Things learned while running your own self-funded startup
You missed the most important part: Keep your sanity.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?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.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.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?