It is from this point that either the idea is progressed or discarded. For the few of us that can bring an idea to life and have that entrepernurial spirit we dont discard it but simply put it on the backburner of ideas and let it fester until sometime in future we have a need for it again. This second round usually acts as the catalyst or validation that the idea is good and has some merit to begin proper analysis. If the idea was cooked up over a beer with some friends also like minded then a call is made to have another chat, if it was concieved individually then during the shower in the morning or the train ride to work different considerations about the idea are thought out. To keep the analogy of the rollercoaster this is similar to sitting down on the seat once your past the gates and about to pull down the saftey guards over your chest (they are not yet pulled down but you're close to doing so - you can still get off if you want).
Understanding of the requirements are now completed as a result of various thought sessions during showers and train rides. Its now time to write some test code to see if we like the technologies we hear other tech enterupreners advocate. We spend some time after work, or spend some weekend mornings hacking away at examples and getting a feel for the technologies that are out there. So now to bring us back to the analogy its time to pull down the saftey harness and locking it in over our shoulders. As more code is written now with weekends and weeknights sacrificed the upward momentum is there, the excitement of things to come begin to bubble up and we put ourselves in a higher position able to see everything below and what we have to gain, its the exciting slow upward motion of the rollercoaster. The feelings associated are excitment, anticipation and a tiny amount of fear.
After a few months of coding, testing, reworking, tweaking and back again we are almost at the peak of the rollercoaster ride. Between the climb and the peak there are different sorts of feelings that we get such as (will i survive this ride, am i wasting time, why am i doing this when i can be safley on the ground nice and comfortable and not strapped up about to be thrown around at 100 miles an hour in all sorts of directions). At this point though you realise that your strapped and the only way keep going is to tell yourself, its all for the better, to get more excitment out of life, to do things most people dont try for fear of failure and to get that knowledge and experience that will better you as an individual.
As a boostrapped startup, you withdraw your first wad of serious cash from the bank to buy your necessary equipment (servers, legals, company registrations, etc ..) You look at various different deals and offers and make a decision on who your partners will be technically and legally that you hope can help your startup grow.
Once money begins to exchange theres no turning bac, its official ... the rollercoaster clamp has let go of the train and your on your way to whereever the ride takes you ..... emotions of the initial excitment, the stress from work, code, personal issues are all a thing of the past and now your holding on to your harness as your hair is flowing backward through the sudden rush of air and your thrown around at a hundred miles an hour in all directions ...
Well maybe im getting ahead of myself here, we havnt launched yet and the analogy of the "hair thrown back being thrown around at 100 miles an hour" is describing a few months after launch when traffic or (stress from no traffic) starts to kick in. We arent there yet, currently its more like the silence before the clamp has let go where things are quiet and your waiting for the inevitable....
So far this is all i have as our journey is far from over ... there are many times when you question what your doing, specially when you see (Most) people are doing things in totally the opposite direction. Your starting a company, they looking to buy a house, your not focused on getting married, they are all starting to get engaged ... ?!? You wonder whether your crazy and why your embarking on this journey. You tell yourself its for the better and most times you believe it and it keeps you going, but when its a Tuesday morning and the code doesnt run as expected after going hard at it since monday night (after work) AND you have no idea why, no one there to ask AND tomorrow there is a presentation back at the office AND its already 2am in the morning you just wonder why, why, why ... why the hell ...
A peice of advice to all the other bootstrapped, day job Entereprenurs ... this feeling is normal, anything going against the norm will make you feel this way and the best way to get over this is to believe its for the better (your young, you have time and its worth the risk), how do you deal with the thought of failing ? You keep that thought at a distant place and focus on the task at hand (whats next to complete within the code, who do i discuss legals with, how do we approach launch and publicity). I think one of the things people fail to mention is doing a bootstrapped startup has alot to do with mind games and convincing yourself that your on the right path ... Most importantly take a break when you need to .. maybe a weekend of just doing the things you like or totally relieving yourself from computer and just refocusing on why you started and what your goals are ...
i'll continue when we reach the next section of the rollercoaster that is .. a bootstrapped startup
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