HN Explorer

Ask HN: Should I Leave My Startup Due to Lack of Interest?

8 points by throwaway202210 ↗ HN
I started working at a startup founded by an old friend as a junior co-founder 10 months ago in December 2021. After 6 weeks, I realized I was very uninterested in the area we decided to work in and every day of the startup has been a living nightmare as I wonder if I am going to waste a decade of my life on something I barely want to work on. The misery has been punctuated by positive moments where we interact with users or get a small amount of revenue in. These positive moments and my tendency to stick with things has made me stay at the startup, but it has been a bad experience and I wonder if I should quit.

Has anyone been in a situation like this before? If so, what did you decide to do?

More details: Due to my own startup naivete, I agreed to a two year vesting cliff instead of a one year vesting cliff, so there’s not a natural exit point any time soon. In addition, if I were to leave the company after the cliff, but before product-market fit (PMF), it would surely not be very valuable.

The team and idea seem pretty strong, so my guess is this startup has a higher chance of succeeding than the average startup. That being said, I also guess there won’t be a liquidity event for 5-10 years. We are currently pre-PMF and have some seed funding.

Some details changed or left out to preserve anonymity.

17 comments

[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 47.8 ms ] thread
faangiq
> every day of the startup has been a living nightmare

Seems pretty clear cut.

aintmeit
The siren song is too compelling. To quote a song from Hamilton, "How can I say no to this?". When he finds himself at the bottom of the ocean, he may have some clarity then.
brianmurphy
There is no way I could stay in a job where I loathed waking up every day.

Remember fail quick, fail often? This is a fail quick situation. See it as an opportunity to find something new that you really enjoy.

GianFabien
Looks like you are partially trapped by the sunk cost fallacy.

As a generalization, profitable liquidity events are uncommon. Even VCs, after all their due diligence and experience only succeed 1:10 or 1:20.

Life is precious. Living it is our number 1 priority. So leaving is most likely the healthiest decision you can make.

tomcam
> every day of the startup has been a living nightmare

You answered your own question. Time to bump. You are harming not just yourself but also your coworkers if you feel this way, because it's hard to do your best under those circumstances. You might also be subject to a cardiac event or mental breakdown.

Also what /u/GianFabien says:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33088249

gus_massa
Are they paying you with hard green money or only equity after a two year cliff?
altdataseller
The chances of any startup succeeding is extremely slim. Do not even worry about what you could potentially lose. If it is a daily nightmare, just leave.
aintmeit
Don't go throwing rocks when you live in a glass house.
mutt2016
Off topic but am curious and hopefully some of the smart people here can enlighten me.

Stock options.. Is this the same sort of thing?

A friend of mine keeps telling me his options will be worth millions, and I should join them. I'll be retired in 5 years, etc.

Or is it this ratio I see mentioned where its really 20:1 odds on such a thing?

I find it all a bit confusing, and frankly I'm good at computers and not business.

jcz_nz
It’s a lottery where most players have no clue as to the actual likely value of the tickets they hold. As in, most vastly overestimate that value. It’s a nice bike, or a nice car, not a nice island. Huge exits are an absolute exception.
badpun
> Huge exits are an absolute exception.

And they'll be much more rare, given how the price of money has just went up by a tremendous amount.

billybuckwheat
If you're that unhappy and the situation is that stressful for you, then you should leave. Yes, you might be leaving money on the table but will that amount be worth the obvious emotional, mental, and physical energy that are being sucked from you?
jethronethro
You sound miserable. It's time to leave. If you don't, it's not worth 5-10 years of your life. Or even two. Find something else that better suits you and leave. You'll be better off for it in all the ways that matter.
b20000
maybe you can change your role in the startup so you enjoy the ride?
karmakaze
> every day of the startup has been a living nightmare as I wonder if I am going to waste a decade of my life on something I barely want to work on

Is the misery based on expected outcome or day to day activity? E.g. is it the constant firefighting or other chaos or wearing too many hats that's the problem or the like? Or is it more the case where you have an extreme lack of motivation because you have no idea where it's going or if it will amount to anything significant in impact or monetary value?

I think if I were in that situation and I was young, and was making enough to live modestly without financial stress, and I liked the people I worked with, then I'd try to see if I could stick it out for the two years. If going that route, you have to stop doubting the end value and instead merely try to reach PMF and increase value every step of the way. You can set a deadline/milestone at which point you can re-assess expected value, but don't do this every day.

Many who have struggled and stressed at early startups, look back on those times fondly, even if there was no successful exit, there are things that got built in a short time you can be proud of. Also don't forget that you're probably learning a whole lot in so many areas which is experience you can't easily get in a cushy role. That can also pay later in your career.

But like others say if you can't change your mindset and dread each day, leave.

thehappypm
If your equity grant is still over a year away, consider that if you started a new job today, you’d also be waiting a year for your first equity grant. But at another company, the grant might be actually something you can sell.
thorin
Questions I tend to ask myself:

1. Am I getting paid appropriately, or maybe in the case of a startup, am I likely to see any big payback

2. Am I learning, in terms of tech or other skills I'm using

3. Do I enjoy the interacting the people I work with

I haven't been that bothered on the market/business I've worked on generally