I Survived Toxic Startup, Here’s the Antidote

I usually talk in very glowing terms about startup life. Sometimes I forget that it can suck.

I’m lucky because, in over 20 years of this entrepreneurial insanity, it’s been rare that I’ve gotten screwed over or been forced to make decisions that I might regret later. But make no mistake, I have indeed ended up with the short end of the deal more than once. I’ve been betrayed both personally and professionally. I’ve had to make painful decisions that — while I don’t regret them — I sure didn’t want to make at the time.

We tend to push the startup mythology as a utopian meritocracy where the best ideas always win — ideas that are executed by anti-heroes with minds that are wired to see the future in a way that you and I can’t. We paint these visionaries as magnets of money and talent. Then we have them falling into billion-dollar valuations because they deserve it.

The truth isn’t anything like this mythology, but it’s just as strange.

Truth is about as strange as fiction

There’s a reason why HBO’s Silicon Valley was especially popular with people in the startup game. It’s because they nailed all the flaws. It’s well known that Mike Judge hired a number of valley players as consultants, and those consultants hit almost every sour note…