

The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship - BobbyH
http://www.inc.com/magazine/201309/jessica-bruder/psychological-price-of-entrepreneurship.html

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aznjons
Being a first-time bootstrapper, I am striving very hard to minimize financial
exposure. However, this means that I had to convince my cofounders and team to
work for free; or rather, they agreed to join because they believe in the
vision and for the learning experience and journey rather than for immediate
monetary compensation.

Although they admittedly joined on happily and believe in our potential, I do
struggle with doubt and accountability to them. The article seems to emphasize
the mental strain caused by blows to self confidence or finances, which can
certainly be crippling and terrifying.

However, by minimizing financial exposure and trying to keep a perspective
that protects self-confidence, those are less of a concern to me compared to
facing the possibility of failing my friends who contributed their time freely
and signed on to what was originally my vision.

The pressure and anxiety over prospect of disappointing the friends who became
teammates based on their belief in you and your vision seems hard to avoid. To
be blessed by forgiving loved ones, friends, and teammates is priceless and
the articles recommendation to "Most important, make time for your loved
ones...Don't let your business squeeze out your connections with human
beings...When it comes to fighting off depression, relationships with friends
and family can be powerful weapons." resonates the most.

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joshontheweb
This really rings true for me. I literally found out today that my co-founder
is quitting so he can have a better lifestyle. I'm glad he was honest with me
and I don't harbor ill feelings but it definitely is making me feel very
alone. I'm not sure if I should give up and get a day job or continue on my
own. I feel like taking a job would just cement my failure but maybe that has
already happened. Anyway, this article was pretty timely for me. I think I'll
be scheduling some lunches with friends who I can vent to and try not to keep
it all in.

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subdane
I really wish, as a culture, we celebrated honesty as much as bravery. Good on
Feld and Inc for starting.

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lutusp
> I really wish, as a culture, we celebrated honesty as much as bravery.

But if we did that, we would have nothing to celebrate. Everyone lies, but not
everyone is brave. I invite you to divide bravery by honesty, but watch out
for a divide by zero error.

~~~
subdane
Interesting. Admittedly it gets hard with employees, investors and markets,
which are all prone to emotional decisions. But I think we're messing with our
happiness if we conflate bravery with false courage. Courage/Bravery isn't
about denying fear, it's about not letting fear lead to bad decisions.

