Maxim Poulsen

2023 was my best year so far.

But it wasn’t all sunshine & rainbows:

→ Personal

+ I worked on making myself happy.
+ I lived abroad for the first time in 15y.
+ I discovered a beautiful country & culture.
+ I took care of my health. And a better diet.
+ I cut down on drinking (less than once/week).

- I still drink more often than I probably should.
- I didn’t go to the gym as much as I planned.
- More time spent working than w/ friends.
- I struggled to maintain motivation.
- I still overthink way too much.


→ Professional

+ 4x monthly recurring revenue.
+ We closed our first big US deals.
+ First signs of success with our SEO.
+ New successful GTM initiative (Sales).
+ First successful year of making $ online.

- Startup Growth is hard. It made me doubt.
- To be an employee. Or work for myself?
- I lost 4 big deals (that we needed).
- I lacked organization. It hit hard.
- I had doubts about my value.


→ LinkedIn

+ 9 million total views.
+ More writing for “myself”.
+ 3.4x follower growth (+30k).
+ I made some amazing new friends.
+ Confidence in my creator-audience fit.

- Motivation dips with algorithm changes.
- 7 high-effort posts didn’t perform.
- Slower growth induced doubt.
- Not enough “new” content.
- I ignored too many DMs.

We all love to share the good.
Or rather — it’s hard to share the bad.

But without both sunshine and rain there would be no rainbows.

What's 1 good & 1 bad thing about your year?