The Biological Reason Startups Are Hard
Every entrepreneur knows startups are hard, but they aren’t hard for the reasons most founders think they’re struggling with.
The day after the July 4th holiday, I walked into the startup co-working space of the program where I teach entrepreneurship. It was empty except for one young founder. He was sitting in a dark corner, staring into space.
“Are you OK?” I asked once I noticed him.
“Yeah,” he said. “Just thinking.”
“Thinking about what?” I wondered.
“Whether or not to shut down my startup,” he replied.
“Oh,” I said, realizing it was about to be that kind of conversation.
“It’s just that startups are really hard,” he said. “Way harder than I realized when I first decided to launch my own company. I feel like I never know what to do, and I’m always making the wrong choices.”
“That’s pretty much how all startups work,” I assured him.
“Yeah, that’s what everyone tells me,” he responded. “And I know startups aren’t supposed to be easy. But why do they have to be so freaking hard?”
I started to answer but he stood up and began to leave. “Don’t mind me,” he said as he…
