The most defining aspect of working on a startup that never strikes success, that you usually don't hear about, is having all but your very closest relationships deteriorate and friends all drift slowly away. This loss you can never really get back, unless you're wildly successful.

That's the highest cost of bootstrapping, if you ask me.

I don't understand why keeping a reasonable work-life balance is impossible.

  Recruit help if you absolutely need it,

  stop doing the things that don't matter,

  or just slow down.

I should check myself into the nearest startup addict recovery center.

Very nice and insightful article. I think it's really the fear of failure that cripples a lot of people rather than any inability itself.

I think this post is great and concise. I am not an entrepreneur yet but I keep having these battles with myself daily about ideas. There is something about it that is very satisfying, yet sometimes it wont let you sleep at night.

I think the emotional rollercoaster applies to anything you do where you have a large personal stake in it and yet it's new, innovative, and unproven. I remember feeling that way with several of my volunteer & employment projects, even though the outcome wouldn't make a financial difference to me either way.

It's exacerbated when you actually start working on your startup, though, because you have so much more invested. If it's just your idea, then it's only your pride at stake. When you start backing it up with your own money and large amounts of your time, it can become overwhelming unless you specifically try not to think about it.

It's gotten to the point where when my friends ask me how the startup's going, I answer "Depends when you ask. Right now, pretty well, but if you asked me this morning, I'd tell you that we're doomed."

Great Sinatra song, heres "Thats Life" on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbqC1I2SxGM

Try this one after that: http://youtube.com/watch?v=sEbgB6X6S5c

Not really a new insight, but nice Shakespeare quote.