Confidence - never thought it would be an issue when you're leading your own company. I quit a great job on the east coast in 2012, went to grad school and moved to Silicon Valley after graduation (2014) to work on my startup. I've been learning and building constantly for the past 4 years. I would rather my work speak for me, so I don't draw any attention to what I'm doing or to myself until I have great results to report. I don't have a co-founder because the people I would ask are not financially independent enough to take the risk without a salary. I'd rather make some money and hire them with as much equity as they can handle.

My first project stalled because of poor architectural decisions that overlapped with not-yet-profitable product-market fit (and too much networking instead of product work) and a baby. I learned that lesson and turned into a hermit to rewrite it completely - the market is there, but not immediately lucrative. I'm also writing something that makes money first. I'm hammering day and night with nothing else in my life but my family and the product. My second project is written in GO, wonderfully cheap to run, and about to be ready for launch. Not sure how to turn on that swagger button yet.

Selling to customers is one thing, but how/when do I start selling to investors and employees when few people know me in SV because I've been hammering instead of networking for almost 2 years straight.