I work with very early-stage ventures as a 0-2 principal product manager. I’ve been doing this 2 decades & have a couple of successful exits but I have also been fired, laid off, let go and ghosted in all kinds of acquisitions, company crises, & hostile takeovers. Here is my day zero routine for when work ends. Becuase when you work at a startup, most come to an end.

Step 1: Feel the feels. I go outside, mist my ferns and let my feels run wild. I let all of the sadness of things undone pass through me like bad gas from a spicy burrito. Tomorrow is a new day but today my feelings need space. What they do not need is a telephone. I turn off my phone for the rest of the day.

Step 2: I make a short-term (now to end of month), medium term (1-3 months) and longer term plan (3+ months). My plan is based on my current financial runway, self-esteem needs, & professional goals. My current plan has 8 SMART goals, scoped to reality (i.e, what's realistically feasible). I include new things I want to learn. Last time I was laid off I took the opportunity to go deep in to a very demanding VR/AR class from MIT. This time I am thinking Product Management for ML/AI. Other skills I should consider?

Step 3: Apply for unemployment. Let go of all non-essential subscriptions. Bye Netflix. End all subsciptions except for Strava and the NYT as slow running/cycling+fact-based journalism = mental health.

Step 4: Reflect. it's probably not me; it's most likely them, but just in case… 99% of new ventures fail due to leadership, financial management, poor market validation, & bad business model design. Almost none fail becuase of the employees but still…what could I have done differently in my own role as a principal PM? Today I realized I was not paying nearly enough attention to that small voice inside which kind of told me this day was coming a while back. Oof.

Step 5: Set up job hunt database (Notion). After each layoff I go look at the previous job hunt database (i have about 8 by now). Today I noted that about 50% of the companies I applied to previously no longer exist. Hm. Would I still be right where I am today looking for a new gig? For some reason this makes me feel less bad.

Step 6: Figure out my free hours for founders. I don’t network; I get to work. I volunteer my time to female founders whenever I have the time and bandwidth. I have helped more than 25 startups iterate or pivot to PMF in the last decade; 90% of that as a volunteer Product Manager for self-funded founders. Volunteerring aiwht people who are using their own money has ultimately given me a level of expertise not possible as a FTE or contractor & it’s much more engaging than casual networking. I don’t do free work when for potential employers but for my community? Every chance I get.

In any case, this how I cope with all the feels, fears, uncertainties, and the million other questions in the hours after i am let go.

What's your routine or actions you take day zero-the day before the new job hunt starts?