Dear SaaStr: Could you talk about your experience with the downside of entrepreneurship or startups?
The “downside” of entrepreneurship is that it changes you.
Not immediately, but sometime around 24 months in:
- You will think about your start-up close to 24×7. You might only work 40 hours a week. You can’t work constantly. But in your quiet moments, on a run, in the shower … you’ll be thinking about your start-up.
- Your family won’t understand. They won’t get why it consumes so much of your mind. You’ll sort of drift a tiny bit more apart because of this.
- You’ll drift away from non-core friends. You just won’t have as much in common anymore. But you’ll make great work-related friends.
- Your brain will be rewired. You’ll be more intense. You’ll have so many “almost failing” experiences, you’ll approach life differently. You’ll see it in part as a series of crises to be pushed through.
You will also feel so much more alive. You’ll have real, important, meaningful challenges to work on every day of your life.
Is it worth it?
If you truly have to ask, the answer might be no.
