Starting a Startup Is Not For Builders

Say you’re a builder, like an engineer, UX designer, or product manager. You derive joy from building things that didn’t exist before, perhaps using newer and better technology, or better UX design, or making different tradeoffs that result in a better product for a sub-segment of the market.

Maybe you’re just a cog in the machine in your existing job. You want to start your own startup to do what you do best — build.

I did exactly that.

But along the way I got lost in a lot of other stuff: marketing, financing, taxes, legal agreements, an office space, people management, hiring, getting a logo made, getting a cofounder, and a whole lot of other things that weren’t a deal breaker individually, but were in aggregate.

Suppose you’re a builder, and I ask you if you’d like to run a hotel instead of building a product. You’d probably reply, “That’s business, and I’m not a businessperson; I’m a builder.” Well, you might end up becoming a businessperson if you start a startup. Nothing wrong with that if that’s what you want, or if you enjoy building a business. But if you want to build a great product, if you love engineering or UX or product and it fills you with meaning and purpose, don’t start a startup.