The morale burden of solo entrepreneur
Hello hackers, my journey began when I quit my job in April 2019 and perhaps I picked a product with extreme difficulty but at the time I was very confident with this idea.
While I do have 1 cofounder, I have been doing perhaps 99% of the heavy lifting. So my experience is very much like a solo entrepreneur.
Fast forward to June this year, the technical side of the product was fully ready but there were some skepticisms from my cofounder that it was a very technical product, difficult to maintain and it will be a hard sale. Meanwhile we had a new idea of a less technical, more viral solution that get all of us excited. And so we decided to pivot to release this new product first.
The progress is happening at a very steady pace and we are on course to launch the product this October. This is the final stretch, I should be excited about it. However it seems that the toll of all this hard work has finally gotten to me.
My spirit sinks when I look at the list of remaining features and realizing it's me and no one else who will carry all of these things to completion. And then when I go through and repurpose old code realizing how much I have to throw away (and I do believe this is good for the product), my heart sink even more. Or maybe I'm already over-stressed by then.
I usually just power through negative emotion by gritting my teeth and keep on keeping on. But lately it's not so effective anymore. Lines of code that I can product with ease in the past now makes my head hurt and heavy. And I have just worked for one hour this morning.
Yes it has to be rest that I need right now. Nothing else can explain this dip in performance. Sorry for my rambling, and thank you for reading all of this. It already helps me a little by organizing my experience into words.
First, it doesn't sound like you are seeing eye-to-eye with your co-founder. I don't think it's healthy to have a co-founding relationship where you feel like you're doing 99% of the work. You probably need to address this somehow.
Second, it is definitely demotivating to look at a very long list of things to do. Don't do that. Instead, move the goal closer to you by coming up with an simpler product - one that you can complete in a month or two. You may have heard the term "SLC" ... simple, loveable complete. (https://blog.asmartbear.com/slc.html) That's the better way to go. You'll get your product launched sooner, and it'll be better for your motivation. If you're really that close to launch, I would suggest moving as many features as you can to the next release and just launch already
Third, you might just need a break to recharge your batteries. Humans aren't machines. We get tired, burned out, demotivated. Taking a break not only recharges you but also gives you perspective.
Good luck!
Thank you for your thoughtful response. I know my cofounding relationship leave something to be desired for. But we never had a formal agreement of how much responsibility each will have and it's implicitly understood that vague contribution also mean vague rewards. Plus he help keep things in perspective for me and might become valuable once we launch.
Yes, we're that close to launch. The core tech is already finished. The only thing left to do is to put in place account management, social features, tutorial, settings, basically everything else. I might just ditch any concrete launch date and do this more sustainably.
You're in control of how fast you move.
Many entrepreneurs forget that.
You don't have to launch in October.
Take your time.
You'll be doing both your business and your mental health a huge favor.
I can relate. I ended up taking a 6 months off on a project once. Just got burned out. So many details to worry about. To much stress. Take care of yourself.
Thank you, I have taken today off. And I will try to avoid working in the evening from now on. I kept telling myself this is a marathon from time to time but still forgot about it. This really is a marathon.
Get outside! Is October a magical date? If successful, the long days will get worse with success.
You've got good advice. Take a break. Renegotiate or get another founder. Go outside more to recharge.
I'm a solo by design because I wanted to control my time. It has many downsides, but control of my time is not one of them.
Good luck!
Think about it: the title doesn't relate to the actual issues you describe. I think your performance and mental health would benefit from taking this to your cofounder. Stay strong!
Take care of yourself. Do you have feedback from people that are interested in your product? Just by reading your post, I'm afraid you've built in a vacuum.
Sorry for late reply. This is pretty hard to admit but yes, I think I'm building in a vacuum and the company that I keep unfortunately seems to be the wrong crowd. But such is the precarious situation I found myself in. I will try to launch in 1 month-ish regardless.
consider having teammates that are not necessarily co-founders. For example work with someone once a week or so.