Ask HN: I have a startup idea, the project is 90% done. But..
Hi everyone! I'm malaysian. Going to gradute in CS soon. Currently I'm working alone on my own web project in purpose to run a startup right after I've finish my last day in CS faculty or maybe before the last day.
But the problem is, I always doubt at my own ideas and potential to execute the idea. Yes, I'm ready to take any risks but at some times, severally, I feel unmotivated, uninspired any more because of my surroundings and friends network are not really into realistic interest in entrepreneurship.
Any positive constructive advice on how to overcome these emotional obstacles, how to manage poisonous unmotivated people around and how to stay persist on what I believe will work.
That's all. Thank you.
39 comments
[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 101 ms ] threadYou're like a shy person asking for dating advice.
No one can help you but yourself.
alifaziz, I often feel unmotivated too. I often feel like I don't care for the thing I'm working on anymore and that no one else cares and that I don't know why am I doing it. The solution is simple: ignore these periods (just say to yourself: I know what it is and it's temporary). They will pass. Then you get your motivation back and that's when you'd have to act.
But.. It sounds like no more better life than after getting hired. Risk and failure that frightening good potential people away from being an entrepreneur.
Unfortunately, shameful to say, I'm surrounded with these kind of people everyday. Talking about ambition in establishing your own company is hardly achievable. At the end I need to survive myself, home made self motivating.
If you need an environment for motivation, consider relocating. Singapore is a nice option.
Another option is to go work for a startup, and after some more experience you will have a better network with other entrepreneurs and startup minded people.
I believe there are some startup groups in kuala lumpur too, try to hang out there.
Good luck
In terms of entrepreneurship, just spend more mental time with other startup-types. There must be some in your city/country. There are definitely more online, people who are in exactly the same situation as you and who have the same worries. Read what they have to say, forget about what salary-focused people tell you.
You might fail initially, but at least you can say you tried and even failure helps in terms of succeeding sooner or later.
You just have to learn to ride the emotional rollercoaster. For some people, it comes naturally. They are confident and positive, constantly living in their own reality distortion field. Some analytical people have doubts all the time.
If you have doubts about your capability to execute, consider that as part of the business and just push through the emotional low back to high.
But if you have doubts about your overall idea, then you just have to go back to the idea. Why I'm doubting it? Idea should be something that you think has obvious potential and you just wonder why others aren't doing it. Often times it's enough to adjust your original idea a bit. Get feedback, fresh perspectives. Pivot. And you suddenly feel confident again.
Stop blaming other people, it will seldom help. If you succeed, it will be because you got out there and did the work and got in the right place at the right time. If you don't succeed, it will be because you personally fucked up. You can get that attitude, and accept that finding some way to succeed is your responsibility. Alternatively, you can blame your friends and whine on the internet about how it's so hard and the people around you are all to blame for everything. I have a feeling I know what you are going to do.
I've been in their shoes. Feeling isolated, having doubts despite my optimistic nature, lacking sources of good advice. I'm sure it's a familiar story for many HNers.
I wasn't born knowing Paul Graham or the Church of Lean. I didn't always live in a city rife with smart people building startups.
It's a slow, steady process of learning, adjusting, and learning again. That the OP is here asking questions and seeking advice shows me they're on the right path.
My advice is to try to dissociate yourself from all the noise out there (all the get-rich-quick seminars, how-to-make-millions-on-the-internet books, work-from-home business "opportunities", etc.) and immerse yourself in the real gems of knowledge (e.g. blogs by entrepreneurs, Hacker News, TechCrunch, etc.) to get the right paradigm.
Second advice, get new friends. Go to local start-up gatherings and know people. Best of all, get incubated in a local incubator. Unfortunately, if you depend heavily on social validation and you're not self-contained socio-emotionally (i.e. you feel the need to "hang out" and "talk" to someone all the time just to be functional), which you sound like you are, I think this might be a painful change to make. If you've identified your current friends as a negative influence on your ambitions and personal objectives, you know it's time to discard them.
The truth is that your current friends are probably a dime a dozen. If you want fight the negative influence, the only option is to dissociate yourself from them, not to try to "manage" it or, worse, to try to change them. Start spending more time with your family instead to fulfill your socio-emotional needs.
I'm Malaysian too.
You are young and the world doesn't expect from you the knowledge and experience to be confident about anything. There are very few (if any people) who are able to be confident about such things. So just take it easy and believe in yourself.
And based on what I've seen, it's the people with no sufficient knowledge and experience who are usually confident. The more you know, the more things out there for you to consider. So, as I said, believe in yourself and never give up.
> The first 90% of the code accounts for the first 90% of the development time. The remaining 10% of the code accounts for the other 90% of the development time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninety-ninety_rule
1. Build the core product and launch a beta soon. Release early, release often. This will help you gauge the response and adapt. This will help you remove uncertainty about your own launch/idea etc.
2. You should definitely try to involve atleast one more person. As a lone founder, sometimes things can be a little dull.. However this should not mean you should force yourself to look at co-founders.. it's a tricky situation.. But, go out and talk to people, and meet more people and i'm sure you will come across people you want to work with.
3. Even if you do find someone to work along with, things can still be quite challenging for start-ups. It's something you should be prepared to face upto. This is exactly what makes the process rewarding and you should look at what you are learning from the process.
Secondly, don't rule out working for someone else before you start your own company. It's very helpful to figure out what your strengths and weaknesses really are on someone else's dime. Of course, there are plenty of reasons not to work for a big company, but this is one reason to work for a big company. In a big company, you're forced to work with a variety of different people you might not work with on your own. This gives you an idea of what types of people you work well with, what kinds of people you don't, and will also make you appreciate working for a smaller company (at least it will if you're cut out for a smaller company).
Be careful of saying that the software is done and launching it big. What you have is probably a product that you think what others will want. Until you get feedback and slowly releasing it to the world, you do not know. Probably getting those unmotivated people around you to try your software might be helpful as a start.
I think historically there's been a higher chance of failure but as long as you learn from the mistakes, you'll do fine. Fail fast.
fyi, I used to lecture CS in Malaysia :) and I failed trying to launch an ecommerce site in Malaysia. But I'm at it again.:)
This article may shed some light on your dilemma http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/10/03/harnessing-e...
Keep reading and learning. If you don't already know, I find the following things helpful - http://ecorner.stanford.edu/ - http://steveblank.com - twitter
It's not about the idea. It's the execution. If it's a good idea, someone else is probably doing the same thing...unless you have a crazy idea. Know your competition and realised that you are one person against probably a whole team of people if it's not a niche enough market you're targeting.
Well that's my opinion anyway...:)
Now, back to your 90% done project... ship something sooner rather than later. You're probably still missing a lot! If you think coding is most of the work, you are wrong. How will people know about your project (apart from telling us here on HN)?
It's not something to worry about, on the contrary. It's a great learning experience. So ship and iterate.
This is coming from a guy who struggles with the same stuff, so take it as you will