Entrepreneurshit

You don’t have to be an entrepreneur just because you’re entrepreneurial.

Just because you like building things, spotting gaps or have an itch to scratch doesn’t mean you should start a (venture-backed) company.

It feels like more people are defaulting to starting something new because others are doing it, because they believe they can, because they feel entitled to do it, because they’re bored, because they think they can make more money etc. None of these is a sufficient reason.

I see this alot amongst researchers leaving academia, labs or companies to start something. Their logic is often that their deep technical ability translates into company building. It generallty doesn’t.

Being technical helps you build a product but it doesn’t mean you can build a company.

Starting a company, esp one that requires VC financing, is still one of the hardest things anyone can do. It requires a level of obsession, risk tolerance and irrational commitment to a problem in a very large market that most people underestimate. You have to want it badly enough to endure long periods of uncertainty and pain with very little reward. Rational people would avoid it. The ones who do it anyway are a bit crazy.