The Pros and Cons of Being a Young Startups Founder
Personal Advice from a Young Startup Founder
Being a young founder is one of the most amazing things I have ever done. It has its ups and downs, but I feel that the pros greatly outweigh the cons.
I started this company when I was 21 years old. I had no business experience and had just started college a few months prior. I was lucky enough to have some amazing mentors that took me under their wing and helped me get my business off the ground.
This article is going to be about what it’s like being a young founder, some of the challenges you will face, and how to get around them. This is based on my personal experience as a founder, and from talking to other young founders.
1. The struggle of working with older people
When you are a young founder, you will be surrounded by older people that have been in the industry for a long time. This can be both good and bad.
Older people can help you get your business off the ground because they have the experience and knowledge that is needed to do so. On the other hand, they may not understand what it’s like to be a young person starting out in this field.
They may not understand why your business model is different than theirs, or why you are doing things differently than them.
In order to overcome this, you need to find mentors who are around your age and that will help mentor you throughout your journey as a founder.
It’s also important to keep an open mind when working with older people because they may know more than you do about the industry or business model that you are trying to implement.
Be willing to learn from them because if they were able to start their own company when they were your age, then they definitely know what they are doing!
2. Your social life
When you are a young founder, your social life is probably going to take a hit. When I started my company, I didn’t have much of a social life because I was too busy working on my business. This is something that I was not prepared for when I started my company.
It was hard at first because I felt like I wasn’t doing anything fun with my friends. It took me a while to realize that if I wanted to succeed as a founder, then I needed to put in the work and sacrifice my social life.
This is something that all young founders have to deal with. The more you want to succeed, the more time you are going to have to put into your business.
You need to learn how to separate your personal life from your business life because it can be hard sometimes when you feel like you are missing out on some of the things that your friends are doing, but it’s important that you learn how to separate the two.
If you are serious about starting a company, then it is something that you will have to get used too.
3. Finding mentors
One of the hardest things about being a young founder is finding mentors who will help guide you along your journey as a founder.
When I started my company, I had no idea what I was doing and there were many times where I felt like giving up because everything seemed so overwhelming and difficult for me as a 21 year old college student.
I knew that I needed help from someone who had been in the industry for a long time and had experience.
It took me a while to find mentors who were willing to help me, but when I did, it made my life so much easier. It was hard for me to accept the fact that I didn’t know everything about business and that I needed help from other people who did.
Once I realized this, it made my life so much easier because I was able to learn more about the industry and business model that I was trying to implement. Having mentors can make all the difference in your life as a founder.
4. The feeling of being alone
When you are a young founder, you will feel like you are alone in this field because most of your friends are still living their lives as normal college students, while you are trying to start your own company.
This is something that can be very difficult at times because you may feel like no one understands what you are going through or what it’s like being a young founder.
At times it may seem like everyone is against you because they don’t understand why you have chosen this path for yourself and how hard it is to do.
This is something that all young founders have to deal with, but the more you work on your company and put in the time and effort, the more you will realize that there are other people out there like you.
It’s hard to find other young founders who are going through the same things as you because they are in different parts of the country or world, but it’s important to know that there are others out there who have gone through what you are going through.
You can learn a lot from them and build relationships with them so that they can help guide you along your journey as a founder.
5. Finding capital
Finding capital for your business is one of the hardest things about being a young founder.
You will probably have to turn down some investors because they won’t be willing to invest in a 21 year old kid who has no business experience. This is something that all young founders have to deal with because it can be very difficult trying to find investors who will believe in your business model and believe in your ability as a founder.
It’s hard at first when people don’t believe in what you are doing, but once you start seeing results from your business, it will be easier to find investors who are willing to invest in your company.
Being a young founder is something that I am very proud of. It has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I would do it all over again if I had the chance.
The main things that you need to keep in mind as a young founder are: find mentors who will help guide you along your journey, separate your personal life from your business life, and don’t give up on yourself.
You may feel like no one understands what you are going through or what it’s like being a young founder, but once you start seeing results from your business, it will be easier for people to understand why you have chosen this path for yourself and how hard it is to do.
About the Author
I am the Founder of Cudy Technologies (www.cudy.co), a full-stack EdTech startup helping teachers and students teach and learn better. I am also a mentor and angel investor in other Startups of my other interests (Proptech, Fintech, HRtech, Ride-hailing, C2C marketplaces and SaaS). You can also find me on Cudy for early-stage Startup Founder mentorship and advice.
You can connect with me on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderlhk) and let me know that you are a reader of my Medium posts in your invitation message.
