Quote: (08-02-2018 03:47 PM)scengja Wrote:100% dude.
Nice thread, and I can relate to a lot of things said as a founder myself. When people ask me about the most surprising thing you learn after you start a business I always say the same thing: I did not expect it to be such a fucking emotional roller-coaster. The moments of doubt will be loooong and brutal (for many people it will never go away regardless how big your company gets). Too often my mood is directly related to my sales: sales suck one week I mentally start preparing to sleep under a bridge. Sales pick up, I start googling the best jet share programs.
I have finally reached a level now after 4 years of constant hustling where I make more than I would at a normal job. During this time it has been very rare that I work-work more than 8 hours a day but of course you are in some ways "always" working: If I am at the gym I listen to some industry podcast, and in the evenings you are always responding to some emails.
One big realization is that depending on what you are doing, aka "the idea", the resistance will wary a lot. Keep this in mind when you are starting out. The rewards will not be proportionate to the work put in. There are hard and there are really fucking hard ways to make money. In an ideal world follow the principles in Thiel's From Zero To One (or at least some of them). However never get TOO hung-up on "the idea" when starting out, doing is all that matters. I stopped listening to friends a long time ago who try and pitch me something after a few drinks if I know that they have no history of executing ideas.
So is it all worth it? For me at least there are just no options. Going back to selling my time for money at a corporate job? The idea honestly seems absurd to me now.
I compare starting out to making a go kart in your shed, and then riding down a super massive hill.
Every second you are wondering "Are the freaking wheels going to fall off this thing or am I going to be ok?". It's just a perpetual uncertainty. You can't plan anything because you literally have no idea what your financial future holds.
You're right though. It does get better and things start levelling out and becoming more predictable. You have to just commit to that first 3-5 years of breaking your balls to figure things out and evolve yourself first