What Startups are really like - valuable advice from business startup experts.

We all would love to develop a successful home based internet business, but it's common sense that it's a hard thing to do - or everyone would have one.

So, something we smaller entrepreneurs had better do is study study study. We need every edge we can get.

Here's something that I found interesting and useful to read, a presentation that was given at the 2009 Startup School by Pail Graham. It focuses on the emotional experience of business startups, and the emotional and mental and social hurdles of people starting businesses. Scan over it and see if there is anything there that might help you.

http://www.paulgraham.com/really.html

Here's an example of a principle in his presentation that I thought was valuable to keep in mind - remember that everything is going to take longer than you think (and, sadly, will cost more than you think).

My rule of thumb has always been - "Everything is going to cost at LEAST twice as much, and take twice as long, as your worst estimate". It's a little harsh, I suppose, but it's pretty reliable. Certainly it's true for anything new that you try.

In any event, here's a clip from the page that is linked above. There's a lot of material there, you might wnat to bookmark that page.

6. Think Long-Term

You need persistence because everything takes longer than you expect. A lot of people were surprised by that.

I'm continually surprised by how long everything can take. Assuming your product doesn't experience the explosive growth that very few products do, everything from development to dealmaking (especially dealmaking) seems to take 2-3x longer than I always imagine.

One reason founders are surprised is that because they work fast, they expect everyone else to. There's a shocking amount of shear stress at every point where a startup touches a more bureaucratic organization, like a big company or a VC fund. That's why fundraising and the enterprise market kill and maim so many startups. [2]

But I think the reason most founders are surprised by how long it takes is that they're overconfident. They think they're going to be an instant success, like YouTube or Facebook. You tell them only 1 out of 100 successful startups has a trajectory like that, and they all think "we're going to be that 1."

Maybe they'll listen to one of the more successful founders:

The top thing I didn't understand before going into it is that persistence is the name of the game. For the vast majority of startups that become successful, it's going to be a really long journey, at least 3 years and probably 5+.

There is a positive side to thinking longer-term. It's not just that you have to resign yourself to everything taking longer than it should. If you work patiently it's less stressful, and you can do better work:

Because we're relaxed, it's so much easier to have fun doing what we do. Gone is the awkward nervous energy fueled by the desperate need to not fail guiding our actions. We can concentrate on doing what's best for our company, product, employees and customers.

That's why things get so much better when you hit ramen profitability. You can shift into a different mode of working.