Ask HN: How do you cope up with the emotional rollercoaster of a start up?
Some days I feel like a king and some days just plain hopeless.
I am having a rough ride guys.
There's no real answer to this question. Here are some things that might help:
1) Separate your work from your life. Even if you work 12-14 hours a day, have something you do that is away from a computer and distinct from work. Work from home? Set up an office area and leave the house at the end of the day. I like going for long walks.
2) Get a hobby. Something that doesn't demand too much time but is engrossing. I like to read fiction. Currently reading Spook City by William Gibson. Psuedo-sequel to Pattern Recognition. It's decent. Reading can be, if you let it, a micro vacation.
3) Exercise. It helps with anxiety, depression and fatigue.
4) Know that this is not the end of the road. You have to try your hardest to make this work, but if it doesn't it's not a big deal. It's not going to ruin you. Or be a mark against you on your resume. It's going to be the best thing to have ever happened to you, success or no: Learning from your mistakes is an option. Success is an option. Failure is not.
/techpep talk
Also, some other perspectives: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CdJTfGiRCI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TROhlThs9qY
I remind myself of how far I've come since the days I was a clueless adolescent always thinking about "starting my own business."
I wake up every day and say to myself 'I'm the luckiest person in the world to even have a chance to live my dream'.