
Ask HN: I hate working alone, but I want to pursue my startup - slagfart
My concept is decent - I&#x27;ve received pre-seed funding from the EU off the back of it, but it now needs full-time attention to get the first customer, probably for the next six months. I&#x27;m prepared to quit my well-paying job to pursue it. I have about 2 years living expenses saved up.<p>But, I&#x27;m an extrovert, and quickly become depressed without being able to have that morning cup of coffee with someone, or to be able to tell someone who cares. I don&#x27;t have a co-founder, and I haven&#x27;t found one who would fit that doesn&#x27;t have something tethering them to a regular paycheck. I can&#x27;t even happily work from home for anything longer than a few days - I get very depressed.<p>Without coworkers, I&#x27;m worried that I&#x27;ll fail. I&#x27;m not worried about hard work - I&#x27;m worried about my own psychological health.<p>I would love to hear some stories, from anyone who has faced a similar situation.
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abrookewood
Why don't you look at a co-working space? You wouldn't need to give up any
equity, but you would get access to some of the social aspects you seem to be
after. They're probably better than simply working in a public setting like a
coffee shop since you'll be mixing with people doing similar things to
yourself.

One thing I would say is that you are wise not to ignore your mental health.
If you already know you are prone to depression when working alone, make sure
you never have to.

Lastly, can you talk to anyone where you sourced the funding? Do they have any
mentors etc? They might have some ideas.

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slagfart
My startup is in Fintech, and my funders are based in Copenhagen. Despite
searching hard for relevant co-working spots there on my behalf, they couldn't
offer me anything.

The language barrier was an issue with Copenhagen too, so I searched hard in
London, but ultimately the cost of living was prohibitive, and I didn't find
the 'vibe' I was searching for either.

I'm now back in Australia, and will take from your comments that I should
search harder for a decent scene domestically.

~~~
igaape
Where in Australia are you based?? I've seen a bunch of really awesome
coworking spaces in Melbourne and can help you get connected to the people I
know.

~~~
scorpioxy
Yeah both Melbourne and Sydney have several places that are decent as per the
people who work there.

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mifreewil
Pretty good advice so far regarding working arrangements. After pursuing a
startup idea for 3+ years and having it not work out, I would also encourage
you to question why it is that you need 6 months before getting an initial
customer. Learn quickly and fail as fast as possible.

1) Can you pitch your idea to customers first to gauge their interest, get
initial feedback before building?

2) Can you presell customers, get something like a letter of intent signed?

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josefdlange
I've been participating on RemoteTogether [1] for a few months now. I live in
rural Texas -- my wife and I moved here for her grad schooling from Seattle --
and locally I haven't really made many friends and it's been a bit of a tough
adjustment from me as I like the city quite a bit more than a rural setting.

RemoteTogether is a good discussion community, and we have a Slack that we all
hang out on. It helps break up the mundanity of working alone at home here.
Come say hi!

[1]: [https://www.remotetogether.com](https://www.remotetogether.com)

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brudgers
Honestly, there's nothing wrong with looking at the situation and saying, "No,
not for me". Plenty of sensible people do. It's quite possible that another
cofounder would not be enough social stimulus for some people.

Realistically, if the company is a startup in the sense of being organized for
large amounts of equity investment and rapid growth, it will probably fail
whether or not there are coworkers [or even cofounders].

I'm not saying don't do it. I'm just pointing out that there is nothing wrong
with coming to a conclusion either way.

Good luck.

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Smushman
My personal solution to the very same problem.

I could see that living this way, thinking this way, was of no benefit to me.
I saw that I would have much greater benefit by breaking the chain of this
behavior, and becoming comfortable in my own skin.

I know that these days, the more common refrain is to 'just be who you are and
let the chips fall where they may'. I realized also though the behavior of
catering to this desire was self limiting. There are many times in life when
you will have to go it alone to be successful.

Just some advice from someone else who solved this differently.

May you have the best of luck, no matter what happens.

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kaishiro
I'm not sure I would call myself an extrovert, but I definitely don't enjoy
working alone in my apartment. For the past two years I've been working almost
exclusively in co-working space and I'm really enjoying it. If there are some
available in your area, I'd suggest auditioning a few of them until you find
one that has the vibe you're looking for. For me, I really needed an open
concept space with communal seating and lots of light, and the space I ended
up has a pretty vibrant community. May need to just shop around a bit. Just an
idea.

~~~
slagfart
Are you working alone, or with/for other people? Do you take intrinsic
satisfaction in the work, or is it the experience of a happy user that drives
you? How do you form bonds with your fellow co-working space users in what is
inherently a temporary location?

Sorry for the question bombardment, and thanks in advance. I'd love to make
this thing work.

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asimuvPR
A dog might be what you need. They can be trained to become therapy dogs[1].
These are used as de-stressing tools in universities, schools, disaster areas,
etc. Dogs provide a level of companionship that is very nurturing to the
heart. :)

[1][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapy_dog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapy_dog)

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kofejnik
I've heard Berlin has a reasonable cost of living and a vibrant startup scene,
also you would be close to Eastern European developers, should you need more
programming muscle

May I ask, how did you get that EU funding? I have a couple projects in mind,
a bit of money won't hurt

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kevinsimper
I have it the same way, I have it best when I have somebody to say goodmorning
to. Btw. I live in Copenhagen as well.

