
Entrepreneurs anonymous - elmyraduff
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21618816-instead-romanticising-entrepreneurs-people-should-understand-how-hard-their-lives-can?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/entrepreneurs_anonymous
======
rdlecler1
We suffer from strong survivor bias. Each day CrunchBase sends me a list of
companies, most that I've never heard of and many that I can't understand how
they're being backed, and it reinforces the idea that you can go out and build
a great product and VCs will rain money down on you on your path to success.
However these are the exceptions that prove the rule.

Some advice from someone in the trenches.

First, assume that you will never raise a dollar of outside Angel or VC money.
Smart, great board, great product, it won't matter. An investor's null
hypothesis is that you will fail and it is incredibly difficult to convince
them otherwise. If you're the CEO and you don't have Brad Pitt like charisma
and you're not a sociopath then it will be very very hard to raise capital.

Second, be prepared for the dreads. The worst part about it is that once these
wounds are opened they will be there for life. You're going to wake up at 4:00
and won't be able to sleep because your mind is churning, trying to find some
solution to your problem. This usually boils down to insipid growth rates and
lack of capital to properly execute.

Third, there will always be 100 things to do and you get to pick 3. What you
have will be imperfect. You won't have the metrics you need, and you'll be
apologizing for everyhing. It also makes it that much harder to get others to
see your vision.

Fourth, the longer it takes you to raise capital the more your team will doubt
your competence.

Fifth, you will be rejected every day. VCs, customers, partners, potential
employees. This takes a massive psychological toll even as you're get back up
to put on that brave face. Unless you are a sociopath it is bound to chip away
at your confidence and it may be that split second of doubt that hurts you in
your next meeting.

~~~
idlewords
If you're awake at 4 AM because of anxiety about growth rate and lack of
capital, make some hot cocoa and then thank God you don't have real problems.

I'm not saying this to be snide. Those problems feel real and scary enough.
But as the other replies to this comment demonstrate, there is a vast spectrum
of human misery that we live on the far end of.

Anything you can do to remain mindful of that will have the side effect of
letting you sleep like a baby, even the night before the big investor meeting.

~~~
feedjoelpie
I don't disagree, but when you're growing and responsible for the economic
livelihoods of several households, it's hard to write your anxieties off as
first world. Because it's not really about you anymore, and a "whatever, I'll
be fine in the end" attitude just feels, selfish? Irresponsible? I think a
great many of us would sleep just fine if we only bore responsibility for
ourselves. I'm not arguing that anyone should be destroying themselves over
their startup, just that writing all the anxieties off as first world problems
just isn't a reasonable ask for founders who care deeply about their teams.

~~~
tptacek
The kinds of people that start tech companies in this economy are among the
most employable people in the entire world. If your company fails, you'll do
the same thing a laid-off steelworker will do: get another job. But of course
you'll succeed at doing that almost immediately.

~~~
lmeyerov
When I talk to other founders about the gut of steel, it's not about the money
but the people.

'Real' founders are fine -- we have a lower expected salary anyways but are
probably extra employable. (Imagine who knows the most about contributing to a
business!)

The issue is that we were the ones who convinced the people we sat down with
to put their eggs in our basket. Investors put in their hard-earned money,
employees devote their precious personal hours and "one shot", and customers
(in B2Bs) put their own businesses on the line. A company is a social bedrock
and we're ultimately responsible.

This stuff can certainly be rationalized away. Professional investors spread
their risk and angels are often in it for the fun, employees get a bundle of a
paycheck, lottery ticket, and personal responsibility, customers make business
decisions, and everyone is getting a seat on the rocket. However, founders are
human and part of that means having empathy.

~~~
tptacek
You made tea shoot out of my nose when I read "Investors put their hard-earned
money...".

------
porter
I used to encourage everyone I know to quit their job and start a company.
Now, after having done just that, I no longer recommend this path. Not because
I regret doing it. In fact, I think it was one of the best decisions I've ever
made. But the road is, as the article says, about as romantic as "chewing
glass."

Sure, there are wonderful days when things are working even better than I had
planned. But then there are also the regular sleepless nights where I wake up
puking, just from the stress. And it's been like this for years. It's a great
path for the right person, but if you need someone to talk you into starting a
business, then you're probably not cut out to be an entrepreneur. Owning a
business isn't all it's chalked up to be. Turns out it ends up owning you. And
yet, there's an amazing satisfaction that comes from entrepreneurship that you
just can't get by working for someone else.

