Paul GrahamVerified account

I am pretty sure the biggest difference between a startup and a large company is the anxiousness one feels if they haven’t shipped something meaningful in a week. In a large company it is totally acceptable for an 6+ mo project to not ship. That cannot happen in a startup.

Quite literally, if a startup opted to not ship the thing after 6 mo, it would be 33% closer to imminent death on average. That alone accounts for enough of the difference.

I think if we don’t do anything meaningful, my mood goes from sad to depressed to existential to intense radical focus until our impact is rebalanced. You just don’t have that level of skin in the game at a large company.

So, if you’re a startup not running at the speed of light with the feeling of the grim reaper behind you, it’s worth questioning what’s sapping the teams motivation and, perhaps, your own. It could be deeply held & worth diagnosing to get your groove back. Momentum is everything.