The Emotional Stages of a Startup

You’re practically starting a family

Starting a startup has so many ups and downs. In fact, you’ll face the exact same emotions as if you were starting a family. For those interested in starting or working at a startup, here’s the emotional stages you could expect:

Stage 1:

Optimism

You’ve hinted your idea to a friend for a while. One day, you confront him with optimism and ask him to be your partner in this new journey.

“Hey so, are you in?”

Stage 2:

Determination

Together you work on forming a vision to make it all happen. Your passion in this idea makes you determined.

“We’re doing this.”

Stage 3:

Anticipation

You’ve pitched your idea to several people. And while some thinks your idea is awesome, the majority thinks it’s not a good idea. You then start to anticipate whether or not, it’s going to work.

“Will it work?”

Stage 4:

Anxiety

You continue to gather insight by talking to experts and reading all sorts of resources. Anxiety hits you, because you really don’t know what to expect.

“I have no idea what I’m doing here.”

Stage 5:

Zeal

As you see your prototype coming to life, you are filled with excitement. You are so excited that you actually want to show it to everyone.

“OMG! There it is!”

Stage 6:

Nervous

You are nervous about timing. You fear you are not ready, so you hustle.

“ Crap, we got to go!”

Stage 7:

Overwhelming

It’s time to launch! You panic that you don’t know what to do.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Stage 8:

Joy

Congratulations! You’ve launched and it’s beautiful. But it is only the beginning of your journey.

“We did it!”

Stage 9:

Restlessness

You wake up in the middle of the night. Perhaps you’re thinking about priorities or perhaps it’s the bugs. Whatever it is, you are called to do it in the middle of the night.

“Ugh…”

Stage 10:

Annoyance

And you are a bit annoyed and frustrated that you can’t solve certain things and certain things are not getting solved quickly.

“Why won’t it work?”

Stage 11:

Discouragement

With all the annoyances and restlessness, you are discouraged. You juggle with so many things that it feels like your world is falling apart. You then start to wonder if you are fit for the job.

*sobs*

Stage 12:

Hope

Though you get discouraged, annoyed and frustrated, every little success is a milestone that gives you a bit of hope. These successes continue to encourage you to just keep on going. It whispers that you are in the right path.

“Yeee! We did it!!”

Overall

The journey is exhilaration

With all the ups and downs, you will learn a lot about yourself and what you are capable of. And with time, there will be a lot of growing pains in your startup, which will pay off with the work and dedication you put into it.

(This is actually a diagram of the level of happiness in parents as their child grows up) :)

Living in the Silicon Valley for the past 10 years, I see the love and dedication that goes into a startup (reminds me a lot of my mother’s love actually).

I’ve also noticed the successful startups have great founders — founders who are resilient, patient, devoted and courageous. They are like amazing parents; they love their child (product), truly respect their spouse (their partners), and are proud of their entire family (team) regardless of the ups and downs. They invest a lot of time in their company, long enough to see it grow and succeed. They don’t give up.