The Dark Side of Entrepreneurship & What to do about it

Today I had the unfortunate opportunity to have a coffee conversation with a young student experiencing the extreme dark side of the force that is entrepreneurship. From the get-go, I could tell that this individual was in a fragile state of mind. She looked burnt out, spoke frantically, and made circular conversation.

She asked me to user-test a sticky note app they built to manage their life, which involved applying to every single entrepreneurial program out there (and subsequently getting rejected). The first thing I asked them was “How many people does this solve a problem for?” The answer I got was pretty alarming: “Well, I haven’t asked anybody but I would definitely use it and so will everyone else.”

I then tried to dig a little deeper, and asked them why they wanted to be an entrepreneur. Not surprisingly, it was a twist on an answer I often hear from young people: “Because being an entrepreneur is the only way you can really have an impact on this world.”

The young student I had in front of me was a shell of her potential, burnt time and time again by bad advice, rejection from various entrepreneurial communities, and a lack of market research and due diligence. I really did empathize with them, as I too have been burnt out by this marathon sport at times.
This scenario made me want to stress three important considerations for any young students out there playing the entrepreneurial game:

1. While being an entrepreneur is an incredible way to have a unique impact on the world, it is by no means the be all and end all. The way the world works is that most ventures fail, and the majority of people (including the world’s smartest people!) work for someone else. It’s okay to do this, and you can still have a tremendous impact. Doctors still work to save lives. Counselors help people deal with mental illness. Teachers help educate our youth. Coaches bring out the best in others. Heck, even top executives have an opportunity to make their mark –it’ll just take you a little longer to get there. If you try and fail, or get burnt out, there is no shame in moving on to another career. You can always try again later on in the future.

2. Nothing in life is worth risking your health, both physical and mental. Even if your idea is going nowhere, you still have lots of things to be thankful for. Your friends, family, and loved ones should all come first and are always there for you. There’s always the option of going back to school for another degree, or taking time off to reconnect with long lost passions and hobbies. If you start to feel like you’re hustling yourself into the ground, you need to stop and take a deep breath.

3. As a startup community, we have to be aware of how even our smallest actions can seriously affect those around us. I understand that startups, are first and foremost businesses that come with difficult decisions for leaders. Simultaneously, you can’t remove the human element from business (no matter how hard you engineers try to automate everything with AI!). Be cognizant of the advice you give to others, especially early-stage entrepreneurs asking for help or some kind of olive branch. Make yourselves available to check-in with your peers, even if it is just to ask how their day is going. Small actions can have big effects in a positive way too. Momentum is contagious, as my startup friends know all too well.