It is good to see a contradicting post here from time to time, as there are a lot of downsides to starting a company.
I found myself at the age of 30 many years into a company I started at 23, and it consumed my entire 20's. Every aspect of my life suffered.
Are people aware of the strange things stress can do to one's body? Look up 'IBS' in google. Try not eating for a year. That's just the stuff I can post.
I missed weddings and funerals. I did things I'm so extremely proud of, and things I'm ashamed of.
Here is the real rub: Once you hire employees, you have an obligation to give them a consistent paycheck. It just happens. This increases 10x when the employees aren't kids in their early twenties working for stock options making peanuts who get 10 job offers a week.
When you have employees who have families that depend on your company, depend on your health plan, your dental plan, your 401k matching funds, the pressure to maintain even when times are tough is huge.
The game can change quickly. Having employees will make it harder to throw up your arms when things get tough and say 'perhaps I don't have a winner here'. You will dig in, and continue the battle, and you are committed until it can survive on it's own. And sometimes that takes a couple years.
Or five.
Or ten.
So a word of caution. Keeping a company alive is tough. Closing down a company is tougher. A fairy tale ending is a pipe dream. Last time I checked, there are a very small number of Mark Cuban's, and this sure ain't 1998. And guess what Jerry Yang is doing: working his ass off to save the soul of his baby. His hugely successful baby.
He doesn't have to be there.
He made his billions. But things aren't right, and he can't sleep at night.
Success is hitting payroll every month. Never ever miss payroll. Any goodness above that is gravy. Anything worse than that is hell.
Would I change it all, and to have just gotten a job out of college, reporting to someone every day of my life? Hell no!! I love it. I could think of no better way to live my life. :)
I found myself at the age of 30 many years into a company I started at 23, and it consumed my entire 20's. Every aspect of my life suffered.
Are people aware of the strange things stress can do to one's body? Look up 'IBS' in google. Try not eating for a year. That's just the stuff I can post.
I missed weddings and funerals. I did things I'm so extremely proud of, and things I'm ashamed of.
Here is the real rub: Once you hire employees, you have an obligation to give them a consistent paycheck. It just happens. This increases 10x when the employees aren't kids in their early twenties working for stock options making peanuts who get 10 job offers a week.
When you have employees who have families that depend on your company, depend on your health plan, your dental plan, your 401k matching funds, the pressure to maintain even when times are tough is huge.
The game can change quickly. Having employees will make it harder to throw up your arms when things get tough and say 'perhaps I don't have a winner here'. You will dig in, and continue the battle, and you are committed until it can survive on it's own. And sometimes that takes a couple years.
Or five.
Or ten.
So a word of caution. Keeping a company alive is tough. Closing down a company is tougher. A fairy tale ending is a pipe dream. Last time I checked, there are a very small number of Mark Cuban's, and this sure ain't 1998. And guess what Jerry Yang is doing: working his ass off to save the soul of his baby. His hugely successful baby.
He doesn't have to be there.
He made his billions. But things aren't right, and he can't sleep at night.
Success is hitting payroll every month. Never ever miss payroll. Any goodness above that is gravy. Anything worse than that is hell.
Would I change it all, and to have just gotten a job out of college, reporting to someone every day of my life? Hell no!! I love it. I could think of no better way to live my life. :)