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Why Are We Surprised That Startups Are So Freaking Hard?

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Great online writing does two things. First, it makes you think, “Damn, that’s smart,” and second, it makes you snort green tea out your nose. This piece by Benn Stancil made me alternate between these two poles on a sentence-by-sentence basis. Benn approaches a simple yet profound question—“Why are startups hard?”—in a way that feels personal, real, and insightful. I highly recommend this piece even if you don’t currently run a startup—it connected with me on an individual level. —Evan In an interview this fall on the Acquired podcast, Jensen Huang—the 60-year-old founder of Nvidia, one of the most valuable companies in the world—dropped a bombshell. Inspired by Huang’s success at Nvidia, the hosts asked him what company he’d start today if he were 30 again. The 60-year-old Huang, without hesitation, said he wouldn’t start a company. The work he put into Nvidia—which, given his net worth of $36 billion, has netted him over $1 billion a year, $3 million a day, or $130,000 an hour—wasn’

Skip to content We use analytics and advertising tools by default. You can update this anytime. Privacy Preferences Do Not Sell or Share Privacy Preferences x Manage optional tracking categories. Necessary cookies stay on so the site can function. Analytics Advertising and sharing Cancel Save Preferences Why Are We Surprised That Startups Are So Freaking Hard? By Benn Stancil Why Are We Surprised That S tartups Are So Freaking Hard? We think they can be hacked, but the only enduring moat is effort Benn Stancil Dec 11, 2023 · 8 min read Updated Jan 25, 2026 Listen Link copied 99 Like this post

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