[sudonim]

I've been a startup CEO full time for oh, about 2 months now. It has been the most phenomenal, educational experience of my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I skimmed the quora post, and boy... that guy's life sounds horrible.

I sleep well most nights, but I stress on others. The pressure is on since we've taken money and don't yet earn enough to curb the burn. I also have this belief (crazy?) that we're doing something awesome, and have the background to accomplish it. I've always felt that I (+ my cofounder) have the agency to be in control of our destiny. I've never been more responsible for the outcome of things than I am today.

I'm guessing that the people who don't sleep well are (too far) out of their depth and the weight of their impending doom unless they figure it out is crushing.

As the CEO, I've taken on the bulk of the shit work - like administrative stuff - getting a lawyer, accountant, bookkeeper, bank account (the list goes on). I spend less time than I'd like on the product. Maybe 10-15 hours a week in the code / learning. A lot of time emailing, organizing meetings and phone calls. Overall though, it's fun and rewarding work.

We are building something that doesn't exist in the world and providing it to other people in exchange for money. How cool is that!

[jandrewrogers]

The experience at 2 years is quite a bit different than the experience at 2 months. Startups have life cycles, some parts of which are much more stressful than others for startup CEOs. It does not become easier over the first few years, quite the opposite in most cases.

Doing something cool is why we do it but as startups grow the challenges of that growth can start to take a real toll on the founders on many different levels. That part is not particularly fun even for people that feed off the stress. Startup entrepreneurs do not complain about it -- it comes with the territory -- but it would also be foolish to deny the true costs of our chosen lifestyle.

I am not an entrepreneur because it is a healthy lifestyle or an easy path to wealth, because it is neither. I am an entrepreneur because that is what I am and I could not imagine being anything else.

[tokenizer]

You made me somewhat rethink my goals of fun being my top priority for projects. Now I have no idea as to whether I would continue working on something if it got big and i had to worry about legal and administrative issues.

I'm sure every experience starts different, but I would trade this off as soon as possible if I had to. Work on the stuff you want to work on! I hope you can soon!

Cheers

[sudonim]

Fun is what gets me out of bed in the morning. Every day at work is a joy and brings new challenges. A project getting big is an awesome problem to have. The ideal project in my mind is one that is fun for you and solves a real need for someone else. You'll be able to figure out the legal and admin stuff as it pops up. So don't let that discourage you.

My contact info is in my profile. If you have questions about the admin stuff with setting up a company, I (or I'm sure many other HNers) would be happy to help.

[crosh]

My friend, the first few months are the easiest months - the ignorance is bliss months. Running a startup is enormous fun and an incredible learning experience. I have enumerated some of the stress inducing issues below. I do not mean to discourage, though everyone needs to know what they are getting into with eyes wide open,

- Not having done enough research and received proper feedback before launch and the product not taking off.

- Bending over backwards for major clients.

- Feeling enormous responsibility to your investors to pay them back.

- Making sure that you do not run out of money.

- Responsibility to your employees that you do everything you can to make sure that you will be able to pay them, and that their efforts will prove fruitful.

- Hiring the right people.

- Firing the right people.

- How you are taking a $60k/year salary, basically paycheck-to-paycheck and not being able to go to your closest friend's bachelor parties/weddings, and not being able to get your girlfriend a nice engagement ring or pay for a wedding.