Ask HN: Your startup struggle and how did you overcome?

The whole thing is a struggle. Building a product, revenue, marketing, investors. Being stuck in a shitty situation, with no money, no food, no clear way out, only choosing between one risk or another.

It's no surprise the topic makes for good HBO drama.

There's no shortcut. Just stay calm in the chaos. Focus on one thing after another, especially when it's tempting to do many things. Don't outsource core stuff early on; it's tempting when time is always short, but it often makes things worse.

Be honest, completely, brutally honest to yourself. Startups are the last place to lie to yourself. You don't have 'hope', you have plans and hypotheses.

Startups are this long march. You either die or you make it rich. If you can simply avoid dying, you will be rich.

Definitely getting the first few paying customers. Luckily I have a vast network of potential users from previous jobs, but asking them to pay feels weird when it's an MVP (mostly).