Why Startups Are Fun, Not Hard
Since I quit my job to start a company, I get asked "how is it like to build a company?" and my reply is always "like being on the playground!"
To which I always receive the following reply: "Yeah, but it must be hard!"

I don't get it. Honestly I never did. Why the emphasis on hard? and why "hard" is a bad thing?

Ever been to a playground?
A hot mess of challenges and all those kids think it's fun, because that's their idea of fun.

Imagine being a 2 year old here. The older kids around you navigate the tangled web of obstacles effortlessly, while you still struggle balancing your feet on the rope. An older kid got impatient with your slow progress and stepped on the rope to head to the other side. Now you lose your balance and fall down. You want to cry. You might do, and 2 mins later you try again.

It is not the first time that you try to walk on the rope from here to the other side. You spent the last 30 mins trying, the last day too. You cannot remember when was the first time you tried, it seems like you have been playing every day of your life. Some plays get easier with time. Actually all of them get easier with time, that’s how you know it’s time to try the next thing. Playgrounds are very fun.

Beside you, a baby crawls and tries to join in the fun, but they are no match for the heights and unstable rope. You want them to leave, to focus on the task. However, the baby is stubborn, like all babies. You decide to let him be taught by life, that some challenges won’t be conquered overnight. You have been there before.

As the day wears on and your energy begins to wane, you set your sights on a new challenge. Seems like to reach the slide you have to climb a vertical flat board first. You need some food!

You walk back to your mom and ask for food. She uses the opportunity to remind you that it's time to head home and get ready for bed. Damn it, you wonder if you didn’t had asked for food, you would have escaped bed time today. You resist, because you want to try just a hundred more times. She agrees on 3 and you reluctantly accept in exchange for the promise that tomorrow she will bring you here again. To the playground, the place where fun happens.

Children around the world share a core belief that play means solving physical, social and mental challenges.

Why do startups feel like such hard work to some people, and like pure joy to others? I believe it has a lot to do with mindset and our expectations of fun.

Startups require us to step out of our comfort zones to the playground. The place where the challenges are endless and the fun is infinite.

Starting a company transports you back to childhood, when the playground was your favourite place in the world. You'll see the older kids effortlessly navigating the tangled web of obstacles, while you still struggle to balance on the rope.

Like any ordinary playground. It's a place where the stakes are high and the competition is fierce. You'll encounter babies who are determined to join in the fun, even if they're not quite ready. And you'll meet older kids who are just as determined to show you up. But don't let them get you down. Remember, this is a place where everyone worships their own challenges.

As the day wears on and your energy begins to wane, you'll set your sights on a new challenge: The deal you want to close in this quarter. But don't forget to take a break and remember that there's always tomorrow to come back and play again.

So don't let them tell you startups are hard. They are not hard but magical. It's a place where you can learn, grow, and have fun like that time, when you were still a child. And who knows, with a little bit of magic and a lot of hard work, you just might make your dreams come true.

Make 2023 be your playground.