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I'll admit I'm never a huge fan of other founders asking me how my startup is going as a conversation starter. There are often three scenarios: 1.) Nothing n
by leelin 15y ago
I'll admit I'm never a huge fan of other founders asking me how my startup is going as a conversation starter. There are often three scenarios:
1.) Nothing new or exciting has happened since last time, in which case I feel pretty crappy.
2.) Something cool has happened, but I don't feel particularly boastful nor do I want to get into a long discussion of why that thing is cool.
3.) Something very amazing has happened, but I'm actually not allowed to talk about it.
I do notice when I return the question, I almost always hear the answer this article suggests ("awesome, best month ever, crushing it"). I guess that's why people always gave me funny looks when I used to give an honest assessment.
Now I just always answer, "Good good, we're pretty close to (some lofty feature or pseudo-pivot that is months away)". It's a convenient way to change the subject. Keep in mind this primarily applies to casual meetups with people I see regularly every 1-3 months but don't consider close friends.
- dlikhten 15y ago2) To combat this, I make sure my partner shows off his stuff to me all the time, and vice versa. Sometimes just showing someone who understands that something is cool and getting just some truthful criticism is really encouraging. If my partner builds something cool, even if I can figure it out... "show me". 1) If nothing exciting happens, I try to talk about something good happening in their life, try to keep focused on the happy part of your life vs the frustrating/hard part to keep spirits up. 3) You can always talk about it with your partner. Or. You can talk about it, with friends. Its good to have a friend who is willing to sit there and listen even if they don't fully get it and you know they won't backstab you.