GAURAV KUMAR

Sunday, February 16, 2014

People and Startups

Hi,
I have been wanting to write about startups for a very long time. Since I am working in one for almost 2 years, I have seen multiple phases of a startup. I read stories about so many startups in hacker news and it amazes me how an idea develops into a product/service and how an initial product/prototype matures into a deliverable product. How people manange the money to get as much as they can. How they push the limits and work all night to add a feature and still look fresh in the morning for the demo to invenstors/clients. It's exciting to do all this. it's an art to do all this and survive till next runway.

The thing that comes to my mind is how do they start. Whenever I do background check on any founder/co-founder, I see they have created something earlier too or have been interested in doing such things for a long time. Basically people prepare themselves to get into startup business. My question is 'what about those who are new in this'. Those who don't have much background in running a business or technology for a long time. Those who are very interested in doing/creating new stuff becuase they have been in such system for a short time. Should they wait a little more to know if their passion is real or jump into this directly. As far as I have seen success rate of startups are increasing and people are taking it seriously. It can be risky but at the same time you can miss something life changing if you don't go for it.

I would like to share some of the things I have experienced so far working in a startup. You have better control over your life. The sense that you own something gives you more satisfaction than money. It may be the product you built or the company you own. You get to build new things which you are passionate about. It leads to a better life when you create something. People will always be there to assess you. To tell you what you are building might not be very useful. To tell you it's not a good product-market fit. To tell you that your revenue model is not sustainable. But I think you should build something first and then worry about those things. If you succeed you will prove them wrong. If you fail, you will have expereince for lifetime. So, I say go for it.