

Startups aren’t supposed to be easy - Mystalic
http://stayhustling.com/startups-arent-supposed-to-be-easy/

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zeidrich
There's an idea that hard means you have to ruin yourself to succeed. This is
reinforced culturally, in some situations if you don't portray that image, you
get passed up.

That idea however doesn't always correlate with data. People who overwork
becomes less effective and make poorer decisions than they would if they took
care of themselves.

You can affect the rational side of that argument, by knowing when to set
limits and knowing when it's important to break them. However, the cultural
side of it is a more difficult nut to crack.

There's been a few stories recently about bankers, after the death of Moritz
Erhardt. One of the interesting things about these stories to me is that the
culture expects someone like an intern, who may not even be doing a
considerable amount of actual work, to go through the motions, to be present
all the time, to forego sleep and socializing. Not because it makes them more
effective at their job, but because if they didn't someone else will prove
that they will.

It's an symptom of the scarcity in the system. There are more people vying for
a position than can attain it, so instead of a focus on performance, it's a
performance of one-upmanship.

It's a similar scenario in start-ups. Most start-ups fail. Statistically it's
going to happen. So you need to prove to investors, clients, partners, that
you're better than those that fail. It doesn't matter if you have the best
product on the block if everyone thinks you're likely to disappear off that
block within the next couple of months. Success begets success, and so you put
on your show. You show the others that unlike them, you can do it. You put in
that time not because it makes your offering better, but because it shows to
the rest of the world that you're doing it while they are not.

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jhonovich
The bigger lesson here is not about hard vs easy but the dangerous facade that
many startups create. As Joe says, it forces bad decision hurting the real,
underlying business. I have seen that myself in VC funded companies I worked
for. The company was too focused on creating the appearance of success (which
they excelled at) even though it was fairly clearly undermining our ability to
develop a real business.

~~~
beat
That's what scares me about ever going the VC route. It makes the company
vulnerable to the vagaries of not just product and customers, but a third
party with interests that don't necessarily align.

edit: To phrase it another way, I don't ever want to be in a position where
making investors happy is more important than making customers happy.

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tzury
The title reminds me Chris Dixon's "The default state of a startup is failure"

[http://cdixon.org/2012/05/18/the-default-state-of-a-
startup-...](http://cdixon.org/2012/05/18/the-default-state-of-a-startup-is-
failure/)

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tutacano
My question is: why are you doing a startup in the first place?

If it is to project a sense of coolness and accomplishment or to stroke your
own ego you are doing it wrong. You may win a few popularity contests from
time to time, but you won't build a successful business.

If you have a vision that you really believe in, then focus on that and forget
about the other nonsense.

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a3voices
It's probably 'easy' if you've already made a bunch of successful startups,
and have the confidence to know exactly what to do. Getting that skill set in
the first place is quite difficult though.

~~~
Mystalic
You'd be wrong. Ask second-time founders. While you don't repeat some of your
past mistakes, the expectations get jacked up and the stakes are higher. It
doesn't get easier.

