Another challenge is the ability to keep pushing when things aren't moving forward (and same thing can be said for writers here on Substack!).
It's exciting to see products or people go viral early on, but for 99.99% of the rest of us, there will be no users, customers, views, likes... for a very long time.
It can be incredibly discouraging, and might influence you to give up sooner than you should.
This piece doesn’t just talk about the startup journey, it honors it, in all its messiness, ambiguity, and raw intensity. There’s such a grounding honesty here: a refusal to romanticize or dramatize, and instead a deep respect for what it actually takes to build something from nothing. I found myself nodding through every section: the emotional stamina, the mental flexibility, the unglamorous, relentless learning curve. It’s rare to find writing that holds space for both the idealism and the uncertainty of startup life. Thank you for giving us a window into the real work of becoming a founder, and for making that reality feel human, hard-earned, and somehow still inspiring.
Have faith in yourself! Believe that you CAN DO IT!! Just because it hasn’t happened yet don’t mean that it won’t! People give up too easy and wonder why the next person is successful
Really appreciated how honest and unfiltered this was — startup life is rarely as glamorous as people think. Thanks for sharing the real story behind the dream.
Another challenge is the ability to keep pushing when things aren't moving forward (and same thing can be said for writers here on Substack!).
It's exciting to see products or people go viral early on, but for 99.99% of the rest of us, there will be no users, customers, views, likes... for a very long time.
It can be incredibly discouraging, and might influence you to give up sooner than you should.
I completely agree! It's definitely important to push for a significant amount of time before giving up.
True. For me it's essential to release expectation and not compare to others.
This piece doesn’t just talk about the startup journey, it honors it, in all its messiness, ambiguity, and raw intensity. There’s such a grounding honesty here: a refusal to romanticize or dramatize, and instead a deep respect for what it actually takes to build something from nothing. I found myself nodding through every section: the emotional stamina, the mental flexibility, the unglamorous, relentless learning curve. It’s rare to find writing that holds space for both the idealism and the uncertainty of startup life. Thank you for giving us a window into the real work of becoming a founder, and for making that reality feel human, hard-earned, and somehow still inspiring.
Awesome 🔥🔥
I learned a lot, thanks for sharing.
Great! Are you considering starting a startup?
Glad it was helpful!
Have faith in yourself! Believe that you CAN DO IT!! Just because it hasn’t happened yet don’t mean that it won’t! People give up too easy and wonder why the next person is successful
Really appreciated how honest and unfiltered this was — startup life is rarely as glamorous as people think. Thanks for sharing the real story behind the dream.
Allen,
Thanks for the comment!
Tell me about yourself -- are you a startup founder, or considering being one, or something else?