Starting up
He started his startup with a fire in his heart. "I'll show them," he thought, turning away from everyone's advice, convinced that he alone knew the path to greatness.
But as the days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, that fire began to flicker. His product, his dream, seemed to fall on deaf ears. The users who cheered him on were nowhere to be seen. The growth he dreamed of, the success he was so sure of, remained out of reach.
The idea of shutting it all down, of retreating to a simpler life, now tempts him. Yet, the weight of his own declarations holds him back. He told everyone he was a founder, a maverick who refused to conform to the system. Admitting defeat would mean shattering that image, admitting that they were right and he was wrong.
So, he remains trapped in his own fears, unable to muster the courage to shut down or to fully commit. Each day blends into the next, a continuous loop of existential crisis, too scared to move forward, too proud to step back.