Yknow reading about something is entirely different from experiencing something.
The myriad emotions and deep, deep issues you need to grapple with on an everyday basis, is well…. for lack of a better word. Tough.
It’s very tough. It’s so tough that you actually have a “what the fuck” face after certain episodes smesh you. Like Khabib smesh.
The fact of the matter is that starting a startup is incredibly challenging due to the lack of resources, and even clarity of concrete direction.
It really is the full and unrestrained art of creation – and with that comes untamed chaos and limitations.
It somehow feels very much similar to battlefields – war, guerilla operations. Doing more with less. Being very spartan.
Easy to say, very hard to do. Prioritizing ultimate actions- optimal actions when everything is falling down around you. When the sky is falling down.
Having faith that youre doing your best every single day, every single moment, every single decision. And if you make a mistake nvm, move beyond it. But also not just moving without proper planning or thought. This is the challenge.
This is the true challenge of the startup journey. It’s not the skills. It’s the emotional turmoil. The chaos. And the burden. The grappling of these things, well… are not so easy to surmount.
Truth be told this is what Elon Musk had to say of things:
It’s not for everyone.
No.1 is to have a high pain threshold.
A friend of mine said that starting a company is like eating glass and staring into the abyss.
That’s generally what happens, because when you first start a company there’s lots of optimism. and things are going great. so happiness at first is high.
and then you encounter all sorts of issues, then happiness will steadily decline. and then you go through a whole world of hurt.
(laughs with pain in his soul and eyes)
and then eventually if you succeed (which in most cases you will not succeed)… and Tesla almost didn’t succeed – came very close to failure. And then if you do succeed after a very long time you will finally get back to happiness. (maniac laughter)
0n0 el0N
No. 2 – In the end you got to make sure that whatever you’re doing, it’s gotta be a great product or service.
It has to be really great.
If you’re in an untapped market then the standard you need to hit is lower for your product or service.
But if you’re entering any space where there is an existing marketplace with large, entrenched competitors, then your product or service needs to be much better than theirs.
It can’t be a little bit better. Because then you just put yourselves into the shoes of the consumer and ask “why will I buy if I was the consumer?” you’re always gonna stick with the trusted brand unless there’s a big difference.
So alot of times an entrepreneur comes up with something that’s only slightly better… and it can’t be just slightly better. It’s gotta be a lot better.
No. 3 is to constantly seek criticism. A well thought out critique of what you are doing is as valuable as gold. And you should seek that from everyone you can but particularly from your friends – usually, your friends know what’s wrong. But they don’t wanna tell you because they don’t wanna hurt you.
Generally you should take the approach that you’re wrong. That you as the entrepreneur are wrong. Your goal, is to be less wrong.
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So this is actually a very solid series of advice.
It checks out internally with me – it checks out.
So, yknow. I just need to humble myself. Give it a real push, and it’s absolutely okay to feel this way. Because that’s the challenge of the journey isn’t it.
Afterall, even Elon Musk felt this way.
LOL
YEEEE
Another thing he says is that we should reason by First Principles vs by analogy.
First Principles is a physics based idea – where you look at the fundamental root causes, and build products and services from root causes.
“Boil things down to the most fundamental truths, what are we sure is true, then we reason up from there. That takes a lot more mental energy.”
Nobody wants horses, etc etc – no gasoline, we will never ever get cars.
Progress, happens through first principles.
Forge Principle No. 1 – Reason By First Principles
All entrepreneurs come in all sizes and shapes – but an obsessive nature with regards to the product is very important.
Really liking what you do is very important. If you don’t like it, life is too short. If you like what you’re doing, you think about it even if you’re not working.
Being focused on something that will have high value to someone else, and being rigorous in making that assessment is important. What’s the difference between really believing in your ideals and sticking to them vs pursuing an unrealistic dream.
Must apply critical thinking to what one is doing – the fundamentals of logic – do you have the right axioms, are they relevant, are you making the right conclusions based off those axioms. (I could and should present by axioms)
Wishful thinking is innate in the human brain. So you filter out things that you want to filter out – that’s the most common flaw.
What am I filtering out?
-The service side of things -with teachers and people
If you wanna start a company you need to work super hard.
So what does super hard mean?
So for example when my brother and I started our first company, instead of getting an apartment, we just rented a small office and we slept on the couch. And we showered at the YMCA, and we were so hard up we had one computer.
And so the website was up in the day, and I was coding at night. 7 days a week, all the time. I uh… briefly had a girlfriend in that period, and in order to be with me she had to sleep in the office.
So… work hard like… every waking hour. Particularly if you’re starting a company. So if you do simple math that someone is working 50 hours and you’re working 100 hours, you’ll get twice as much done in the same calendar time.
And the other thing I’d say is that if you’re creating a company or if you’re joining a company, the most important thing is to attract great people.
So either join a group that’s amazing that you really respect, or if you’re building a company you’ve got to gather great people. I mean, all a company is, is a group of people that have gathered together to create a product or service.
and so depending on how talented or hardworking that group is, and how thy are cohesively focusing on a good direction – that will determine the success of the company. So do everything you can to gather great people, if you’re creating a company.
Then I’d say focus on signal over noise. A company usually gets confused about many things – the spend money on things that don’t actually make a product better.
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