Why Are We Surprised That Startups Are So Freaking Hard?

As a new founder, it’s tempting and often discouraging to compare your inside to another’s outside. Every other founder and company looks so well put together, whereas you are of course all too aware of your shortcomings and insecurities.

Because of how much we deify the great entrepreneurs of our time, we end up inevitably comparing our new company

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Even up to the time when Excite was several hundred people and we were the fourth largest website in the world, it didn't feel real. It doesn't feel like you're really doing something huge. On some level it feels like you're fooling people—like, are we really doing this? It's the whole sausage and sausage factory problem: when you're outside and yo

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Ozzie: The thing that's not really characteristic, that doesn't really translate from both of my startups to what other entrepreneurs do, is that I think of the challenges I take on as 10-year challenges, not filling a quick market niche. There tends to be some time where I'm building up a level of technological advantage for when we get to market.

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As anyone who starts a business knows, it is a fantastic race. There is a statistic that hangs over your head—over 90 percent of all new businesses fail in the first three years. For anyone with even a bit of a competitive spirit in them, especially for someone who defines himself or herself as an entrepreneur (hands on hips, chest out, standing at

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