19 surprises of entrepreneurs

Zheng @ playpoly Sr 20091115

『There is no doubt that a sprinter is the fastest at the start and then slows down,

The winner is the person with the least slowdown. This is also true for most startups..』

--Paul GrahamJanuary 2007

 

Paul Graham, the author of the above statement, recently asked the founder of Y Combinator's startup project a question:

「 What surprised them after they started their own business? (What surprised them about starting a startup )』

The article lists 19 surprises.

The following is a summary. The original Article has more details and discussions. Feng zhigu also published the original extract version and his point of view.

1,

Take the partner you selected carefully (Be careful with cofounders).

Strive to maintain your relationships.

"One thing that surprised me is how the relationship between the Founders transitioned from friendship to marrige 』

"It's like we're married, but we're not fucking 』

2,

Entrepreneurship will accompany you for life (Startups take over your life).

"Every waking moment of yours will be spent on your own career, either at work or at thinking 』.

"I think it seems like a long period of time, and a month is like a very large time span .』

3,

It is an emotional roller coaster (It's an emotional roller-coaster).

"The Last Day, we thought we were the next Google, but the next moment, we were thinking about how to tell our lover about our complete failure (utter failure )』

"The most difficult thing is how to keep everyone's passion. In the case of day-to-day weeks and weeks, oh, for example, how can the humble people put their bodies down again and again 』

4,

It can be fun.

5,

Persistence is the key ).

Everyone says that you must have a determination and a resilient, but only by going through this can you realize that the statement "determination is too conservative .』

6,

Think long-term).

The reason you need to stick to it is that everything will take longer than you expected.

"Everything from the development phase to the deal seems to have taken two to three times the time I expected .』

'The most incomprehensible thing before I start a business is that persistence is the essence of the problem ). For most startups that want to succeed, it takes a long time, at least three years or even more than five years .』

7,

Lots of little things ).

"There is no killer application. At least you don't know what it is .』

"What I learned is that it is never a simple thing not to gamble on any one of the features, transactions, or other things that can make you succeed. Everything is incremental. You only need to keep doing many things like this 』

8,

Start with something minimal ).

"Doing simple things does not mean that you cannot do meaningful, independent, and valuable things .』

"Now, When I code it, I will try to think:" How do I write it so that people are shocked.Code"』

9,

Motivate users (Engage users).

"I learned to regard the initial stage of entrepreneurship as an extremely large experiment. All products should be regarded as tests, and those products with markets will soon display bright results .』

10,

Change your idea ).

"Quick iteration is the secret to success 』

"Now I don't laugh at ideas anymore, because I realized how terrible I was at knowing if they were good or not .』

11,

Don't worry about competitors (Don't Worry About competitors ).

"Even if they are in the same field as you, they usually have a different objective (different goal ).』

"All the alarms brought about by seeing a new competitor will be forgotten in a few weeks .』

12,

It's hard to get users ).

"Make something people want" taught by Y Combinator is just a project-oriented task, a never-ending process: add one feature after another until people are happy until the application takes off. 』

"Making people use a new service is incredibly difficult .』

13,

(Except CT the worst with deals).

14,

Investors are ignorant ).

「 There are a few good guys, but 95% of the investors we met are not professional, and the business doesn't seem very good, or we can propose creative visions. Angels were generally much better to talk .』

15,

(You may have to play games).

"All entrepreneurs do is make a gesture. But it does .』

"The extent to which you pretend to believe can impress investors. (The degree to which feigning certitude impressed investors .)』

16,

Luck is a big factor ).

17,

CommunityThe value of community ).

"You don't know how good it is to live in Silicon Valley, where you can hear all the cutting-edge technologies and entrepreneurial news and be able to get close contact with useful people .』

"The surprise for me was how accessible important and interesting people are. It's amazing how easily you can reach out to people and get immediate feedback .』

18,

You will not get respect (you get no respect ).

"What surprised me is that being an entrepreneur won't let me get more appreciation from women .』

"If you show your idea to a random person, 95% of the time you will find that this person thinks this idea will not go well, or you are wasting time (though he won't tell you directly ). 』

"On social networking websites, I found that if I say" I work for Microsoft ", I would say" I work for a small startup company X, you must have never heard of it. "Get more admiration ,』

19,

Things change as you grow ).

"Your job description is at intervals of 6 ~ It will be redefined in 12 months. Less coding, more management, planning, team building, hiring, cleaning up the mess, and other things that need to be done at any time .』

"I have to say that since my start-up, 75% of the pressure has passed. Now it is even more enjoyable to operate a business. We are more confident and patient. We fight less. We sleep more .』

 

For more answers from entrepreneurs under Y Combinator, see October 2009 Paul Graham.

Zhengyun Beijing Report

Note:

Feng zhigu also released a refined version of the original article today and added his point of view, which can be viewed in a step-by-step manner..