You're almost there. Why stop now? It's not all that bad and you've come so far. It's like giving up on a marathon when the finish line is just coming into vision. Suck it up. Put your head down and focus on finishing.
Ask HN: Demotivated Founder With Lost Passion Seeking Advice
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Re: Ask HN: Demotivated Founder With Lost Passion Seeking Advice
#12You've put in the time, and you haven't seen the rewards yet, so you're naturally discouraged. Tim Ferris covers it well on his blog (link below). Mostly everyone goes through phases where they are unmotivated or feel like they can't win at what they are doing. It's part of life. The important thing is not to give up on it before it has a chance to even take off. You'll hate to be asking "what if" later on if you decide to move on.
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/10/03/harnessing-e...
Re: Ask HN: Demotivated Founder With Lost Passion Seeking Advice
#13(b) Bring in a 3rd Party.
Importantly - Someone you both agree on - Not because they agree with you individually, but because you both recognise they can add value. Someone complimentary to your skills - maybe totally different skills - maybe a customer, or someone who's been in the business for years and can give advice.
They don't need to take a third of the company, or even be full time - they just need to be another invested person. A hands-on angel investor might suit this bill.
Having a third party with a different perspective will help you smooth over disagreements and deadlocks. As always - absolutely critical who you choose to go into business with, so not a decision to take lightly.
Re: Ask HN: Demotivated Founder With Lost Passion Seeking Advice
#14Don't bail when the going gets tough. Launch and give it everything you got for the next 3-6 months. If NOTHING comes back, give up. If it starts trickling in and you see potential, continue pushing. Otherwise, give up.
Agreed 100%: Launch, launch, launch. It's easy to get demotivated if you're working on a piece of stale software on your laptops.
Get some ants in your ant farm, watch what they do -- it may be what your co-founder needs to start believing in the product as well. If you quit now, you will _always_ wonder if something could have come from these TWO YEARS of your life.
Seriously, launch. Don't debate, don't discuss, don't send resumes; launch. What's the worst that can happen? If you prove that you can't get traction, at least you will have seen it through.
Again, LAUNCH.
Re: Ask HN: Demotivated Founder With Lost Passion Seeking Advice
#15How much do your users/customers love what you have? If there is a glimmer of user joy, that's not worth tossing aside lightly... It's rarer than you think, and having something that customers like enough to pay for is a GREAT thing to have in this market.
In, short... Are you onto something? If not, certainly bail.
If you are, you've got big challenges with your partner. I'd try to find a new one if you can't make him an asset (a good way to separate is to give both partners legal rights to the code and flip a coin for the brand).
This is SUCH a huge problem- you aren't alone. More startups fail due to lack of interest/motivation than anything else, IMO. User happiness is a HUGE motivator and lack of it is a huge de-motivator... So launching would be a good step if you're looking for motivation or a final nail in the coffin.
Read "The Dip: When to Quit and When to Stick" by Seth Godin.
Re: Ask HN: Demotivated Founder With Lost Passion Seeking Advice
#16Smile. Breathe. Think.
Life's Good. Enjoy it.
oh.... LAUNCH THE PRODUCT AS IT IS!!!!
-P
Re: Ask HN: Demotivated Founder With Lost Passion Seeking Advice
#17Launch... Get feedbacks... Iterate... Launch again... This is a never ending process for a startup with VC-backed.
But, if your company is not VC-backed, then, you have to use this method:
Lauch... Get feedbacks... Iterate.. Bootstrap... Launch again... Get more feedbacks... Iterate more... Bootstrap more... Another never ending process until you are successful... Think of NeXT and Pixar..
Re: Ask HN: Demotivated Founder With Lost Passion Seeking Advice
#18You're almost there. Why stop now? It's not all that bad and you've come so far. It's like giving up on a marathon when the finish line is just coming into vision. Suck it up. Put your head down and focus on finishing.
[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Demotivated Founder With Lost Passion Seeking Advice
#19Try to involve someone with authority. Some angel investor, another co-founder, mentor, advisor...anyone who can hold (both of) you accountable for your efforts and actions (or lack of it).
You should talk to your co-founder about your concerns. You ll need all your efforts after the launch for product improvement.
Re: Ask HN: Demotivated Founder With Lost Passion Seeking Advice
#20Ask yourself a very simple question. If you were currently making sufficient income from your product and were on your way to growing the company would you still harbor the same feelings towards your cofounder?