I'm always glad that this kind of topic comes up.<p>Last month I went to the HN Meetup in London that Harj spoke at. On the way there I was recounting to a workmate how low the lows can be and how at the record label we would have these bleak months wondering if we'd screwed up absolutely everything.<p>It's really hard to explain to someone without this experience what it feels like. How hard it can be to go into work, and how you struggle to remember that this is what you want when through your head part of you is demanding you quit and work in a kitchen somewhere anonymously and simply.<p>He didn't believe me, not really. He was just listening.<p>Then during the speech that Harj gave, after inspiring everyone to take the risk, he then mentioned the lows. The devastating lows.<p>And I think that's important.<p>The only truths I firmly hold from having done a startup and now doing one again:<p><pre><code> * Everyone is a mess and doesn't know what they're doing.
* Everyone is going to go through their darkest days with their startup.
</code></pre>
It's much harder to invest the time and energy over a prolonged period to deliver than anyone thinks. And there is no easy path or way around it.<p>The only thing that seems universal in coping with it, is exercise. Make exercise part of the startup. Being fit for the job is part of the job, and if that means coming in late post-exercise some day, that's way way better than working your butt off until midnight and doing it again at 6am.