WDYT kills more startups: Runway or Energy?
Daniel Baum
6 replies
Runway: a lot of startups run out of money before finding PMF, which ends their journey.
OR
Energy: a lot of founders can't find PMF, and they don't have enough momentum, so they give up.
Or a 3rd option - what do you think?!
Replies
Uladzimir Yankovich
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I think the problem is always that the founder ran out of energy. If you run out of money, you can always find it. If the founder is burned out, money won't help.
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If you come from privilege, it's energy. Money can be arranged for. Outlier startups took many years to find PMF but they continued to float. If you've neither found PMF nor is the product good enough to float, it's very difficult to find the energy to continue tinkering.
If you don't come from privilege, it's money. Not everyone has the opportunity to continue to take risks. Many talented founders can't continue to find that energy because they have a life and family to support as well. We forget the realities of life in the startup journey.
@arunachawla yes, and questions around privilege are so rarely acknowledged. I think there's a strong culture of 'you just need to hustle hard enough and money will come' but that's often not the case.
I think there are also a lot of people who are able to launch with the help of friends and family funds, and lots of people simply don't have that network with such resources at their disposal.