~~~
acgourley
When people ask me if they should start a company, I do a short interview with
them to understand their motivation. It's usually dissatisfaction with their
job combined with a grass-is-greener view of entrepreneurship. I believe in
many circumstances people have a higher chance of finding happiness by pouring
deliberate energy into finding a great job rather than starting their own
company.

~~~
throwaway8137
_I do a short interview with them to understand their motivation._

Could you please try me?

I have a good job as a software engineer at a successful start up. I am
introvert and somewhat shy (although less then I used to be). I don't think
many people could imagine me as a CEO. Nonetheless here are the reasons I want
to start a company:

\- I want to do something meaningful. I don't mean curing cancer, but having
small, positive impact on other people though software. My current job
provides that, but only in very small, indirect way.

\- I need to have as much control as possible over what I work on, if my work
seems pointless it's a huge demotivator for me.

\- My father is an successful entrepreneur and I think that rolemodel
influenced me.

\- I dream of financial independence in my 30ies (working only when I want
to). I know that this is not a good reason, but nonetheless part of my
motivation.

EDIT: I rewrote some of this, because my I failed to express myself in my
first attempt

~~~
graeme
None of these sound like great reasons. I'm four years into starting a
business. Here was my motivation:

    
    
      * A burning desire not to work for anyone else.
      * A desire, not to retire, but to free up time for all the other things I want to do. Chiefly learning.
    

It is impossible to to convey, in writing, how badly I wanted these things. I
had had a small taste of the working world, and couldn't bear the thought of
it.

I wanted to be free of my time. I had read the four hour workweek, and longed
for income to that was mostly automatic.

Your motives don't seem like mine. You sound like you might be a better
candidate for this:

[http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/](http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/)

That's a reasonable guide to retiring in your 30s. The author was a software
engineer. He just reduced his spending and saved a high % of his salary.

~~~
throwaway8137
I think made a really wrong impression in that post. Somehow I can't really
find the right words to express myself right now.

While I understand the appeal of passive income, I think I would rather work
24/7 on something really meaningful.

 _Your motives don 't seem like mine._

That is not necessarily a bad thing. There are many types of entrepreneurs.

~~~
tim333
Maybe try building something on the side in your spare time complimentary to
the business you work for?

------
jasonkester
It doesn't have to be that way. It certainly wasn't for me.

The cool thing about running your own business is that you can run it any way
you like. Yes, you can work 120 hour weeks, lose your wife, and have your
heart attack at 45. But you can also work one 8 hour day per week, with a
quick 10 minute email spin on the other weekdays, and spend the rest of your
time enjoying your life.

Both of those routes will get your product shipped, fit it to the market, and
ramp you up to a full time living if you do it right.

The idea that you have to work yourself into the ground is just a story they
tell people to scare them off. The reality is that entrepreneurship isn't
particularly hard, particularly stressful, or particularly scary. Unless you
want it to be.

~~~
tim333
Having had a look at your website I have to say the whole going off the beach
in Asia and doing some coding stuff seems quite a good idea.

------
paintnp
My standard advice to folks with corporate jobs who want to venture out on
their own is this- hire a couple of guys to vet out your idea. Get the product
market fit right, get the MVP done and have someone start talking to potential
customers while you are still making a salary. If it is difficult to set aside
$5K-$8K per month for this while you are working, it'll be significantly
harder once you are not bringing in anything. One of the biggest lessons for
me when I did my own start up was that no one else is on the same timeline as
you are. They go on their long holidays while you are refreshing gmail every
minute to see whether they replied to your email. All the while, you are
trying to survive on whatever you have in your diminishing bank account. Age
also is a definite factor. If you are in your early twenties and used to
surviving on $1500 of research assistantship from university, it is much
easier to take random bets. You'll only learn from them. Once you are beyond a
certain stage in your life, the equation totally changes.

