BouncyDonut
BouncyDonut

Rant: Entrepreneurship is lonely & exhuasting

It is fun sometimes but I feel that's 20% off it. There are 99 reasons wherein you feel like giving up daily but somehow you stick along & keep going. The stories we read online or anywhere else of riches are quite few but you feel a complete let down wherein somebody made insane money in 3 years & you are struggling for 5 years+ making some money but not what you imagined.

I run a profitable bootstrapped business for 5+ years & some days are hard coz everybody is hopping on new tech (eg: Crypto, AI) & you might be doing the same old stuff & don't know how to pick yourselves up to learn something new. People are getting funded & making insane money in secondaries, etc.

Then dealing with bullshit on the internet. Everyone on LinkedIn is successful, putting numbers & gyaan. Some days are overwhelming & you feel being super rich comes with a lot of factors in your favor & tradeoffs as well. Bas, tumhara number aaya nahi hai ya shayad hi aayega. Rant over.

12mo ago
Talking product sense with Ridhi
9 min AI interview5 questions
Round 1 by Grapevine
PeppyPenguin
PeppyPenguin

I’ve friends who run venture backed startups. And I’ve heard something similar. More power to all the founders who’re trying make a dent someway or the other.

Hang in there bud 🫡

JumpyWaffle
JumpyWaffle

+1

BouncyDonut
BouncyDonut

Thank you man! I am hanging (barely) but showing up :)

GroovyWaffle
GroovyWaffle

Next rant: “water is wet”

What you describe is life. Not the exact same challenges but different ones, and exhausting.

BouncyDonut
BouncyDonut

Some people enjoy the ride, some complain & some are tired. So you are right.

SillyMochi
SillyMochi

Technically water is not wet. Google it if you don't belive it.

JumpyWaffle
JumpyWaffle

Thanks for sharing!

Very few actually share honest truths about entrepreneurship. Most people just speak about the macho/showboating side of things.

BouncyDonut
BouncyDonut

My 18 year old is quite proud of me but the current one is struggling. Mental health is something which I have started taking seriously since last 2 years

JumpyWaffle
JumpyWaffle

Absolutely my friend.
Theres no money/success worth losing your mind over. Right?

I personally too hope to never let mental health slide

WigglyBanana
WigglyBanana

@WhiskeySour you might not realize, but hopefully they’ve also been 5 years of greater freedom

No boss. You get to be more of the man/woman that you are. Not having to suck up to someone or do ji hazuri

I know it’s incredibly hard. Have been there and failed, and have heard too many tales of others struggling too.

But it take something. And kudos to you for doing it for 5 years.

I hope you see incredible success, or if not, just a lot of peace in life :)

BouncyDonut
BouncyDonut

Thanks a lot :) I am proud of myself but it's just constant hustle & showing up despite setbacks is not easy. Knowing that sometimes only you are backing yourself is tough.

I guess that's the price you pay to sail your own boat.

ZippyCupcake
ZippyCupcake

Thank you for sharing this!
If you don't mind can you please share

  • what didn't work?
  • what you could have done to save the boat?

Thanks

SillyMochi
SillyMochi

It's lonely at top.

PeppyPenguin
PeppyPenguin

It’s lonely at the bottom too :)

SillyMochi
SillyMochi

It's better to be lonely at bottom. If you know what I mean 😜

SillyHamster
SillyHamster
TCS12mo

For every success story there are 10x failed ones, just that we never heard about them

BouncyDonut
BouncyDonut

True!

SwirlyTaco
SwirlyTaco
PayTM12mo

Survival bias is always at play

JazzyHamster
JazzyHamster

Please note that you are a rare breed of people who own bootstrapped companies and are profitable as well. Good wishes and keep your chin up man!!!

BouncyDonut
BouncyDonut

Thank you :) yes sir, at it.

JazzyHamster
JazzyHamster

Would you mind telling a little bit about your company?... No pressure only if you want to

QuirkyNugget
QuirkyNugget

I agree. Very hard and scary.

BouncyDonut
BouncyDonut

Starting is not that hard. Keeping at it for years is def very hard.

QuirkyNugget
QuirkyNugget

At it for 3 years now :p

DerpyBoba
DerpyBoba

What would be your advice to a new generation entrepreneur?

BouncyDonut
BouncyDonut

Before I started my own thing, I dabbled in freelancing & got used to working independent. Get that feeling first & if you are able to pass through that, go ahead & start. Figure everything else with time.

DerpyBoba
DerpyBoba

There has been a subtle decline in freelancing due to AI factor. So if you were starting your entrepreneur journey today what would be your plan?

PrancingPotato
PrancingPotato

Profitable and bootstrapped 🚀kudos to you man. I guess 90% of the startup’s with VC money are loss making, cash burning machines and are at least a decade or 5 years away from what you have.
In terms of money, I bet there’s more on the other side but you can any day sell yours and make tons of it and then go work in a high growth startup which will pay you tons.

BouncyDonut
BouncyDonut

Thank you :) It's not that easy to sell esp when you run a small business. It does support the lifestyle & I have freedom to not answer to anybody esp the VC's.

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