NOBODY’S FAULT BUT MINE…My 6 Stages of Startup Founder Depression and the Lessons LearnedVidar AndersenFUCKUP NIGHTS Düsseldorf, April 16. 2015
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VIDAR ANDERSEN • STARTUP FOUNDER • EDUCATOR • INNOVATION ADVISOR
FOUNDING PRINCIPAL +ANDERSEN & ASSOCIATES
[email protected]
+ANDERSEN & ASSOCIATESINNOVATION & GROWTH THROUGH SCIENCE + ENTREPRENEURSHIP
FEATURED & RECOGNISED
AND MORE…
LECTURING AT E.G.
Cologne U
“[VIDAR ANDERSEN] ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSONS IN THE GERMAN
STARTUP SCENE.”
CERTIFIED LLP EDUCATOR @STANFORD
LLP LECTURE QIA UNI, IRAN
MY NAME IS VIDAR… AND I’M A…
FAILURE FUCKING SUCKS!
HERE’S MY STORY OF #FAIL
The People Magnet
TECHNOLOGY• Rexter • Objective C • Django • HTML5 • Zepto • AWS S3 • Rackspace
Cloud
• Python • Werkzeug • Gevent • ØMQ • MongoDB • Neo4j • OrientDB* • Titan*
*experimental
SUCCESS THEATRE
AUSTIN, TX
Literally all the cash I had left in the world on landing at SFO June 2013
All my credit cards where cancelled, bank accts frozen… (Thank heaven for PayPal)
DEPRESSION SETS INOf course you don’t notice yourself at first
STAGE 1:SHOCK & SURPRISE This can’t be happening to me
STAGE 2:DENYING ANY OF IT IS MY FAULTEveryone else is screwing up. I am doing everything right.
STAGE 3:GETTING ANGRY, BLAMING EVERYONE ELSE This is all your fault, you fuckers!
STAGE 4:GETTING DEPRESSEDDays of not getting out of bed, not going out of my apartment
STAGE 5:GRADUALLY ACCEPTING MY ROLE IN THE FAILUREWhat could I have done differently?
STAGE 6:GAIN INSIGHTS,CHANGE MY BEHAVIOURNobody’s fault by mine
LESSONS LEARNEDMy Main Take-Aways
IT WAS ALL MY FAULTNobody’s fault but the founder’s - ALWAYS
A-PLAYER IN GAME X !=
A-PLAYER IN GAME YI should have stuck to my game -A-Player in Game X attracts C-Players in Game Y
IT’S ALL ABOUT PEOPLEBe VERY VERY VERY careful with who you get into bed with!
GET EVERYTHING IN WRITINGBecause love is NOT all you need - Get the co-founder’s agreement up front!
NEVER EVER RUN OUT OF MONEYDo WHATEVER it takes to keep you afloat - as a startup AND personally
YOU WILL WIN SOME YOU WILL LOSE SOMEDo NOT put all eggs in one basket - diversify - DO NOT listen to the VC investors
STARTUPSNOT FOR EVERYONEIt takes a special kind of crazy to survive it - YOU WILL MOST LIKELY FAIL
I’M READY TO GO AT IT AGAINSo either I’ve learned a lot - Or nothing at all
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