Busting the ‘Overnight Success’ Myth in Startups

“They came out of nowhere, now they’re making millions… They’re an overnight success!”

I’m sure you’ve heard this before or at the very least something like it.

Publications love to bombard us with stories of entrepreneurs who find instant success. The problem is “instant success” simply doesn’t happen.

Sure the stories get clicks, sell magazines and excite young entrepreneurs into thinking they can fast track their journey and become the next Jobs or Musk.

But if you’re setting out to become an “overnight success” you’re setting yourself up for failure.

The hard truth is that:

“Behind every ‘overnight success’ is years of commitment, hard work sleepless nights and a touch of good luck.”

As part of my work at Altar, I get to see first-hand the struggle that entrepreneurs face getting a startup off the ground.

Success is never guaranteed. Even for entrepreneurs with years of industry experience, a top-notch solution to a very real problem, wrapped in a product with a beautiful UX/UI.

In this article, I share three stories from successful entrepreneurs I sat down with as part of our content series The Startup Journey. They’re prime examples that startup life isn’t going to bed poor and waking up rich – no matter how good you are.