The best way to describe running a startup is by comparing it to a ticking time bomb in a James Bond movie. For some reason you’re never able to deactivate the bomb until the last possible second.
In movies they do it to create suspense for the audience but in startups I feel like “they” are just trying to give me a heart attack.
What you have to be willing to accept if you want to become successful as a startup founder is the chaotic way in which everything happens and the uncertainty that comes along with it. Countless times has my bank account been completely empty, all my credit cards maxed out and I about to have a nervous breakdown from not being able to pay the bills when all of a sudden the sale I had been working on for months finally closes.
It can be very stressful and uncomfortable, specially for a guy like me that’s used to having everything planned out and organized. I don’t know why you always have to be walking on the edge when running your startup, but that seems to be the only way it works.
Maybe I should just be thankful that my ticking time bomb stops at 00:01 instead of blowing up in my face killing everything I have worked towards for the last few years.
The fact is that 90% of startups fail so maybe those 10% that actually succeed are the ones that are willing to fight long after they´ve finished all their money, energy and sanity. The ones that stay behind to deactivate the bomb while everybody else runs away.