. The cars. The employees. The achievements. What they do not see are the sleepless nights. The doubts. The weight of responsibility every entrepreneur carries on his shoulders. It was the same at Piramedia. As our project grew, so did our responsibilities. At a certain point, it was no longer only about me.
Nor only about Marco and Cristina. There were employees who counted on receiving their salary every month. Manufacturers who trusted us to represent their collections. Customers who placed their projects in our hands. Suddenly, every decision had much greater consequences. When I worked alone, I could afford to take certain risks. If things went wrong, I bore the consequences myself.
But now I felt responsible for many other people. That changed the way I thought. Before every important decision, I considered it three times. Not because I had lost my courage, but because I did not want to disappoint anyone. And yet my character remained exactly the same.
Once I had made a decision and truly believed in something, I devoted myself to it completely. Without hesitation. Without holding anything back. Perhaps even too much. Sometimes Dorina gently told me that I needed to think a little more about myself too. That I could not continue carrying everything alone. I would smile. Deep down, I knew she was right. The only problem was... I simply did not know how to be any different.
When I gave my heart to a project, I gave it entirely. I never learned to do things halfway. Perhaps that was my greatest strength. And, at the same time, my greatest weakness. Meanwhile, life in the Pyramid continued at full speed. Every week brought a new idea. A new contact. A new project. A new plan. Sometimes it seemed that we dreamed faster than we could turn our dreams into reality.
Marco was exactly like me in that respect. Before one idea had been fully developed, he was already thinking about the next. His enthusiasm was contagious. But it also drove us to keep challenging ourselves to go further. We were never satisfied with something that was merely "good enough." We always wanted to improve it. That also meant we continued to invest. In new computers. New software. New display systems.
New training. Almost everything that came into the company was immediately reinvested in developing our vision. Some people did not understand that.
"Why don't you take the time to enjoy what you have already built?"
I often heard that question. My answer was always the same.
"Because we haven't finished yet."
Today, I know that every entrepreneur must also learn to stop from time to time. To appreciate what has already been accomplished. I learned that lesson too late. I always lived with my eyes fixed on tomorrow. The present never seemed quite finished to me. There was always something to improve. Always an idea waiting to be developed.
When I think back on those years today, I feel no regret. I feel understanding. Life taught me that success is not only about building something. It is also about preserving balance. Between ambition and rest. Between dreams and reality. Between work and life itself. I would not truly understand that lesson until much later. At the time, I thought time was infinite. That there would always be another tomorrow.
Another project. Another chance. Perhaps that is the greatest illusion of every passionate entrepreneur. We always think there will still be time later. But time that has passed never returns. And yet, if I faced the same choices again, I would once more try to build something that helped other people move forward. Only... from time to time, I would go home a little earlier.
To quietly drink a cup of coffee with Dorina. To listen a little longer to Marco and Michael. To pause more often and enjoy what we had already accomplished together. Because, in the end, it is not buildings that enrich a life. Nor contracts. Nor financial results. It is the people with whom we had the privilege of sharing part of our journey.
That is the greatest wealth I carried away from those years. And it is a wealth no one can ever take from me.