[tom]

It's not news, or hacking, but something that's as important to the success of a startup - the startup life. It's an acknowledgment, or maybe an admission that doing this is hard, that there are definite commonalities among those who pull it off, that it's easier to go it with a community around you.

Running a startup, creating a startup, living a startup is freakin hard. I've done it multiple times before my trip through TechStars, and man, now that I've experienced (and continue to experience it, as not a day goes by that I don't talk to at least one other founder, a mentor, or an advisor) this way, I'm sold and happy I'll never have to go it alone again.

He sees it too. I hope for your benefit that if you're doing this, if you're trying to really start something (not just read YC) that you seek out others who are doing the same. It could mean the difference between your success or failure.

[japherwocky]

Sounds like you both are sipping from the same giant pot of kool-aid.

Seriously, "the startup life"? A startup's success or failure rides on associating with the trendy crowd?

Blech, let's get back to writing a lot of good code and listening to user feedback.

[tom]

You're drawing conclusions where they don't exist.

The "startup life", the life of a startup founder is in fact, hard. Building a product is hard. Building a company is hard. Building anything of value is hard. It has nothing to do with a trendy crowd or a decidedly non-trendy crowd, it has entirely to do with folks who are having, have recently, or will have a lot of the same challenges as you. I'm not sure why it's hard to understand having friends who've been there, done that, or are doing it is very, very helpful. I'm glad you're able to do it all on your own, but some of us either aren't, or have realized it's a waste of time to. Being a martyr will help you much less than having the smarts to ask folks who can help you not waste time on the things that don't actually move your business forward, but can only impede progress - there's your value. Man, this kool aid is yummy ... it tastes like improving my odds ... and that tastes great!