Words of warning from a Chinese startup founder, one year in

Recently, Chinese tech site iHeiMa posted a fascinating essay. Written by a startup founder named An Fushuang after a year of operating his online finance startup, the essay details his thoughts on the startup life in China, as well as his advice for others on the startup journey. It’s a very worthwhile read, so Tech in Asia has translated the essay in full below for your enjoyment.

In 2011, I rather accidentally got involved in the internet finance business. In succession I was involved with online lending, equity crowdfunding, and a lending services platform, so I’ve personally seen the rapid growth of this industry. In 2014 I founded a startup with some friends, and today [Oct. 12] marks exactly one year since then. If I had to describe my experience founding a startup so far in one word, it would be: crying. In another word, it would be: bitterness. In still another, it would be: struggle*.

Startup founders have a grand scene in front of them, but behind them is a lot of sadness. I once posted this in my WeChat circle: “Being a founder is the most bitter occupation, doing a startup is the most risky action. Outsiders only see that startups look cool, but actually what founders experience is bitterness*. Startup founders must either be ignorantly fearless, or knowingly walking towards a tiger. So to those friends who haven’t done a startup but are considering it, I recommend you consider very carefully, and think it over again. Doing a startup is nothing like what you think. What follows are my own feelings and reflections a year after founding my startup.

First: if you have not amassed enough, then doing a startup is untenable. Doing a startup requires resources: contacts, money, industry experience, some reputation and influence, an understanding of the business. Founders have to be multi-talented and know at least a little about marketing, management, technology, product, finance, administration, and HR. Especially when you’ve just started, you basically have to do everything yourself. This is why many college students’ startups fail. They haven’t built up enough [money, experience, knowledge, etc.] yet. I founded my startup in internet finance last October; previously I had 3+ years of experience in the field, and in addition to tech positions I’d done most other jobs at least once. When we had just started up, there were only four of us, so everyone was doing everything. Because I had previous experience, it was all a bit familiar, so we could get results quickly.

Work vs. family: you’d better find a balance.

Second: startup versus family. Doing a startup is very important to us, and so is family. But the two don’t mix very well, and there is bound to be conflict. If your girlfriend is [sick] and needs you to look after her, but an interested VC has just shown up and wants to talk, will you choose to help your girlfriend or talk investment with the VC? Whichever you choose, it suggests you’re giving up on the other, and for a startup founder, they are both things you can’t afford to give up. It’s very painful, but what can you do?

Recently an article was doing the rounds called “The true sex lives of Chinese startup founders unveiled” [Note: link leads to our English translation]. In the article it said that founders are so busy they don’t have time for sex lives, and so busy that their sexual capability is decreased. After sex, founders immediately return to the computer to send emails.

Since doing a startup, I’ve been as busy as a spinning top, thinking about all kinds of things, and every day brings adjustments and difficulties. My wife often complains: ‘Every day when you come home you just stare at your phone. You don’t chat with me, pay attention to me, or care about me at all. When I’m off work you don’t go out with me. What’s the difference between us being married and not being married?’ I have no response. Doing a startup isn’t a 9-5, you’ve got to throw yourself into it totally, every day filled with fear and trepidation. But what is the wife to do? She can’t just be lonely at home forever, right? I won’t lie to you, since doing a startup, ignoring my family because I’m busy with work is something my wife and I have often fought about, and we nearly got divorced.

Personally I think the hardest thing about doing a startup isn’t building growth or getting funding, it’s balancing work and family life. There needs to be a good balance. My recommendation is to recognize the importance of family and every day carve out a set time to communicate with your loved ones. Also, you can invite them to your office so that they can see how busy you are, and better understand and support your work.

Third: losing business focus. Startups must continuously try to find new businesses and test their feasibility, but they also can’t lose focus and concentration. Using ourselves as an example, when we started we were a marketing consulting service for online lending platforms, but in doing that we began to discover other non-lending platforms that also needed marketing consulting. We went to talk with them but ultimately determined that there was no upside and we had wasted a lot of time. Later we moved into online lending training and when a partner suggested we expand outside online lending, I was resolutely opposed: we are for lending services, and we must focus and not deviate from that arena. When doing a startup, funds, finances, and resources are all precious commodities, and you must focus them on one thing and do it thoroughly, and refuse the many traps that look like opportunities.