Why Are We Surprised That Startups Are So Freaking Hard?

The truth is, you should be looking for hard things. The hard things are what keep the competition away. The hard things are what create barriers to entry. The hard things are the things that, once you push through, make it nearly impossible for anyone else to follow.

Or, as I always tell my students: The hardest-working entrepreneur will always bea... See more

It's not enough just to do something extraordinary initially. You have to make an extraordinary effort initially. Any strategy that omits the effort — whether it's expecting a big launch to get you users, or a big partner — is ipso facto suspect.

We all know “startups are hard,” but I think we tend to imagine that this difficulty is bounded, contained, modelable, a bit like running a marathon: yes, legs and lungs hurt, but that’s normal and appropriate, and we know the route, the distance, and that there’s a finish line. This is a kind of difficulty we can contend with without losing oursel... See more