Really good post. I was talking to a friend of mine last week and he related a great story:

In January of 201X, he was sure his company was going out of business after 6 long hard years.

In May of 201X (same year), XXXXXX (titan we all use all the time) bought his company for $40M.

Hang in there, keep pushing, make progress, stay sane. Get up the next day and do it again.

Welcome to StartupVille.

Startups are a marathon not a sprint. It's so hard to appreciate that until you've been in that situation.

“If you knew all the hardships ahead beforehand it would be incredibly hard to ever start.” - Even if you thought you knew, many still jump in cause we all think we'd be different. And it's because of that belief that the world is changed!

The whole time I read that article I told myself that it will be different for me. The whole time I also knew it won't be different for me. Maybe denial can be a good thing?

Even knowing it won't be different, what else are you going to do? Might as well go for it.

Brilliant! I liked "The experience is the journey itself – It’s not about the end (acquisition, IPO, etc) but the everyday moments that make startups what they are." the most... :)

Author here. I wrote this post in response to a confidential conversation I had with a friend about his company on the verge of going under.

Happy to answer any questions or feedback anyone has.

very well stated. it's the facebook stories that make headlines and paint a picture that is not even close to a fair representation of reality

...stabbing people with my startup knife.

Great post !

Great read!