~~~
tchock23
I used to think this was bad advice (hiring out to others to vet your idea)
and would actively advise startups against it, but the more I work with
entrepreneurs the more I'm coming around to the view that this is a good route
to take for someone who is working full-time and considering jumping off to do
their startup.

By hiring out to vet the idea it reduces the confirmation bias that
entrepreneurs face when researching their own ideas. As you noted, it forces
an upfront financial commitment on the part of the entrepreneur, helping them
realize what it will take to properly fund a startup at scale. It's also a
time saver - trying to talk to potential customers (particularly for B2B
startups) while holding down a full-time job is very difficult.

Of course, the entrepreneur should still be involved to the greatest extent
possible, otherwise any early learning from the customer conversations, MVPs,
etc. is lost...

------
ThePhysicist
As an entrepreneur I agree that our job is probably more demanding and
stressful than your usual 9-to-5 in a big corporation, but I would never say
that we have a hard life. Here's why:

\- We have chosen this path ourselves, nobody forced us to run our own
business and play the startup game.

\- We are able to do something we love all day and possibly even make a lot of
money doing so.

\- We can decide ourselves how much we actually work and how we organize our
life (even if most people pretend they can't).

\- If our business fails, we can (mostly) just go back working in a high-
paying job in industry.

That's not exactly what I call a hard life. If you think it is, you might
wanna take a look outside your IT-/Silicon-Valley bubble, where many people
get up every day at 5 am, work 12 hours in a job they don't like but can't
quit because they need the money and still are barely able to make ends meet.
To them, most of our "problems" would be luxuries to have.

------
jboggan
This is a welcome article to read this week. I'm in the process of winding
down my abortive startup and fielding a lot of questions from confused friends
who think I'm just months away from giving them a ride on my yacht. The
reality is much, much different. I look forward to having a fulltime job again
and having time for music.

------
idlewords
Focusing on the hardships of entrepreneurship is just a different way of
romanticizing it.

~~~
wuliwong
Absolutely. I felt the part about the guy becoming an alcoholic because he
became an entrepreneur to be really over-the-top.

------
fapjacks
Maybe it's my own history and previous life path, but starting a business with
a best friend has been one of the mots natural and fun things I've ever done.
There are obstacles, and I'm sure the road is rough going for a lot of
entrepreneurs, but... This has been the best kind of work I feel that I will
ever do, with respect to my own life goals. It takes a certain type,
certainly.

That being said, and as a print subscriber to The Economist, I was a bit
overwhelmed by this article, which reads like propaganda or cult literature.
What I do is hard work, sure, but society doesn't owe me respect for all my
hard work (and sympathy for my sacrifices) anymore than they owe farmers or
factory workers. And definitely not as much as the guys working on the garbage
trucks.

------
Sealy
> Would-be entrepreneurs need to have a more measured view of the risks
> involved before they start a business. But society also needs to have more
> respect for people who put their lives on the line to build something from
> nothing.

Anyone entering the startup space thinking their lives will be easier is going
in with their 'eyes wide shut'. Having said that, if you manage your own
personal expectations of being the next Mark Zuckerberg and are realistic,
then you should manage.

Always make sure you have more money then you think you need to prove your
concept, always estimate longer then you need and always listen to what your
body says it needs.

Great article.

------
iamshs
I am also on the verge of starting a company, and it makes me afraid. More so,
upon reading this thread. Looks like there are lot of entrepreneurs in this
thread, so some advice maybe good for me. I have identified a pain point in a
present system at my company, and since then got to know that this is a
industry wide problem. My employer would not solve this issue, and would not
give me permission to build it on my own time, as one of my colleague
suggested the same six months back and they were not enthusiastic and would
not release him from the specific clause in the job's terms and conditions.
One of my Managers, who left the company, and is still on good terms with me
proposed the idea to his company and the company wants to see the initial
prototype. I have none at this point, so will need to develop it.

The problem is, I cannot forego my job income because of upcoming personal
situation. Potential customer will not give me lump sum money, and wants to
hire me as a consultant, but then I would not be able to sell it to other
customers. If I build the product in my spare time, my employer owns it as it
is directly in company's field of operation. Angel networking people I have
talked to have also asked for a working prototype, but I have none and for
building one a good developer will be needed.

So can somebody please give some suggestions on this? Or if someone from
Edmonton or Alberta is reading this please get in touch with me @
msedm@outlook.com .

