Ways Startups Die: Giving Up

Every time a startup dies, it’s because the founder gave up in some way shape or form. Startups are unique because the core of the effort doesn’t die until you stop putting in effort. Yes, you can put things down and pick them back up but often times it makes sense for founders to close chapters and move on.

Then the question comes up, what makes founders give up?

Most startups are long games where the core of the problem is just staying in the game long enough to see yourself succeed. At a certain point almost every one becomes irrational to keep going under certain circumstances unless you love the work, customers, and idea. Founders run out of energy far more often than they run out of resources.

The core to this answer is running out of emotional energy, bandwidth and resources to keep working on an idea (Note: this does not mean running out of money_ I’ve been around hundreds of companies and I’ve seen less than a handful die because they ran out of money.

So, how do you not lose your energy?

There are a bunch of answers to this question, but the most obvious is have a resilient mindset to things not working for much longer than you’d expect. It’s very uncomfortable for people who spend their careers working on things already established to admit that they don’t know if the thing they’re building today has legs.

The most important founder trait is thriving in that chaos, and allowing yourself the time and space to make good decisions that will help you get out of it. It’s like jumping into the deep end of a swimming pool. Better learn to tread water quick!

Aren’t there valid reasons for giving up?

Absolutely yes, there are many. Sometimes founders can’t keep going for personal reasons, markets don’t pan out, teams split, or major incidents threaten businesses. These happen all of the time, but your mindset in those moments will determine if you can keep going or not. Sometimes it’s reasonable to shut down, I’ve seen founders threatened, family get sick, or worse. Valid. But in those moments of crisis your mindset, energy and willpower will determine the future of the thing you’re building.