Title: After a Devastating Startup Loss, I’m Leaving the Entrepreneurial Path
A year ago I left my job to start a company, armed with about $12,000 in savings—enough to cover a year of living expenses and a little extra. I trimmed spending to a near-minimum and convinced myself that creating a product, landing 10–20 clients, and hitting $1,000 per month would be the path to a $20,000 monthly recurring revenue.
Of course, it didn’t work that way. I was naïve, and I suspect I’m not alone in that feeling. I consumed the usual signals—success stories, self-help books, podcasts—and told myself I was smart enough, that if others could do this, so could I.
Now I’m broke. I dislike the projects I built and regret spending all my money without earning meaningful income (aside from about $60, which hurts even more). Nothing came from my products or clients. The real cost extends beyond money: I asked my girlfriend to stay home for a year, we lived with next to nothing, skipped new clothes, and ate the cheapest food. I feel I’ve lost a year of my life.
I know how to build software and manage a product from zero, but:
– Promoting something makes my stomach churn.
– Sharing updates about my projects triggers a week of anxiety.
– Visiting Facebook groups to promote my apps makes me sick.
– Reaching out via private messages on Twitter or LinkedIn keeps me awake at night.
I worry people will hate me, call me a fool, a fake entrepreneur, or say my ideas are terrible and I’m worthless. They did say those things, and I couldn’t cope with the constant zero revenue.
So I quit.
I’ve always wanted to write more. I love it. But I believed success was a prerequisite for writing. Perhaps there are no rules after all.
