Something I’ve come to learn about founders is that, for most of them, even if this path wasn’t their first choice, they’d still tell you they wouldn’t trade it for anything. They’ll also be the first to admit it’s really hard — that this path asks more of them than they thought they had to give. But there’s something in that discomfort that makes them feel alive. And for some founders, comfort isn’t peace — it’s paralysis.
For Bryce DeCora, that moment came at Boeing—steady paycheck, proud parents, and a creeping sense that his work was lacking purpose. The pain of staying put finally outweighed the fear of leaving. And in that space between stability and self-belief, he built the first pieces of what would become CloseBot.
Bryce’s path looks clean in hindsight—engineer to software tinkerer to founder of an AI company that helps small businesses grow. But what struck me in our conversation wasn’t the linearity. It was the chaos he chose to keep moving through: the months spent teaching himself the skills he needed, the pressure of raising money from people who believed in him, and the quiet shift from builder to leader. It’s a reminder that entrepreneurship isn’t just about what you create — it’s about who you become when things are challenging and you have to keep going anyway.
The truth is, every founder hits that point when curiosity collides with responsibility, and you have to decide whether you’ll keep building even when there’s no proof yet that it will work. This conversation is about that moment — the faith to keep going, and the quiet transformation that happens when you do.
Connect with Bryce: