Entrepreneurship is not for faint-hearted

New is mostly exciting for all of us, especially when we are involved in engineering the new. Learning new language, learning new recipes, building new stuff always excites us, because we do it proactively and the joy & pride that comes out of ownership is a great feeling.

A startup founder starts with exactly same kind of feeling, however only a few entrepreneurs are lucky to stay in that mood.

Entrepreneurial journey is a roller-coaster ride, while it is exciting it is simultaneously nerving and precisely the reason why it’s not for the faint hearted. Imagine giving up a cozy job to start a new business that doesn’t pay you for a few YEARS. Scary, isn’t it?

The journey from its onset is an emotional ride, where eagerness can quickly turn to anxiety, discontent, anger and frustration.

Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape, once wrote:

“First and foremost, a start-up puts you on an emotional rollercoaster unlike anything you have ever experienced. You flip rapidly from day-to-day – one where you are euphorically convinced you are going to own the world, to a day in which doom seems only weeks away and you feel completely ruined, and back again. Over and over and over. And I’m talking about what happens to stable entrepreneurs. There is so much uncertainty and so much risk around practically everything you are doing. The level of stress that you’re under generally will magnify things incredible highs and unbelievable lows at whiplash speed and huge magnitude. Sound like fun?”

So, before you start sailing on your new business ship equip yourself with tools to manage all the emotional tides.