This is very true. We started in 1999, lived thru the crash, kept plugging and we are now having our best year ever. I can not tell you how many people told me to hang it up, sell the company or do something different. Sometimes knowing you are right is the only thing the makes you different that everyone else.
I’m in the Orange County / LA startup scene and there is a lot of this. People come to startup events to learn and part of the problem (I believe) is a lack of mentors to providing a “critical path” for new startups to follow.
They run from event to event trying to find that one event that will teach them how to do evenything, go from idea, to forming the company, to getting funded.
Unfortunately without the right road map they burnout and give up.
Of course MY startup is worth never giving up, but I saw a guy on Dragons’ Den (the original Shark Tank) who had spent 20 years developing a complex new musical instrument, kind of a box covered in buttons…when asked to play a tune he couldn’t…HE should give up 🙂
Hey man be nice! I meet a guy at Vator Splash about a year ago and his been pitching the same idea for 10 years!
Yes there should a stop point, but it shouldn’t mean a person has to “give up” on his or her dreams. A little re-tooling to match the times goes a long way.
Jason // Aug 24, 2011 at 10:57 pm
Such an awesome quote
Aee // Aug 25, 2011 at 1:26 am
The problem with the Internet startup craze isn’t that too many people are mcdermott cue companies??
Rob // Aug 25, 2011 at 5:23 am
Remember he said this in 2000 – may not be entirely applicable 11 years after.
Patrick // Aug 25, 2011 at 7:16 am
Wish it weren’t true but it is…
Thanks Venture Hacks!
Dan Cornish // Aug 25, 2011 at 8:26 am
This is very true. We started in 1999, lived thru the crash, kept plugging and we are now having our best year ever. I can not tell you how many people told me to hang it up, sell the company or do something different. Sometimes knowing you are right is the only thing the makes you different that everyone else.
Daniel // Aug 25, 2011 at 10:35 am
I have 3 kids 2 boys and 1 startup…. wouldn’t give any of
them up for adoption? Well maybe the 7 yr.old lol, And we
haven’t even launched yet! I love what I do and how much of
impact we will have in our space once we launch!
The conversion rate will be crazy! Keep this post as a data point.
@michaelreyes1 // Aug 25, 2011 at 11:14 am
“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” Alan Kay said it… Steve Jobs lived it.
Anthony Wang // Aug 25, 2011 at 2:27 pm
Many of life’s failures did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
– Thomas Edison
Jeff Weiss // Aug 25, 2011 at 3:01 pm
I’m in the Orange County / LA startup scene and there is a lot of this. People come to startup events to learn and part of the problem (I believe) is a lack of mentors to providing a “critical path” for new startups to follow.
They run from event to event trying to find that one event that will teach them how to do evenything, go from idea, to forming the company, to getting funded.
Unfortunately without the right road map they burnout and give up.
Mike Hodgkinson // Aug 25, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Of course MY startup is worth never giving up, but I saw a guy on Dragons’ Den (the original Shark Tank) who had spent 20 years developing a complex new musical instrument, kind of a box covered in buttons…when asked to play a tune he couldn’t…HE should give up 🙂
Jack Dempsey // Aug 26, 2011 at 1:03 am
He should give Madeon a call: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTx3G6h2xyA&feature=BFa&list=FLnhc1tHh2pfeoFN5Oz3eZMw&lf=mh_lolz
Great quote. So many related thoughts…but I gotta get back to some hacking.
Jeff Weiss // Aug 26, 2011 at 10:24 pm
Hey man be nice! I meet a guy at Vator Splash about a year ago and his been pitching the same idea for 10 years!
Yes there should a stop point, but it shouldn’t mean a person has to “give up” on his or her dreams. A little re-tooling to match the times goes a long way.
Accountants in Kent // Sep 3, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Very true, not just of internet start ups, but any new business.
You don’t get success overnight unless you are very good or very lucky.
Persistence, persistence, persistence, thick skin.
machbio // Sep 5, 2011 at 5:12 am
this is the story of life.. patience is king…