10 things I Learned in my First Year as a Startup Founder

The startup I founded is 1 year old today and that’s led me to reflect on the educational and personal growth I’ve made in that period. You learn more in your first year as a startup founder than at any other period in your life and here are the ten lessons I’ve found about myself and life in general.

My ability to handle stress is high

I excel when other people struggle with stressful work. The simplest thing that has enabled me to do this is a change in perspective of how I viewed these situations. Stress is good. I have an inhuman ability to cope with large volumes of information that overwhelm other people while drawing conclusions which aren’t immediately obvious. This allows me to make fast and accurate decisions which waste precious little time. Working in a startup is the most stressful situation you will ever willingly enter into. Every day feels like you are simultaneously on top of the world and getting punched in the face repeatedly. You’ll feel alone, isolated, stressed and upset, even when everything is going exactly as it should. Everything will be going horrifically yet a single moment can change the entire fate of your startup. You need to be able to face these things in the face and assess the right choices and decisions without recognizing the default state of every startup is…