Thanks for commenting on my blog! You are 100% correct, I've found myself pushed to the edges and am learning and experiencing so much more than I have before I started this.

Also, while I haven't had a success like you have yet, I do find little pockets of joy when other entrepreneurs like yourself reply on my blog! So again, thanks for replying!

-d

Thanks for the kind words, and of course you're right to just forge ahead.

One note on your VC stats — actually that's nowhere near the record of a typical VC firm. Mike Maples (one of the more famous, vocal, and rich VCs) says he expects 9% success, 91% complete waste of money, and maybe 1 or 2 big home runs.

But you're being unfair as to why. It's not because “the experts” can't pick the winner. It's because they're intentionally going for HUGE exits, and if you want to gamble big you'll often lose big. It's a reasonable bet…. for them.

But what you (and I) am interested in is to maximize the chance of having some outcome — modest is fine. That's a reasonable bet to — one that makes more sense for the individual founder rather than a portfolio of companies.

In the end of course you're on the correct path. “What am I doing with my life if it doesn't work?” Answer: You're doing what almost no one does — reach further, push yourself so far it's uncomfortable, have life experiences almost no one has, experience joy equal in magnitude to the pain.

In other words, you're alive and doing something interesting, not wasting away in a job you hate for a company you don't care about.

That's reason alone.