How Did You Get the Confidence to Start Your Business?

The insight for Tipjoy was that the worst case scenario was going back to fun jobs at big companies. Probably with a raise and a promotion too.

I joined two other startups and realized that there's no magic to it, just a lot of hard work.

I got my initial confidence through spectacular ignorance of the difficulties involved. Confidence grows as problems are solved.

When my mom told me I could do anything I wanted, I actually believed her.

Male enhancement!<p>Seriously it was the same thing ivankirigin said - what's the worst that can happen?

confidence is for marketing guys<p>you should make important decisions on the rational level, not the emotional level. You should weigh the risks and rewards in a rational manner, rather than running with what you feel. Feelings can be quite mercurial, and if you quit after you have a depressing weekend, or (sometimes worse) get in over your head and charge up lots of personal debit because you 'feel good' you can get in a lot of trouble.<p>Once you find that there is a positive expected return, keep making rational decisions.<p>But then, my start up isn't making any money, so what do I know?

Don't take myself too seriously.

Simple really, risk vs reward.