💡What I Learned from Building My First Startup
A Founder’s Honest Experience
Hey Hustler,👋
Happy Monday
“All humans are entrepreneurs, not because they should start companies but because the will to create is encoded in human DNA.” – Reid Hoffman
Topics For Today’s Email
☀️ Business Mode - What I Learned from Building My First Startup: A Founder’s Honest Experience
Business Mode
What I Learned from Building My First Startup: A Founder's Honest Experience
Note: This story is based on the real experience of a founder, who shared it so you can learn from his journey quickly.
About a year ago, he built a recruitment platform in the Middle East. The idea came while he was consulting for a government client exploring how to make the labor market more “skills-based.”
He thought — hey, that’s cool, let’s build it.
A year later, there were plenty of lessons… and no money. He’s sharing this, so maybe someone else can avoid the same mistakes.
1. The Consulting Mindset Doesn’t Work in Startups
He came from a big strategy consulting background.
Naturally, he thought that if he just made a detailed Gantt chart and a solid plan, everything would fall into place.
Nope. Startups are chaos.
They don’t move in straight lines — they zigzag, stall, collapse, and rebuild constantly. It took him months to accept that control is mostly an illusion in early-stage startups.
2. The Team Was Too Small for the Mission
He put in all his savings. His “team” was basically two-and-a-half people — one full-time employee (himself), one part-time co-founder, and one engineer.
They were trying to do the work of five. It was stressful beyond words. When it’s your own cash, every decision feels like life or death. And when fear drives you, creativity dies fast.
On top of that, his mental health took a hit. Family drama was brewing, his co-founder was living abroad, and he was surviving off this startup. Different risk levels led to resentment.
3. He Picked the Wrong Problem
Looking back, he realized something fundamental: the problem wasn’t even his.
It was more of a government problem than a human one.
When you don’t personally feel the pain of the problem you’re solving, motivation fades quickly.
He also made another classic mistake — he tried to build a marketplace. Don’t. It’s two products at once, and it requires real capital to succeed.
The B2C market was small, and though he had plans to shift to B2B later, he never made it that far.
He also didn’t think about monetization early enough — another painful lesson.
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4. Family and Business Don’t Always Mix
When he ran out of money, he brought family in — specifically, his dad.
Bad idea.
They already had a complicated relationship, and the startup just became a new battleground.
When emotions are already high, mixing family and business can be a recipe for disaster.
The tension and power dynamics that existed at home only multiplied inside the business.
5. Execution Mistakes That Killed Momentum
He wasted precious cash on marketing and sales before achieving product–market fit.
He overpaid for his engineer, and the runway vanished quickly. A small team means slow progress and zero momentum.
Once momentum dies, inspiration follows. Eventually, burnout hit hard.
He tried doing everything himself and avoided raising capital because he didn’t know how — and honestly, he was just too tired to learn.
The biggest takeaway?
Momentum and longevity matter more than passion.
You have to build your life in a way that can handle the grind for the long haul.
6. Final Reflections
Passion alone isn’t enough. You need structure, capital, emotional alignment, and peace.
Your company can only grow as much as you can handle mentally and emotionally.
He learned everything the hard way. He’s still young — and hopefully, the next one will go better.
This story is part of our “business learnings” series — where we share founders’ learnings & experiences so you can learn what truly happens behind the scenes.
Thanks & Regards
Abhilash Prasad