I thought this was a pretty interesting blog post about the stresses of being an entrepreneur. Much of it is kind of obvious, like accepting mistakes, worrying about the next paycheck, etc. But the one that actually worries me most is:
“What is difficult (for me), and unexpected by many new entrepreneurs, is the psychological impact of having to leave things undone, not doing one’s very best work, and having to compromise on almost everything.”
I learned from personality tests that one of my core strengths is “appreciating excellence.” I’m not sure I could deal with a job where I was forced to do shoddy work. I can live with not being able to do everything – that’s inevitable – but the things I do choose to do, I want to do well, and thoughtfully.
I think in practical terms this could mean looking for startups that are “in it for the long haul” rather than ones that are planning to be sold to a bigger company which will just redo everything anyway.