Sometimes I forget how rewarding the startup struggle can be, and sometimes I forget how punishing it can be. Last week I had the opportunity to experience both back to back.

I wrote about it on my blog, http://ezliu.com/the-highest-highs-and-the-lowest-lows/, but I'd like to share here, because that blog post resulted in an outpouring of offers for help and a lot of great conversations with Chicago entrepreneurs, and it was a huge reminder to me that while we're all working on different startups, founders have more in common with one another and we should share in our trials and successes.

The shortest version of the story is that with basically no notice, the Rocket Lease team got booted from the office we were working in.  In fairness, we were donated the space, so it's not that we were upset that we couldn't stay there, it was just that the suddenness threw a wrench in our progress.  We went from having an insanely awesome office for 7 people to being a homeless, nomadic band of guys searching for a place to plug in and snag wifi while trying to procure a new office.

I've been writing publicly about the strategic and development efforts of Rocket Lease, so I wrote about this as well. It was heartwarming to receive notes of encouragement from founders around the country and even more amazing, we got a few offers to temporarily crash in other people's offices while we got our situation sorted out.  We ended up taking a lead in Lincoln Park and we're still trying to sort out a permanent solution, but we have a strong lead that will hopefully end up in a real lease by the end of the week, thanks to a recommendation from another founder.

As founders, we're all fighting the same fight, no matter how different it feels.  I wouldn't have made it this far without without the generosity of others time, money, resources, and mindshare. If you're a fellow founder or want to be a founder, consider this my open invitation to reach out to me in any way that I can be of assistance to you.

--e