~~~
fractallyte
Actually, this sounds like a non-problem.

The most crucial first step is to change your frame of mind: you're not bound
to any employer, and your personal time is _entirely_ your own.

Develop a prototype in your own time, get lots of feedback to improve it, and
suddenly all sorts of avenues and options will be open to you.

You could license it back to your company (for a price); if that's rejected,
go somewhere else. It certainly sounds as though there's a gap in the market,
so the obvious thing to do would be to fill it - ASAP.

Think of it this way: you're working your way toward financial freedom. Why
allow anyone to put obstacles in your way?

~~~
tim333
I think iamshs was saying " If I build the product in my spare time, my
employer owns it as it is directly in company's field of operation"

Maybe iamshs could switch to another job, perhaps something a bit more part
time without the non competes and build the thing on the side then?

~~~
iamshs
Yup, my job's clause states that any product directly aligned with company's
processes will be owned by the company, even if built away from company's
property.

That is what I was thinking, of changing jobs. I have talked to lot of friends
and they all have this clause as a standard. I think going part-time is a good
suggestion. Because even yesterday I had a chance meeting with one of local
company's director and he was also up to see the product and said if I "build
it solidly, _company_ will be my first flag". I want to build this thing ASAP.

------
Kaihuang724
As a person hoping to start my own business within the next couple of months,
this scares me quite a bit.

Honestly the entire notion of building my own company and not having the
security of a stable paycheck is frightening. But even taking that into
account, it doesn't diminish my desire to keep following this path regardless
of the risk and warnings I've frequently heard.

Maybe this means I'm "over optimistic" bordering on "completely delusional"
but I'll be damned if I don't try and make this work anyways.

~~~
kordless
The terms optimistic and delusional describe the two states of hypomania.
Hypomania can be managed through good diet, exercise, meditation and other
things that have absolutely zero to do with your business and everything to do
with you. However, you are what makes your business successful at the end of
the day. Manage it like you manage your business.

------
thallukrish
It is a game of survival. You have to try several tricks to keep yourself
afloat until you reach what you call as success. Being lean (in my case I am a
single founder), fit physically and mentally (I did not do this so
aggressively when I was employed:-), keeping track of your expenses (some sort
of cash flow), going for little money once in a while in a consulting mode,
having sufficient capital to not disturb your family all and more are needed
till you think you have reached the point where you have exhausted all options
- research, market, positioning, customer demos , partnering and so on.

------
thewarrior
The article cites Aaron Levie as an example.

Someone in his 20s who has already raised hundreds of millions of dollars and
is already a millionaire.

Hardly the example of the struggling entrepreneur the article is warning us
about.

------
jcavin
I really like the part of the article that talks about taking breaks.
Entrepreneurs = work hard. I am a big believer in working on nights when
others are having a good time, but you got to take care of yourself. Burning
out only slows you down ultimately.

I like to surround myself with family and activities I love to recharge my
battery. Often when I come back to working on my project the creative ideas
come flowing out.

~~~
maaku
> Entrepreneurs = work hard

Not if you're picking your battles, planning ahead, and executing right.

[I assume you mean "work late". There's nothing wrong with working hard, 9-5,
5 days a week.]

The entrepreneur is the responsible one that will work hard and work late when
he has to. The trick is never having to.

------
wsr
As a fellow serial entrepreneur, it seems to me that between success, sleep,
and living the life, you can only pick 2 out of the three.

~~~
Kaihuang724
I hope "living the life" means living how you want it and not really the
traditional notion of living luxuriously. I personally want to start a
business to have an impact and to build something other people want to use.
That would be living the life for me, regardless if I'm sipping Pina Coladas
on the beach by noon.

------
simonswords82
The Economist is one of my favourite magazines. Their rhetoric never waffles
or glosses over issues. A good example from this article:

"Management literature is full of guff about how entrepreneurs should embrace
failure as a “learning experience”. But being punched in the face is also a
learning experience."

