What's the scariest part of starting a company?
+1's for describing how to overcome those fears.
There isn't any magic to it.
If you add VC money into the mix, odds are you will fail and have a lot of stress failing. Or you can go bootstrap something and have a lot less stress and still be successful even if your company only makes $400,000 - a couple million a year. Odds of success are still not extremely high. But I think it's a better angle. I moved to the SF Bay Area and worked at startups for a while to get a feel for if I was wrong to think bootstrapping was better. I left much more assured that I was right.
My biggest fear right now is that I missed something in regards to the payment process, as I've developed several SaaS applications, with recurring fees, but I've also added some upselling points in there, so I'm just hoping everything works out. In my testing, Stripe has pretty much been on point, save for a few of my own miscalculations or errors. But having Stripe work with my database and doing all the checks to make sure no one is getting the product completely free (due to a bug) has definitely wracked my nerves and caused some delays in the whole process, aside from life happenings.
How I've gotten through it is by releasing additional products, free products usually, to see how the reactions have been, and generally, it has been well received. Just working on things that take my mind off of it, but have similar functions or features has actually helped me improve my code, so I've gone back and optimized it. It is helping me to get over my fear of screwing up something beyond any point of return, as I can always go in and fix it, whether I have to make a change to the code, the database, or even in Stripe itself.
It can be pretty nerve wracking sending off products into the wild, not knowing how they will be received, if people would pay, if pricing is right, etc. But for the most part, seeing competition out there actually does help, knowing other people have already done what I am doing helps put my mind a little more at ease. I also believe that there are 2 types of people in the world of SaaS: those who give it a chance, even if it might have a bug here or there, and those who don't. The best customers are the ones who understand that no product is perfect, but as long as you're trying, and actively care about addressing their concerns, you are likely to have more success.
I think the next of my concerns.. is going to be Marketing.
I had a startup for a while and this was something I battled with a lot. It's one thing to have a little side project that no one knows about and that you can just pass off as something for your "off-time". When you start a company though, you make a public statement to the world in some form or fashion that you are building this thing and you believe in it's ability to make money. And not just that - you believe that it can and will be successful. People tend to start judging you right then and there. It's pretty difficult at times to handle that on its own - and then the doubts come, and the fears of how it will reflect on you if you fail.
"What if some technical challenge is too much and I can't get it to work?"
"What if I release it too early/ and no one uses/pays for it?"
"What if I never get past that first user or first 10 users?"
"What if people see me fail at this and then feel justified in thinking that I'm an idiot?"
They all boil down to fear of failure. The biggest thing to realize is that failure is the path to success and to reframe how you view it. Failure is the beginning, not the end. The end is defeat - when you decide not to stand back up again. And the people who are judging you? They are generally just insecure. I heard a quote once (not sure where it comes from) that says something to the effect of how the greatest treason a crab can commit is attempting to escape the bucket. If you watch them in a bucket, when one tries to get out, the others will pull them back down. That's how a lot of people behave as well - they will judge you for your failure and try to bring you back down to their level. Just realize what is happening, and reframe failure as a growth opportunity. You can't really lose then - if you fail, you've grown and learned something, and if you don't, well... Then congratulations, you've "won", so to speak.
It comes down to this: you will learn a lot from building a company, and those hard-earned lessons will only help you. Embrace failure and you are 10 steps ahead of those who run from it, because you're stepping into the arena and they're not.
There's nobody left to cover you. Nobody to blame for a bad decision, or even for a lack of decision.
When things aren't going well, it's all you and your flaws. When your spouse is asking how you pay the bills, you can't blame anyone but yourself for the salary you take in.
When things go very well and suddenly a competitor or market shift blindsides you, it's all your fault for not acting on it earlier.
When you take a major gamble and fail, it's you. Or even if you don't take any gambles, your fault for being a coward.
How to overcome: Don't. Stay employed in a traditional job. I mean, except if you have the most AMAZING idea and the PERFECT team to execute, and you are just SO JAZZED about it that you couldn't even CONSIDER passing up the opportunity. And if that is how you feel about it, then you might be on the right track.
Overcome this by being painfully detail orientated. And never sub-contract, except to _extremely_ trust sources.
What if you fail publicly?
Who cares. As long as you do not have a big ego, or talk more than you walk (I'm looking at you Theranos). Then nobody is going to judge you. It's 2017, apparently starting your own business and "pivoting" (ie failing) is what all the cool kids are doing.
If someone puts you down and blindly says that you are going to fail. Then stop talking to them, and get them out of your life. They are probably too small minded to have a legitimate conversation with anyways. (At least in my experience)
What if you go broke?
That's fine. How much money does it take for you to be truly happy, with no external influences? For me, I need a workshop, a laptop,the gym, the local library, and my significant other. I can theoretically sustain that lifestyle working a minimum wage job full time. Not being spartan, just minimally comfortable.
So if I go broke, I know I have the skills and work ethic to make at least what a full time min wage worker makes per month. So in my mind, money doesn't matter.
(This changes a lot if you have kids. On the flip side, if you go broke your kids will have such an enormous respect for money, that they will probably be financially responsible when they are adults. In a really twisted way,you might be doing your kids a favor by going broke.
Opportunity cost?
This is the real killer. Let's say your 25 years old. You start your company and put 5 years into it.
Now your 30. Your business isn't a unicorn, but you didn't explicitly fail. So lets say your making $150k profit a year (non-passive), working 40+/hrs a week. Plus the weight of the business on your shoulders. You look at your buddies working at Google/FB/MS/AMZ, they are pulling in $250k+, working less hours with less stress, and they spend more time with friends and family. Your other buddy wanted to bring you into his early stage business when you were 25, you declined and still struck it out on your own. Your buddy just made a 7+ figure exit.
Did you make you make the right choice 5 years ago? This hypothetical question is what keeps me up at night.
Here's what scares the hell out of me. Once you lose time, you will NEVER get it back. You are that much closer to being dead.
How do I deal with it? Ask yourself this question. Am I happy(but stressed) right now? If you say yes, then nothing else matters.
When I was working for the Fortune 500's, I would look out the window and wish I was working on my own project with my own terms. That's what I'm doing now. After starting my business,I never for a second, wished I was working for a Fortune 500. I only wanted the Fortune 500 paycheck, not the daily work/routine/office politics.
Perspective is an incredibility underrated way to manage stress.