A Founders Journal: Fear and Loathing in Silicon Valley

As I begin to start a new company, a new app, a new business. I find myself scared. I’m not sure what this is exactly, it’s a feeling of stage freight. Or maybe the realization of how much work it is. It’s a feeling of getting up and starting again. Can I muster the grit to try once more? I know what you need to do to create a successful startup. Talk to customers, iterate, talk to customers, and repeat. Am I still after all these years afraid of rejection? Could my 9-5 be burning me out?  I think it’s a fear of, success. But how can you be afraid of something you want so badly, maybe I’m unsure of what I’d have to discover about myself when I get it. 

Maybe I’m emotionally traumatized from the past startups, of pushing, day in and day out to make something out of nothing.  I think Sam Altman, GPT Commander-in-Cheif said it best. He said something along the lines of he realized, he didn’t have the energy for things that didn’t work and had unlimited energy when it did. Meaning the success of a startup. I’d have to agree with him. I’m writing this, but it is hard to say. I know in the startup world we’re expected to be invincible and stoic. As I venture into this new, unknown territory once again I realize this is what I do, it’s what I love and I have to learn to have fun with this. I need to jump in and take the ride. 

Wish me luck. If you’re interested in what I’m building: https://dialect.world.