

"Startup rollercoaster" isn't even the half of it - Swizec
http://swizec.com/blog/startup-rollercoaster-isnt-even-the-half-of-it/swizec/2712

======
inuhj
"Definitely the hardest year of my life, but I wouldn’t have it any other
way."

The last line gave me pause and catapulted me in to the reply box when I had
no intention of being here. But now that I'm here I'm going to give you my
0.02.

It is OK to regret the mistakes you've made.

There are plenty of awful things you did over the last year. Some were done
with malice and some had more innocent intentions. Either way, I wouldn't
accept "I'm happy where I am now" or "I've learned a lot since then" as a
valid reason to not have regrets. Saying that you have no regrets shows a lack
of awareness about how your actions have affected others and, in your case,
borders on tasteless. You don't regret hurting her? You don't regret burning
bridges with your past employer?

The reason that I write this is that I want to encourage you to not settle for
aphorisms in place of real reflection about how you really feel about the last
year. Your regrets shape your future. It's important to pay them their due.

~~~
accidc
off topic but to me living with no regrets does not mean literally that.
Sometimes it means not regretting just one of action/outcome. Sometimes it
means knowing that you did to the best of your abilities. And sometimes it
means (eventually) accepting your fallibility.

e.g: not too happy about taking that chance, but happy that had the courage to
take that chance.

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redguava
Thanks for the honest recap, but the concerning bit is that you don't leave
previous arrangements in a good way.

\- Kicked out of the startup you were working on

\- Cheated on girlfriend before leaving her

\- Left job without notice and ignored emails

This stuff will catch up with you. I would recommend leave previous
engagements with integrity or you will start having trouble in future due to
reputation.

~~~
Swizec
The startup situation is a bit more complex. I certainly wasn't going to just
drop what I considered to be pretty much my whole life for a year and a half
and I had the largest stake in. In the end it was really more of an amiable
agreement that we can't work together anymore and that I will repay my debt by
turning over my share of the company.

The others are also quite rare occurences. This was the first and probably
last job I have ever left without notice or in such a silly manner as not
responding to emails.

Cheating ... yeah, no excuse there.

------
0x12
Hey Swizec,

Congratulations on holding out this long given the amount of headwind that
you've been experiencing.

What strikes me is that some of that headwind seems to be of your own making
and that maybe if you changed your mindset just a little bit that things will
go much better for you.

~~~
Swizec
Yep, I seem to have a tendency to shoot myself in the foot sometimes.

It's getting better though :)

------
felipemnoa
>>I had that pesky school to finish!

Why work at it while already doing the startup?

~~~
Swizec
Because I find education to be as important as it is fun. Furthermore it tends
to help financially to have a student status.

That's the gist of it, got into a bit more detail in a blogpost once:
[http://swizec.com/blog/doing-a-startup-taught-me-the-
value-o...](http://swizec.com/blog/doing-a-startup-taught-me-the-value-of-
staying-in-school/swizec/1819)

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steve8918
I'm not familiar with the author, but from the post, I gather he is from
Europe. Is he working freelance gigs in the US while on an H1B for another
gig? If so, I would be careful, things like that can get him banned from
entering the US for 10+ years...

~~~
Swizec
It's a bit different since I'm not physically in the US.

