I've told everyone about my startup and its been harder than I thought

Question

Im feeling immense pressure . I told everyone about this startup I've been working on, and Its been deteriorating my mental health more and more. Im running out of $$.I dont want to let everyone down. but I feel too tired to work, but im too tired to embarrass myself and quit. I dont want to quit on my mission.I feel so alone. I isolated myself from friends and family. I talked to thousands of my users. I dont know what to do.Would like some advice. Kind of feeling doomful/dreadfulI am pretty young. (mid 20s)

sunnyam · Accepted Answer

I'm not sure about your funding situation, but you could always try to get paid employment and switch to working on your business on the side.
Ultimately, the success is based on the strength of the execution and finding product market fit with a big enough market. If you're too burnt out, it sounds like you are hitting some internal limit.
If you have hope (and resources) push through. If you don't, step away, recover and reflect.
If you find yourself passionate about it later on, then you can go right back in!
Being able to construct a story of growth, entrepreneurship and risk is a great one to tell in your 20s and you shouldn't be ashamed.

austin-cheney · Answer

Starting a business is hard. Jensen Huang said he probably would not have done had he known how hard it would be. Bill Gates also said working those kinds of hours is not for everyone.In the end you have to want it. The &ldquo;it&rdquo; is not any kind of real success, but rather just doing the work, those thousands of tiny accomplishments that nobody else sees. The work spent toiling away making continuous progress on things you aren&rsquo;t comfortable with, like sales or finances. It&rsquo;s hard to claim victory over those things when building the product takes all your time and money. That balance are those many tiny things you have to claim victory over. It never gets easier, but it does get more reassuring as your support system grows.

bhaney · Answer

> I dont want to let everyone down> I isolated myself from friends and familyI promise your friends and family are more let down by you abandoning them then they would be of your startup failing. Most startups fail!There are a lot of inspirational startup stories where founders only saw failure and misery ahead, pushed through anyway with great personal sacrifice, and then managed to succeed against all odds. But there's a hundred times as many stories of founders who tried the same thing and just lost it all with nothing to show for it (we don't tell those stories as often). Don't lose your health and loved ones in pursuit of an unlikely business venture. You're young and you can always try again later with this experience under your belt.