Things I will tell my kids if they become entrepreneurs [slides]
I think the most important thing to understand is that Yoo Will be All Alone and Everybody will Treat you like you have a disease.That sounds harsh, but it's reality.Your family will be angry and envious. You are doing something your old man only ever dreamt of. They will try to convince you not to.At first, your friends will think you're nuts, but won't say that to your face. If your business succeeds, you won't have time for friends anyway. Down the road, they'll envy you, and they'll drift away. Some might ask for jobs. Others will spread wild rumours for the hell of it.  Don't hire friends, ever, for any reason. You find them stealing petty cash, you're losing an employee and a friend. And the respect of your existing employees.Your cofounder, no matter how well you get on, will at some point down the road he the biggest single source of stress in your life. They'll kick you when you're down, as support requires effort, and empathy, both of which end up in short supply.Your wife will leave you for someone, anyone, she sees more often than you.Your customers will never thank you, will pay as late as possible, and your biggest and most lucrative clients will go bust with huge debts outstanding. Sometimes clients will try to physically assault you.Again, nobody will want to talk to you about it. Anyone you do talk to tells you you should be grateful and happy and shut your damn whining hole. You're wondering what bit about 20 hours a day 7 days a week for the last ten years you should be grateful for. Certainly not the pay - you pay your staff 3x as much as yourself.The technology is the easy bit.Humans are extremely hard work. Unless you enjoy the full shitty panoply of human behaviour, do not start a business.I left mine a month back after a decade. So not worth it.