That mythos of the startup was part of why I stayed so long, and worked so hard. Long after I'd been diluted to nothing, I still felt the desire to make it work, and the pressure of being one of the founders and having to seem upbeat and to find a positive way forward from every setback.

I also think it's healthy to question the situation, privately, or between trusted colleagues. The failure to analyse, and plan, and act, meant that we continued down a path that clearly wasn't working long after we should have tweaked or pivoted.

I think there's a delicate balance though between open discussion, and maintaining morale. My observation is that it's a personality thing: some people are fine with regular doubting and discussion, and are in fact re-energised by questioning the precepts and either confirming the current path or tweaking it to address an issue. Others find it terribly demotivating to think about this too often.

I had always thought that there'd be clear point of success or failure, but my experience was that it was a very long period where it was neither yet, and impossible to tell which it would be :-)