Things learned while running your own self-funded startup
You missed the most important part: Keep your sanity.<p>Trying to get funding is described as "soul sucking" even by Paul Graham and in our experience this is a startup killing move. Very few people talk about mental health for entrepreneurs and for us the most challenging times was talking to investors. If a constant stream of people told you, your business was not worth spending time or money, after how many rejections will you start doubting your company and even yourself?<p>Investors asking for a stream of documents, asking us to drive down for partner meetings, arriving late at meetings, un-responsive to emails: They all take a toll on the startup and more importantly on entrepreneurs.<p>Getting funded is a rat race. You get the money and then clock starts ticking for sales, series A,B,C , 10x the returns etc.<p>The startup newsletter are full of wins, and VC fundings and "we are killing it bro" mentality but how often do we stop to talk about those that failed?