Back in 2012, I was kicking around ideas for a new startup, and a mutual friend introduced me to Naval Ravikant because he was “a pro at finding holes in ideas.” We spent an afternoon chatting about startups, being a founder, and the work he was doing at AngelList. I enjoyed our conversation and even seriously considered abandoning starting my own company and applying to work with at AngelList[1]. One particular piece of advice he shared stuck with me, and I continue to share it with aspiring entrepreneurs to this day:
Don’t start a company unless you’re willing to work on it for 10 years.
A succinct way to sum up the level of commitment you should have before starting a company. Startups aren’t a fast-track to riches. Most fail, and even those that succeed take 7+ years on average to exit[2]. If spending a significant portion of your career on your current idea doesn’t excite you, it might not be the one for you.
Notes
[1] I ended up co-founding HeartThis, but we did use AngelList to help with our fundraising.
[2] See CrunchBase Reveals: The Average Successful Startup Raises $41M, Exits at $242.9M