What 6 Years of Building Really Feels Like
Six years ago, Loline started with big dreams, limited resources, and way too much confidence for people running on little sleep. This year wasn’t the easiest. Some plans failed. Some people disappeared. Some expectations humbled us very quickly. But through all the chaos, one thing stayed the same but we kept building. This is not a success story wrapped in perfection. It’s a reflection on growth, setbacks, rebuilding, and learning how to keep going even when things don’t go as planned.
It’s been a while since I actually put pen to paper to write how I feel. No sarcasm. No jokes. No trying to make people laugh every two lines.
And if you know me personally, you probably know I joke through almost everything. So if you came here expecting memes and unnecessary humor… this might disappoint you a little. Don’t worry, the jokes will return next week like a seasonal disease.
But this is me. Unwrapped. In 2026.
I remember this exact time last year. We were excited. Like genuinely excited. We were about to release a documentary and share the story of how a bootstrapped startup from Addis Ababa was growing into something real. I remember doing the final edits late at night, running on caffeine, bad sleep, and blind optimism. The perfect startup combo.
Fast forward to today and I’m still in the office. Alone, of course. Honestly, I enjoy that part a little too much. Sitting here thinking about everything and deciding to write this.
I know most people are confused about what exactly I do. To be fair, sometimes even my relatives explain my work better than I do. But I also wanted to talk about what this year has been like.
2017 was fun.
2018? Ah. 2018 came with character development.
Things didn’t really go as planned. In work. In life. In expectations. And yeah, challenges are part of life, but somehow you still expect things to magically work out because you “manifested” them at 2AM while listening to adrobeats music.
Some things failed apart. Some plans didn’t happen. Some things I wanted badly just didn’t work the way I imagined. Not because I was in a terrible place, but because I couldn’t reach where I wanted to be yet. And that “yet” can be frustrating.
One thing I learned this year is when things fall apart, a lot of people disappear too. Funny how silence gets louder when you’re struggling. And when your head is down, people suddenly find your back very comfortable to step on.
Thankfully, I picked my head back up.
And I’m building again.
Honestly, I’m glad some of these things happened. Pain has a very annoying way of teaching lessons success never does. Every disappointment sharpened something in me. Every setback forced me to rethink, rebuild, and grow.
And at the end of it all, I still believe the same thing I believed when we started:
Do one thing better tomorrow than you did today, and eventually things change.
Happy 6th anniversary to Loline.
Still here.
Still building.
Still figuring things out.
And somehow still paying for some AI subscriptions.
Way more to go.
