Ask HN: How do you cope up with the emotional rollercoaster of a start up?
Some days I feel like a king and some days just plain hopeless.
I am having a rough ride guys.
I am having a rough ride guys.
1) Separate your work from your life. Even if you work 12-14 hours a day, have something you do that is away from a computer and distinct from work. Work from home? Set up an office area and leave the house at the end of the day. I like going for long walks.
2) Get a hobby. Something that doesn't demand too much time but is engrossing. I like to read fiction. Currently reading Spook City by William Gibson. Psuedo-sequel to Pattern Recognition. It's decent. Reading can be, if you let it, a micro vacation.
3) Exercise. It helps with anxiety, depression and fatigue.
4) Know that this is not the end of the road. You have to try your hardest to make this work, but if it doesn't it's not a big deal. It's not going to ruin you. Or be a mark against you on your resume. It's going to be the best thing to have ever happened to you, success or no: Learning from your mistakes is an option. Success is an option. Failure is not.
/techpep talk
Also, some other perspectives: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CdJTfGiRCI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TROhlThs9qY
Important note: the timing between each milestone will vary among businesses and even among founders in and among those businesses. In my experience, founders with "Let's Change The World" ideas -- as opposed to, say, "Let's Make A Facebook for Kids" ideas -- tend to spend most of their time in between Informed Pessimism and Hopeful Realization.
In other words, the more revolutionary your goal, the more time you'll spend trying to reconcile whether that goal is indeed worth reaching. And that's before you even begin to assess whether your way of reaching that goal is indeed the best way to do so.