
What's the scariest part of starting a company? - damonpace
+1&#x27;s for describing how to overcome those fears.
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mottomotto
It hasn't been very scary. It's been pedestrian to be honest. I faxed in some
details with my credit card, got an account setup with the state, sent in my
business paperwork, paid the fees and... Company started. I did this a couple
years after getting the product going. I waited until we actually had checks
to cash that required a business checking account. After I had my paperwork
from the state, I got a FEIN online, filed my federal tax return for last year
(no income), and opened a business checking account.

There isn't any magic to it.

If you add VC money into the mix, odds are you will fail and have a lot of
stress failing. Or you can go bootstrap something and have a lot less stress
and still be successful even if your company only makes $400,000 - a couple
million a year. Odds of success are still not extremely high. But I think it's
a better angle. I moved to the SF Bay Area and worked at startups for a while
to get a feel for if I was wrong to think bootstrapping was better. I left
much more assured that I was right.

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twobyfour
Opportunity cost. Is this the company I should be starting instead of another
one? What if it fails? Would I be better off just taking a steady job?

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mattbgates
Right now, I've started the company, I've got most of the products done.

My biggest fear right now is that I missed something in regards to the payment
process, as I've developed several SaaS applications, with recurring fees, but
I've also added some upselling points in there, so I'm just hoping everything
works out. In my testing, Stripe has pretty much been on point, save for a few
of my own miscalculations or errors. But having Stripe work with my database
and doing all the checks to make sure no one is getting the product completely
free (due to a bug) has definitely wracked my nerves and caused some delays in
the whole process, aside from life happenings.

How I've gotten through it is by releasing additional products, free products
usually, to see how the reactions have been, and generally, it has been well
received. Just working on things that take my mind off of it, but have similar
functions or features has actually helped me improve my code, so I've gone
back and optimized it. It is helping me to get over my fear of screwing up
something beyond any point of return, as I can always go in and fix it,
whether I have to make a change to the code, the database, or even in Stripe
itself.

It can be pretty nerve wracking sending off products into the wild, not
knowing how they will be received, if people would pay, if pricing is right,
etc. But for the most part, seeing competition out there actually does help,
knowing other people have already done what I am doing helps put my mind a
little more at ease. I also believe that there are 2 types of people in the
world of SaaS: those who give it a chance, even if it might have a bug here or
there, and those who don't. The best customers are the ones who understand
that no product is perfect, but as long as you're trying, and actively care
about addressing their concerns, you are likely to have more success.

I think the next of my concerns.. is going to be Marketing.

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mengledowl
Fear of public failure.

I had a startup for a while and this was something I battled with a lot. It's
one thing to have a little side project that no one knows about and that you
can just pass off as something for your "off-time". When you start a company
though, you make a public statement to the world in some form or fashion that
you are building this thing and you believe in it's ability to make money. And
not just that - you believe that it can and will be successful. People tend to
start judging you right then and there. It's pretty difficult at times to
handle that on its own - and then the doubts come, and the fears of how it
will reflect on you if you fail.

"What if some technical challenge is too much and I can't get it to work?"

"What if I release it too early/ and no one uses/pays for it?"

"What if I never get past that first user or first 10 users?"

"What if people see me fail at this and then feel justified in thinking that
I'm an idiot?"

They all boil down to fear of failure. The biggest thing to realize is that
failure is the path to success and to reframe how you view it. Failure is the
beginning, not the end. The end is defeat - when you decide not to stand back
up again. And the people who are judging you? They are generally just
insecure. I heard a quote once (not sure where it comes from) that says
something to the effect of how the greatest treason a crab can commit is
attempting to escape the bucket. If you watch them in a bucket, when one tries
to get out, the others will pull them back down. That's how a lot of people
behave as well - they will judge you for your failure and try to bring you
back down to their level. Just realize what is happening, and reframe failure
as a growth opportunity. You can't really lose then - if you fail, you've
grown and learned something, and if you don't, well... Then congratulations,
you've "won", so to speak.

