This is a guest post by Nihal Parthasarathi,
co-founder of CourseHorse.
Recently, I was asked to speak with a class of kick-ass grad students at NYU-Poly. The instructor of the class, famous for asking tough but hyper-relevant questions, asked me the following:
‘What if you get to a point where you know it’s not working, and it’s time to give it up?”
I smiled. If there is one thing I have discovered during this endeavors of starting a company, it is how liberating the force of human commitment can be.
Marriage is a good analogy for this – by definition, eliminates the option to break up . Yes you could date (or get divorced), but by making this one huge decision, you eliminate the uneasiness you may have experienced without this commitment. And the idea behind marriage is that if you can’t give up, then you will be infinitely more dedicated to making it work.
I have committed to my company. You could say I put a ring on it, threw it in a white dress, and signed the papers. So as we face staggering odds, encounter mind-numbing, smash-your-head-against-the-screen challenges, and trust that the road not taken is not taken for a reason, I’m ok. Because I am certain that we will not stop. That we will not quit. And that in the end, we will triumph.
“But what if you’re genuinely just being silly and your idea isn’t realistic?”
In the same way that I could never commit to a wife without the confidence in her and us, I couldn’t commit to a business after just a one-night brainstorm or honeymoon launch. Now that I have been in this for a little while, I have glimpsed the plausible outcomes and tested my love of the business, the industry, and the work to be done. And I think it can be done. So I stop questioning.
“What about when things get tough? Really tough?”
Two things. First, the stronger your commitment, the more creative you will get in finding solutions to your current problems. And second, each pain you face will only embolden, enlighten and strengthen you on the other side. I deeply appreciate the challenges we’ve already faced because I’ve toughened ten-fold as a result.
And honestly, I believe that adversity (if this startup dream can even so blasphemously be called that) is healthy for the soul. So if you are lucky enough to experience the feeling of pure exhaustion, of seeing your whole heart on the line, take pleasure in it.