…until you’ve actually done it.

If you’re running a startup, or thinking about it, or have an inclination that some day you want to, or you work at one, go read Paul Graham’s latest essay, What Startups Are Really Like.

For me it reads like my “startup autobiography”. He’s publishing a list of “surprises” that he asked Y Combinator members to send him about startup life. Nearly every single one of them is something I’ve experienced. And I can guarantee you that’s the same for most startup founders.

• People can tell you all they want about what it’s like to run a startup (including me!), but until they’ve done so themselves, they really don’t know.
• And on top of that, you won’t really listen anyway – until you’ve jumped in, started a company and you’re off to the races. Then, as you experience these “surprises” you’ll remember what you were once told (or read) about startups, and hopefully benefit from that knowledge.

But you have to experience it to believe it.