I’ve often joked that I don’t know whether I learn more about parenting from running a startup, or more about startup life from parenting—both are chaotic, all-consuming, humbling, and incredibly fulfilling.

Here are four ways parenting has prepared me for entrepreneurship (and vice versa):

1. It’s all about sales, and kids are the toughest customers.

Nobody teaches you sales skills quite like a 6 year old. They think they know everything. They don’t like trying new things. And they are deeply skeptical of any so-called “expertise” you bring to the table.

I first learned about the presumptive close when I worked at Ecolab. It’s a classic sales technique—don’t ask if someone wants the product. Instead, ask whether they’d like delivery on Tuesday or Thursday. Simple. Confident. Forward-moving.

I perfected that technique not in a boardroom, but at bedtime. “Do you want to brush your teeth first or take a bath?”

The same strategy works with investors, partners, even potential customers. Don’t ask if they’re interested—assume alignment and ask which path forward they prefer. Startups (like parenting) are full of negotiation moments. Learn to read the room, hold your ground, and offer only good options.

2. Organized chaos is the default mode.

You make plans. You build structure. You color-code calendars and project roadmaps. And then life (or your kiddo) throws up—literally or figuratively—on all of it.

Both in parenting and entrepreneurship, you’re constantly reacting to new inputs. Market shifts, investor feedback, website crashes, hand foot and mouth disease.

You learn not to fight the chaos, but to ride it. You get comfortable making decisions with incomplete information. You build muscle memory for ambiguity. You expect the wrenches. You even get nervous if things get too easy! You adapt. You pivot. And you keep moving—because your mission is stronger than the mess. It’s ironic that Camperoni’s mission is helping clean up the parental chaos, but having two mom co-founders, we understand that progress is more important than perfection.

3. If you don’t feel called to it, don’t do it.

No one should become a parent—or start a company—because they think it’s the easiest or fastest path to anything.
If you’re in it for the glory, or the exit, or because it “looks fun,” you will hit a wall—hard and fast.

Both parenting and entrepreneurship are brutal if you don’t feel a deep, inner pull to do them. They require energy you didn’t know you had. They test your values. They redefine your sense of self.

And when it’s 2 a.m. and your baby won’t sleep—or your site just crashed—you need more than caffeine. You need conviction. You need that deep-down why.

I started Camperoni because I know how hard it is to parent school-aged kids. When your child turns five, your job description as a parent shifts from “keep this kid alive” to “make sure they don’t grow into a psychopath” by keeping them active and making friends. There are amazing software tools for pretty much every job on the planet, except for the most common and most important one: parent. That’s unacceptable. That conviction fuels me on the hardest days—just like my love for my kids gets me through the toughest parenting moments.

I believe there’s no greater impact you can have on the world than raising kids. And there’s no greater impact you can have in your career than building something new.

4. You get better at focusing on what actually matters.

In the beginning, everything feels urgent. Every feature. Every milestone. Every marketing channel. Every safety precaution. Every meal they eat. Every rule.

But over time—whether you’re parenting or building a startup—you’re forced to ruthlessly prioritize your time and energy – at work, at home, and between the two. There just aren’t enough hours in the day. And there aren’t enough…cares…to give. And it’s better to do the truly important things right, than to do all the things mostly wrong.

In parenting, that might mean letting the kids stay up late one night for some extra family Monopoly time. In startups, it might mean pushing aside some features you really want to put all your resources behind the one priority that you know is a make or break.

Final thought

If you’ve ever felt like parenting is the hardest job in the world, you’re right. If you’ve ever felt like leading a startup is the hardest job in the world, you’re also right.

And the more time I spend in both jobs, the more I’m convinced that the people best suited to build great companies are the ones who’ve negotiated screen time limits like a hostage negotiator, juggled critical meetings while picking up a sick kid from school, and still manage to raise some pretty awesome kids.