Celebrate not the startups, but the stayups

Because starting is the easy part.

Many can do the “great idea”, the launch (and launch party), the pitch for seed funding. The thrill and enthusiasm are there. It’s fun and exciting, and it’s sexy to tell everyone you’re a startup founder.

Soon enough, though, the thrill and fun start to disappear. To the point that it’s not much fun anymore. Writer Seth Godin calls this phase “The Dip”.

The dirt, the discomfort of hard-work, the time investment to perfect the product, breaking away from reliance on funding and reaching cash flow positive: these turn out to be unsexy after all. (“Maybe I should have stuck with a corporate job?…”)

This stage separates the visionary from the wantrepreneur, the long-term thinker from the short-term. It’s the test of who’s a fluke and who’s here to stay.

The businesses that stay the course are the ones worth celebrating. The ones who make it past the setbacks, the loss of enthusiasm, the crises–these are what we should aspire to be.

Paraphrasing a point from The Way: to begin is for everyone, to persevere is for the victors.

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