Ask HN: Founders: How do you keep going?
Startups are tough, but as PG says in his essays: "don't give up." I'm wondering how other founders keep going when things fall apart.
4 comments
Having recently launched a bootstrapped SaaS app, I go through this a lot. Within the span of a few hours I can go from "This will be the best thing ever" to "This is never going to work. I should give it up and move on" and back again.
A few things help me:
- Tomorrow will be another day. No matter how bad things are today, you'll wake up tomorrow and can start fresh.
- Support. I'm grateful that my wife is very supportive and always seems to say the right thing whenever I have doubts. If you don't have a wife, a close friend who also is a founder helps too. Failing that, I'm also in some private, paid forums with similar people. That helps as well.
- Understand that progress will never be as fast as you want. Keep things in perspective. When I launched my SaaS app on Show HN, I managed to get 3 signups. It may be peanuts for some people but for me it was really exciting. It showed progress and gave me encouragement to continue. Don't compare yourself to others but to your past self. Are you further along that you were a week/month ago? If yes, that's a good sign. If no, it could mean that this startup might not be feasible but it could also mean that you're not putting in the effort or you're putting it into the wrong place.
- Ask yourself "Am I enjoying this?" Even with the ups and downs I go through, I've been asking myself "Am I enjoying this?" and the answer is Yes.
A few things help me:
- Tomorrow will be another day. No matter how bad things are today, you'll wake up tomorrow and can start fresh.
- Support. I'm grateful that my wife is very supportive and always seems to say the right thing whenever I have doubts. If you don't have a wife, a close friend who also is a founder helps too. Failing that, I'm also in some private, paid forums with similar people. That helps as well.
- Understand that progress will never be as fast as you want. Keep things in perspective. When I launched my SaaS app on Show HN, I managed to get 3 signups. It may be peanuts for some people but for me it was really exciting. It showed progress and gave me encouragement to continue. Don't compare yourself to others but to your past self. Are you further along that you were a week/month ago? If yes, that's a good sign. If no, it could mean that this startup might not be feasible but it could also mean that you're not putting in the effort or you're putting it into the wrong place.
- Ask yourself "Am I enjoying this?" Even with the ups and downs I go through, I've been asking myself "Am I enjoying this?" and the answer is Yes.
Also knowing when to tough it out vs. walk away an important question rather than simply 'don't give up'. I've seen someone dedicate for years to an idea that has (in my/friends opinion) little potential. It seems after a couple years they could have moved to the next venture as they are not unskilled. Then they would have better chance rather than going 5+ years on something that is going no-where.
What happens if you are the only ones in the world that can do this? What if it is never built? What if the problems you are trying to solve get worse? How will that affect society in the future? What if you try working on it your whole life and your work inspires someone who changes the world after you are gone?
That is why you go on. Stopping would be ...unbearable.
That is why you go on. Stopping would be ...unbearable.
This is what I am always saying in relation to funding,
even though I usually don't mention it directly.
Any capitalist will profit from backing you through thick & thin.
So much so that you need to choose your capitalist as carefully as they would choose you, or even more so.
All the best.
Any capitalist will profit from backing you through thick & thin.
So much so that you need to choose your capitalist as carefully as they would choose you, or even more so.
All the best.
Paxil