[patel]

I believe it's very hard for any startup entrepreneur to realize the company isn't going anywhere or there is no real business in what was set out to be done. Sometimes entrepreneurs don't know when to quit on old efforts and re-focus the mission of their startups. Entrepreneurs can only expect to see flat growth for an X amount of time before they have to accept the reality and brainstorm for more ideas, and I believe this isn't stressed enough in Silicon Valley related (bootstrapped) startups.

I think what drags most entrepreneurs on for the longest time is the fact that they think their startup's going to be a big hit tomorrow, next week, or next month.

It's like eating chocolates, people think I'll just eat one more or two more, but before you know you've wasted a day eating the whole box; the end result is nothing (left).

All entrepreneurs should never be afraid of change, because everyone still has their brain at the end of their day as Steve said.

My question to fellow hackers:

"Have you ever folded a startup? Please elaborate, if possible."

[yosho]

The problem is that the time it takes a startup to succeed is different for every type of startup so it's hard to come up with a rule of when you should quit and give up. There have been plenty of startups that started out slow and then exploded a couple years later.

So the real question becomes, how do you know when to quit and when to keep going?

[Levi812]

There should probably be specific goals set for various time frames. Use these goals to help measure the growth of the startup. It's a good starting point instead of guessing probably.