Stress of a Startup CEO

Running a Startup is stressful

Think of running a startup like preparing for a test, in which if you failed, you will get kicked out of school and end up wasting the last 3-4 years of schooling.

Now think of it as a test where if you failed it, a dozen of your friends in the same school will get kicked out and will have wasted 3-4 years of their lives too.

Finally, don’t think about it as a test you are preparing. Think about it as daily pop-quizzes that you don’t know what will be covered, and if don’t do well, you and all those friends will get kicked out of school.

That’s the stress of a Startup CEO.

When you are living for others, it’s hard to care about yourself and friends

I don’t necessarily do a super great job, but I try very hard to pass all the pop-quizzes and solve all the new problems that arise daily.

That’s why if you are my friend, I beg you to be understanding when can’t hang out very often and just have fun with you.

I’m not just doing this for myself. I am doing this for everyone who gave up high paying jobs, a more comfortable life, and better relationships for the vision that I brought them on to. I brought them onto the journey, and I have to try my best to make sure that if we one day do fail, it is not because I only put in 99% of my energy.

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9 thoughts on “Stress of a Startup CEO”

  1. Hey David,

    Thanks for taking the time to come back and comment. I’m actually truly happy that you’re not the type who just leaves irresponsible messages and never comes back to my responses (although you’re still anonymous).

    First of all, how do you know I just tlak and talk but I don’t do anything? Did you try to understand the vision of the company? And how do you know we don’t make any money. I can tell you that first of all I work over 80 hours a week, and the majority of that is not just talking. Also, our company started off with the vision to make the world a better place through social media and technology. Finally, we are making some money, contrary to what you said. We’re not making tons of cash (yet), but we making some.

    What do you mean “when people like as much as you”? Don’t really get it. I agree that we haven’t had some huge successes like Bluehost and such, but we have some small successes. In one month of launch, we already reached a decent 5 digit unique visitors number with 30% of that being direct traffic. We also got invited to go sponsor events for other company to have our name attached. I also got invited to speak (not saying that I really deserve it) at Google and various universities, so at least there are some people who value what I say and don’t think I’m an idiot…yet 😛

    Haha, I’m wondering if you are just someone who found me on the internet, a personal friend, or a distant family member. It feels you believe you know a lot about my business to just be a random person on the internet, but you have all the info wrong so you can’t be too close of a friend. Hmmm

  2. and by the way, usually when people like as much as you, they have accomplished something to get the attention of their viewers. for exampel, shoemoney.com, mattheaton.com etc etc.

    you need to focus on doing something great first or else whoever sees blog will just categorize you as an idiot trying to be popular

  3. you know what industry you are in? The bull sh*tting industry. All you do is talk and talk but you do nothing to improve the lives of people. Maybe that explains why you don’t make any money.

  4. CEO when your the only person in the company? People like you bring a bad name to entrepreneurship. If you are starting up, learn to be more humble.

    1. Hahaha hi David,

      I really don’t understand how some people would just bitterly bash others anonymously without any real research. But here’s my response 🙂

      1. My company has actually more than just 1 person. We have 11 people on the team, not including some outsourced contractors we work with. We’ve also been running for 2 years now. I was wondering what info you were basing on when you said I’m the only person. I might need to correct that source of info.

      2. I don’t see how I was not humble…. I was only talking about how stressed I sometimes become. That should have nothing to do with arrogance or anything. If I was writing about how awesome I am (which sometimes I do :D) then your comment would be more relevant. But not in this case.

      Anyway, sorry if I brought a bad name to entrepreneurship for you. Don’t let it stop you from running your own business though!

      Yu-kai

  5. Hey Adam!

    Thanks for the note! I do certainly try to use my time more efficiently and make sure the ones who care about me are not penalized because of my schedule.

    It’s great to see someone who understands how I feel. Let me know if you ever need help with anything!

  6. Hi Yukai, you do look stress there. Startup life itself is stressful too. But we choose this LOTR journey because we have a clear goal–destroy the ring! No matter what happen, I am confident that we will make it.

    Let me know if there is anything we can support you and help you with. Totegher we make a legacy!

    1. Hey Olina!

      Thanks for the support! You are super awesome!

      The journey is rough, yet so meaningful! We can make it to the end and make a name out of what we do!

  7. Yu-Kai,
    It sounds like you have a good grasp as to what you are doing and why you are doing it. Being a business owner I understand the round-the-clock demands that are ever present in building something of your own. It is good that you are able to articulate that in this video and I hope your friends and family can provide you a little more patience. On a side note, consider ways to balance out your time whenever possible so that you can quickly take advantage of free time that make crop up. The people that miss your time and attention usually do because they care about you.

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