We're Shutting Down and I'm Scared

I wrote http://mystartuphas30daystolive.tumblr.com

Like you, I raised money, went through a top accelerator and had a wild ride that doomed in failure.

It's ok to be terrified. It's ok to hurt. Fear paralyzes. You will pull your socks up and do what you need to do. It'll hurt more than you know. You'll quickly separate your real friends from the rest. And then something amazing will happen, your life will go on.

The first thing you'll notice is how much of life you've missed while riding the startup "high life". Big things like love, family, reality will suddenly become clearer and no longer dimmed by the tinnitus of whatever TechStars derivative you've been through.

The next is that you're a hell of a lot wiser. You'll find a job and you'll start performing. You'll look like a legend because the pace and agility you learned to work at during your startup days will make you a rockstar anywhere you decide to put your talents to use.

Your performance will bring more money, and power (to a degree) than you've ever made before. You'll make up for lost time.

And then, like all of us, you'll hear the siren song of entrepreneurship beckon you out into the world again. You'll pick up the pieces and start anew.

Ride the wave, brother/sister. Godspeed.

Generally, you'll end up connected to similar guys in your field after you've been running a startup for a while. You can reach out to them and say that you're offering XYZ consulting services in an effort to pseudo-bootstrap your company while still working on improving traction for your company. Most business people will actually really respect that, in fact.

It really depends on how well you've networked though. At the very least, you can start picking up random gigs on Craigslist or even contract work if you have any technical skills to at least keep money coming in in the short term so you can afford some breathing room.

I still don't get why it's a bad idea to forgo salary in a venture where you retain majority ownership. It sure seems like there are loads and loads of people who spun up successful businesses on sweat equity. Way more than have ever taken funding.

If it's not a capital intensive business and your cost of living is low, why on earth wouldn't you minimize investors to the extent possible? If you've got $300k in savings and cheap digs, your percentage ownership of the upside is the concern, not getting a check for $3k every month.

I think the story is not real. It's just to sell of the website Startup Anonymous.

I'm trying to understand the context and limits of your advice, in light of the chicken-and-egg problem of getting people to invest in or buy your product before proving it out, which usually requires building something to show it's possible, which usually requires quitting your previous employer so they don't own it. Are you suggesting that forgoing salary shouldn't be a substitute for thinking about your revenue model, which I'd probably agree with? That thinking "I have money in the bank, I'm fine for now" makes you less hungry and less likely to take the actions you need to succeed? That one should know when to quit and should never let dreams get in the way of facts?

Or are you saying that forgoing salary is always a bad idea? If you are, how else are we supposed to start a product company? It seems like it's a worse idea to take investment without having done some minimal homework and prototyping to prove out the market, which usually requires at least building something you can show to customers. It's a very bad idea from a legal standpoint to do that work while you're still employed by somebody else. Consulting -> product conversions can work, but it's often really hard to make time for product development while consulting.

From my own perspective - I started a "founders don't take salary" company when I was 2 years out of college. It failed miserably, predictably - it was a terrible idea to begin with, and I folded it up once I realized I was in over my head. But I think starting it was one of the best decisions I made in my lifetime, because the skills and perspective I gained from it got me a job that paid enough that I made back that year after about a year of employment. I'm now in a position where I have a bunch saved up, and I'm trying to weigh my options rationally. I'd like to avoid making stupid mistakes, but I'm also mindful of how the #1 regret of most elderly people, on their deathbeds, is that they wish they'd taken more risks.