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Author of the post here. Trying to respond to some of the comments. Firstly, apologies- I didn't intend to make anything click-baity. As a matter of fact, I didn't even post it here. I realized that I could have titled my post like "How to ask founders good questions". But, and in all honesty, as a founder, it did/does feel such questions are existential. I used _search-engine_ as a mask, I'm actually building a deep-tech (I've commented/posted on HN before). When you put everything on the line to build a startup for a mission you believe in to the extent that you can't even separate your existence from your startups 90% of the awake hours, then when such questions come from (this is important) "a specific set of stakeholders", it does become existential. I love being asked all these things from a random person or at a random pitch event. But when you're my colleague, co-founder, or my hero, or a potential investor who I've been in the loop with for weeks, then when you ask such questions, it does get hard. Someone below suggested that such people probably shouldn't start a startup, but on the contrary, I wrote it not to whine about myself, but only with the sincere hope that if there's someone who is less tougher than I am, he/she would be more cared for (in the odd chance that someone reads it). The true origin of this post was in my experience with building my indoor farming startup that will grow the best quality produce, cheaper, and way more resource efficiently than traditional agriculture. Ofc I've done my homework and I am actually taking a risk and doing the very uncomfortable by deciding to work on it. Imagine jumping back and forth between research-papers, circuit diagrams, dying-plants, finance, etc. etc., and then someone very relevant asks/tells you "you can't beat the oldest industry known to humankind", or "why can Infarm (a unicorn in the vertical) not do this?", "maybe just work on indoor grow lights (since it fits more into the standard lean startup model". In that moment, it seems existential. Maybe I interpret it wrong, but I interpret it as if you're telling me that my startup shouldn't (can't exist) and yes I'm so obsessed with my startup that I take it personally (again, only when it comes from specific stakeholders). I can give them the numbers, but if they say it can't be done or if it could have been done, it would have been done, then that's same as saying that I should shut up. |
I'm not a founder of anything, so I understand if this is just part of an experience that I've not had, but those are exactly the sorts of people who I would absolutely want to ask these sorts of questions. At least in my life, if I want to do something crazy, it's my close friends, my heroes, and my mentors that I go to first to get advice, and if I'm doing something that they don't see as sensible, I truly hope they tell me. I mean, they have done plenty of times already! And either I can give them a good answer and we can talk it over, or I can't give them a good answer, and then I know I need to think things over - either coming up with a better answer, or realising that what I was doing wasn't as sensible as I thought.
Likewise, I have friends where I hope I can be that person to them as well, and try and offer a critical perspective when I think they're viewing things in a rosier light than they realise. Obviously how you say that is always important, and in moments like that I try hard to frame my own perspective helpfully (and accept that my perspective may be missing something that they're seeing), but if there is a deep enough trust in a relationship, I think those sorts of things are possible and healthy.