Being a founder is an endurance game. Every day we wake up with a million problems to solve, pressure to hit targets, and the constant uncertainty of whether we're going to make it. But those stories, the ones from founders out on the field, don't get told enough. Nobody's talking about the sleepless nights, the loneliness, all the times it looks like everything's about to go wrong.
Founders have to learn everything: finance, coding, marketing, whatever it takes to keep our startups alive. And we do it with very little recognition until we finally land a visible win. Only then do the cameras show up, but the grind started long before that.
So what about the investors?
This isn't about downplaying them. Investors are essential; without them, a lot of startups would never get the chance to grow or scale. But lately I feel like their role has been way too romanticized.
If you're a founder just starting out, what's really going to help you isn't hearing investor stories at events, it's learning from other founders who've already been where you are. The most valuable lessons come from people who walked the same road and faced the same problems.
I've had investors and I'm deeply grateful for everything they've brought: not just capital, but connections, advice and support. But at the end of the day, if there are no founders building something successful, there are no returns for investors either. The whole ecosystem depends on founders, the ones on the front line, building and executing.
The founder is the hero
In the startup ecosystem, it's easy to see investors as the main characters. But the truth is that the ones doing the hard work, building and executing, are the founders. As they say at YC: "Make something people want". That's one of our missions, day in and day out, on top of solving real problems with limited resources and constant pressure.
Time to shift the focus
We need to give founders more space, tell their stories and learn from them. The ecosystem's success isn't just about how much capital gets raised, it's about how many founders manage to build something that lasts. The heroes aren't the investors, they're the founders.
