I met a 2-time entrepreneur yesterday. As she recounted her journey over the last so-many years, she repeated how her first venture felt more like her own baby to carry despite having two other co-founders. That is because the notion of being involved in a startup is romantic and appealing. However the partners were not ready to quit their existing work/lifestyle to join the entrepreneur in this journey which is lined by lots of work, and little pay. In the end, she felt so burnout that she just stopped the venture. Could she have sold the business to a competitor? Yes she could, but she was so tired of it, she just wanted out. Looking back, though, she felt she would have sold it...but at that time, she was just too tired to even have to deal with it.
Her second venture was also primarily founded by herself, but this time round, she had many helping hands - advisors she could turn to who offered good input, people to help on varying parts of the operations. A much more fulfilled startup for herself and incidentally, also with positive impact for the world.
I am reminded that human beings are made to interact and have social connections. Definitely not meant to be hermits and Lone Rangers. Already the startup journey is challenging, one needs people to pace him/her on this long arduous journey. For those who have been there, done that, I am sure they appreciate the helping hands that brought them along, and I am confident they too, will avail themselves to those behind them, who are undertaking similar journeys too.
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