Sorry to hear that. I had a similar experience, though without even the user traction you have. The doubts, going to sleep wondering whether it's worth it, feeling like you're wasting your time one day and like you're doing the most important thing in the world the next. I think your first step should be getting back in touch with the people close to you.
Do you have a cofounder, or someone helping you? If not, I'm open to lend a hand. Not looking for compensation, prioritizing meaningful work and opportunities.
Ask HN: I've told everyone about my startup and its been harder than I thought
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Re: Ask HN: I've told everyone about my startup and its been harder than I thought
#12The pressure is real but that's kind of what we sign up for. If it's not working, part of being an entrepreneur is knowing when to quit and avoiding falling into the sunk cost fallacy. Quitting this one project doesn't mean you failed. You will just divert your energy into the next endeavor. They can't all be winners or everyone would do it. Hang in there.
Re: Ask HN: I've told everyone about my startup and its been harder than I thought
#13[flagged]
Re: Ask HN: I've told everyone about my startup and its been harder than I thought
#14I'm just going to be honest because lying won't help.
Realistically you will almost certainly fail because almost all startups fail.
There was a post on Indie Hackers many many years ago now where someone looked through all of the projects posted there over the years and found that something like 1% of them succeed (may have been less tbh – it was so long ago).
You are more likely to succeed if you have serious money to throw behind it or you are able to get investment, but if you're just a dude trying to start a businesses online with some savings you're more or less guaranteed to fail statically. This wasn't true of in tech in the 90s and 00s, but things have matured a lot since then. The fact you have users is actually impressive and imo you've already done better than the vast majority do.
I'm saying this because the first thing you should be doing if you're not already is assuming failure with an extremely high confidence. If you have no plan for failure then you need to start coming up with one now.
I've been through this myself. Startups were my life in my late teens and early 20s. I had a breakdown in my mid 20s because after some early success in my teens, I just couldn't get anything to work anymore. I was also isolating myself from friends and family and the realisation that I had basically lost some of the best years of my life behind a screen and text editor for nothing ate away at me.
Quitting is not failure. Here's what you need to do now.
- Come up with plan assuming your startup will fail.
- Decide the point at which you will stop.
- When that time comes execute your plan like a zombie through the pain.
Your emotions will tell to keep going one more day and your plan however good will almost certainly not be what you want to be doing because if it was you'd already be doing it. Just keep going and you'll come out of it in the end.
Good luck. Wishing you the best bro.
Re: Ask HN: I've told everyone about my startup and its been harder than I thought
#15Sorry to hear about the stress of being a founder; I also am a solo founder and feel the pressure every day too. For what it's worth, you've already achieved something very special if you have thousands of users. That already shows you are building something that others find genuinely useful, entertaining, or worthwhile. Also, not to minimize your situation, but your age and situation is probably an advantage here. I…
I will reconnect with friends
I have become too focused and its ruined things
-Thank you endlessly
Re: Ask HN: I've told everyone about my startup and its been harder than I thought
#16> I dont want to let everyone down > I isolated myself from friends and family I promise your friends and family are more let down by you abandoning them then they would be of your startup failing. Most startups fail! There are a lot of inspirational startup stories where founders only saw failure and misery ahead, pushed through anyway with great personal sacrifice, and then managed to succeed against all odds. But…
I just dont want to lose. It would be a waste of everything. Thank you
You should watch the movie 100 meters. It is not about tech at all but does give an interesting story about the grind.
Re: Ask HN: I've told everyone about my startup and its been harder than I thought
#17I feel you! I am a founder, in my 30s currently; I started building at 24.. Sounds like you have users, are they paying for your product? Is there a way to get it to break even?
First, you haven't failed; based on what you shared, you've built something people use. Of course, that might be different from building a sustainable business, but it is not a failure. Most people in the world do not even try to build something, so if anything, you should be proud of yourself.
I've been in your shoes, I had a product people loved to use but were not willing to pay, it was costing me my mental health and my economic stability. I decided to wind it down, it should not cost your life, you are super young and have a lot of time to keep trying things, maybe in the future you can revisit this idea and perhaps it would be a better time for it.
Take care of yourself! Sending good vibes