It comes down to this: you will learn a lot from building a company, and those
hard-earned lessons will only help you. Embrace failure and you are 10 steps
ahead of those who run from it, because you're stepping into the arena and
they're not.

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muzani
The responsibility. Especially for CEO.

There's nobody left to cover you. Nobody to blame for a bad decision, or even
for a lack of decision.

When things aren't going well, it's all you and your flaws. When your spouse
is asking how you pay the bills, you can't blame anyone but yourself for the
salary you take in.

When things go very well and suddenly a competitor or market shift blindsides
you, it's all your fault for not acting on it earlier.

When you take a major gamble and fail, it's you. Or even if you don't take any
gambles, your fault for being a coward.

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mcherm
Not having a reliable income, in exchange for receiving stock that is (if you
aren't lying to yourself) extremely likely to be worthless.

How to overcome: Don't. Stay employed in a traditional job. I mean, except if
you have the most AMAZING idea and the PERFECT team to execute, and you are
just SO JAZZED about it that you couldn't even CONSIDER passing up the
opportunity. And if that is how you feel about it, then you might be on the
right track.

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softwarefounder
Being 100% responsible for any failures (bugs in the code, missed promises and
deadlines, etc), and having no padding between you and the client.

Overcome this by being painfully detail orientated. And never sub-contract,
except to _extremely_ trust sources.

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segmondy
Ignorance, you don't know what you don't know, even if it's what you need to
know.

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leon_sbt
It's definitely the opportunity cost, like twobyfour said.

What if you fail publicly?

Who cares. As long as you do not have a big ego, or talk more than you walk
(I'm looking at you Theranos). Then nobody is going to judge you. It's 2017,
apparently starting your own business and "pivoting" (ie failing) is what all
the cool kids are doing.

If someone puts you down and blindly says that you are going to fail. Then
stop talking to them, and get them out of your life. They are probably too
small minded to have a legitimate conversation with anyways. (At least in my
experience)

What if you go broke?

That's fine. How much money does it take for you to be truly happy, with no
external influences? For me, I need a workshop, a laptop,the gym, the local
library, and my significant other. I can theoretically sustain that lifestyle
working a minimum wage job full time. Not being spartan, just minimally
comfortable.

So if I go broke, I know I have the skills and work ethic to make at _least_
what a full time min wage worker makes per month. So in my mind, money doesn't
matter.

(This changes a lot if you have kids. On the flip side, if you go broke your
kids will have such an enormous respect for money, that they will probably be
financially responsible when they are adults. In a really twisted way,you
might be doing your kids a favor by going broke.

Opportunity cost?

This is the real killer. Let's say your 25 years old. You start your company
and put 5 years into it.

Now your 30. Your business isn't a unicorn, but you didn't explicitly fail. So
lets say your making $150k profit a year (non-passive), working 40+/hrs a
week. Plus the weight of the business on your shoulders. You look at your
buddies working at Google/FB/MS/AMZ, they are pulling in $250k+, working less
hours with less stress, and they spend more time with friends and family. Your
other buddy wanted to bring you into his early stage business when you were
25, you declined and still struck it out on your own. Your buddy just made a
7+ figure exit.

Did you make you make the right choice 5 years ago? This hypothetical question
is what keeps me up at night.

Here's what scares the hell out of me. Once you lose time, you will NEVER get
it back. You are that much closer to being dead.

How do I deal with it? Ask yourself this question. Am I happy(but stressed)
right now? If you say yes, then nothing else matters.

When I was working for the Fortune 500's, I would look out the window and wish
I was working on my own project with my own terms. That's what I'm doing now.
After starting my business,I never for a second, wished I was working for a
Fortune 500. I only wanted the Fortune 500 paycheck, not the daily
work/routine/office politics.

Perspective is an incredibility underrated way to manage stress.

