8 reasons you SHOULD NOT do a startup

Marc Andreessen is the creator of the first popular web browser Mosaic, founder of companies with valuations in billions of dollars, and an investor in innumerable more. In an archived essay, he shares 8 reasons you should not do a startup👇

Marc first acknowledges the charm of startups. Startups do let you control your life, create novel products, and positively impact the world. You also get to create your dream team from scratch and potentially make a ton of money. What's not to like? Well, plenty.

High highs and low lows. Marc writes startups are "emotional rollercoasters." You swing from euphoria to disaster. Marc writes: "There is so much uncertainty and so much risk around practically everything you are doing."

Lack of ready-made answers. An older company has established "systems, rhythms, infrastructure." There are ready-made answers, habits, and lessons that people can refer to when confused. But startups have no past, and you need initiative for everything.

Constant rejection. Potential employees have better and safer offers. Potential investors see better returns elsewhere. Almost yeses turn into surprising nos. To be an entrepreneur is to face constant rejection, and keep going in spite of it.

In Marc's words: "hiring is a huge pain in the ass." People love to window shop job offers they have no intention of accepting. Post hiring, the best case scenario is only half the people you hire will be "lazy, too slow, easily rattled, political, bipolar, or psychotic."

No work/life balance. Almost all startup founders and a majority of startup employees are juggling too many balls at once. Your time is no longer your own. Marc writes: "Startups are incredibly intense experiences and take a lot out of people in the best of circumstances."

Culture goes haywire. Since startups are emotional roller-coasters that involve crazy work hours and involve constant rejection, people often get dejected. Energies run low. Teams get frayed, and in-fighting starts.

X factors. The external world might suddenly turn too hostile for your startup to succeed. Marc writes: "At best, any given X factor might slam shut the fundraising window, cause customers to delay or cancel purchases — or, at worst, shut down your whole company."

Bottom line. These are just the general problems that plague all startups - specific geographies and industries will also bring unique problems to the table! Startups can be glorious - they can be grim too. Having said that, there's an old saying: Fortune favors the brave...