~~~
wuliwong
I actually did some fighting and getting punched in the face really is the
best learning experience when the goal is to learn how to protect yourself. If
we didn't throw real punches than we would never learn how to handle real
punches. And sometimes you got hit...in the face.

------
kordless
> make time to exercise and learn to relax

This is the #1 priority for me now.

------
taksintik
tl:dr - balance your mind and body.

------
thegenius
The hardest thing about entrepreneurial success for me personally is the envy
it has generated. I wasn't prepared for it.

When I first started seeing results in my business, I quit my job and was able
to spend a lot of time doing whatever I wanted. My wife would post pictures of
us constantly going on day trips and vacations. It pissed some important
people in my life off, and they became very passive aggressive towards me.

It's easy for people who haven't experienced it to assume it's easy to ignore,
but when your family members start off by criticizing you, then doubting you,
then watching you succeed beyond what they could have imagined, they can end
up feeling extremely violated.

I spent the first two years feeling sorry for myself that so and so wasn't
talking to me. Now, I've moved on and am stronger than ever.

~~~
ggreer
I'm sorry some of your relationships suffered due to your success. I doubt
I've been as successful as you, but some people have reacted similarly in my
life. I think it can help to view some forms of envy as a mental illness.[1]
It's not your fault they're behaving that way, so don't take it personally. If
these people are important to you, keep trying to reach out. They might come
around eventually.

1\. It's important to separate good and bad forms of envy. Bad envy involves
wishing misfortune upon someone. Good envy doesn't. Many people envy Elon
Musk, but don't wish him any ill and want him to succeed.

~~~
thegenius
I want to comment on this. While many people do envy Elon Musk, you're talking
about the ones who admire him, and there is a big difference as you mention
before that.

I don't know why I'm wired the way I am, but I'm just not susceptible to envy
--at all. However, I hardly think that most people successful or otherwise are
like me. In fact, I'd say a good bit of successful people are so _because_ of
their envy.

Envy is the worst of the 7 deadly sins. It's like Charlie Munger says, "It's
the only deadly sin you're not going to have any fun with."

~~~
ggreer
I guess we're using different definitions. By "good envy" I meant wishing you
were in the envy-ee's shoes, or at least wanting to live a similar life. I
agree that such sentiment can drive people to accomplish more than they
otherwise would.

------
wuliwong
The implication that this gentlemen became an alcoholic because he quit his
corporate job and became an entrepreneur seems pretty far fetched. The guy was
probably either already an alcoholic or didn't actually become one. There's a
huge difference between drinking to cope with stress and drinking because you
are an alcoholic. The latter needs no stress to cause him/her to drink.

~~~
richardjordan
I don't think you're correct here.

The stresses of being an entrepreneur take a tremendous toll and given the
risk-taking nature of the condition (entrepreneurialism) I absolutely see
those stresses lead to dangerous and addictive behaviors in those who follow
an entrepreneurial path - whether it's drugs, drink, sex or gambling I have
seen all behaviors triggered in individuals.

The absolutism of your position on what does/does not constitute an alcoholic
and what triggers the behavior is misplaced.

~~~
wickedOne
i think what he's trying to say is that becoming an alcoholic over a stupid
decision and the resulting stress is a bit far fetched…

i second that; you might increase the amount you're drinking on a dailly basis
for a bit of relief, but that has absolutely nothing to do with being an
alcoholic.

~~~
wuliwong
Yes, I'm trying to say that being an entrepreneur is stressful but it is just
so glorified in our circles. This is one of the biggest reasons I wanted to
leave the ivory tower of academia because I was so tired of the incestuous
little circles of grad students and professors telling each other how much
smarter than everyone else they were.

I have 15 years of experience working with drug addicts and alcoholics and the
stresses that I hear people trying to get sober have dealt with are often
rape, abuse suffered as a child, molestation suffered as a child, loss of a
parent when they were very young or just growing up in an alcoholic home. You
must be able to admit that these stresses dwarf "being an entrepreneur." In
comparison, most people handle starting their own business without it wrecking
them but very few people can handle getting raped, or abused as a child
without some really serious psychological consequences.

And there are always outliers and exceptions but if that is all this guy is,
then it seems pretty disingenuous to use him in an article like this.

