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Comment by ericb | Hacker News Reader

Congrats--you got one under your belt. Take a break. Then analyze it, learn from it, and iterate. Figure out why it failed, and avoid that trap the next time. Deliberate Practice makes perfect:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/...

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It took me years of brooding in a corporate job to get over my first failed startup. But people aren't kidding when they say it's valuable experience; I've seen enough entrepreneurs who didn't fail soon enough or often enough. Their first big idea happened to stay alive long enough that they lost the fear and thought they were going to go all the way; they weren't sufficiently paranoid and able to think in contingencies. Then, failure came when they already had plenty of people depending on them; they became bitter and never recovered their spirit.

Guy Kawasaki gives experience in startup failure +3 points on his venture capital aptitude test: http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/11/the_venture_cap.html

But the economy being what it is, don't wait too long if you want a decent choice of corporate jobs.

As ericb says, congratulations! I would have to seond ericb. First, relax, take some time off. Make a trip, call some of those friends you might have ignored while working on the startup, read a good book.

I have said this before, and I will say it again, in conjunction with some of the other people's advice of some exercise, try some meditation. It helps you relax, and at the same time, allows your mind to both calm down and reflect at the same time. You will feel more confident and composed, and if you keep the practice up it will help you in your next endeavor.

The link above is a good read. Doing something (Deliberately) without measurement essentially means that you are doing it in vain. It has been a philosophy of mine that if you watch (measure or log) something, it will grow in the direction you want it to. Look back at your time with your startup and try and assess where you could have done more, or less (invariably you spend time doing things that you are not good at, which means you spend an exponential amount of time and effort trying to accomplish it). Take notes, makes index cards, whatever works for you. Don't try and do it all at once, rather let it marinate for some time in your head, constantly jotting down anything that comes to mind. Talk to people who were involved or were somehow affected by your startup work. Ask them for advice, sometimes people notice a whole lot more than they give you credit for. For example, I tend to be very agitated and quickly irritated when I am trying to put the finishing touches on anything. The very last details (like lining up elements in the UI to the last pixel) tend to get me antsy. I think they are important, thats why I do it, but on the flip side, I tend to be very good starter and executor, but a poorer finisher. Ironically it was a project mate who mentioned it to me for me to realize it. There are several books on the topic, like "Now Discover your Strengths" that can also give you some insight.

Again, Congratulations! I wish you well.

As he says, congrats! I agree, with many of the comments. Relax, take a deep breath. Think about what went wrong, whether it was a bad product, bad marketing, bad team or no funding and recognize what you learned.

Take that knowledge and try again. If they say that 1 out of ten startups make it past the first 3 years, then you are one more closer to the 1 out of 10. On the flip side if you never reach the one out of ten, it may be time to consider becoming a career politician :D

Chris http://blog.itrealm.net http://www.propertystampede.com

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