‘The Shawshank Redemption’: A Simple But Powerful Message

Apparently running a startup is just like being imprisoned for life in an institution with rampant routine prisoner rape, abusive and sometimes murderous guards, and a terribly corrupt warden. And here I thought that startup entrepreneurs were fairly well off and had decent lives.

I concur--it's a flawed analogy on a couple levels (but still a good conversation stimulator) but I believe one of the hardest things to manage in a start-up is that your success isn't binary.

Yes, there are a great many start-ups that fail to get out of the gate and a small, small number that take off so quickly that success is almost a guarantee. But if you're in the muddy middle the decision to grind it out or try a new approach has to be a difficult one, and is usually a low-data decision. And platitudes are little help here with "it takes three years to create an overnight success" on one side and "fail fast" on the other.

I'm not a huge fan of the lessons drawn here, it feels forced. I think the two key takeaways from Shawshank are 1) "Get busy living, or get busy dying." and 2) "Hope is a dangerous thing, hope can drive a man insane." I see these as complementary, one should simultaneously relentlessly persue one's dreams, startup or otherwise (get busy living) but be aware that those dreams can be dangerous, they can "drive a man insane."

I don't really agree with this analogy. Unless your life is terrible and you have no other employment prospects, you're creating a startup out of ambition, not a strong desire to escape a terrible situation. Presumably you could do fairly well working at another company, unlike Andy, who is doomed to a miserable life unless he risks embarking on this escape plan.

The analogy is an, obviously, false one. Working at a startup is not binary. There are many benefits and "rewards" earned along the way; pay, experience, contacts to name a few.

Edit: But, yeah, duh, Enjoy the journey. Don't people already know that? I don't see how anyone (in USA) past about 16yr old, unless they are supremely stubborn, could not have learned that from all the fables, parables, koan's, after-school specials, etc. that drive that message home.