Thread by @ashkan

1/ Were it not the whole "health pandemic aspect", entrepreneurs live for these times. We get bored when things get too routine.

I launched @watchmojo in 2006 with $250K I'd saved, and months later: bam, hit with a frivolous lawsuit by News/FOX. Mounted defence & prevailed, but

2/ before I could enjoy victory, lawsuit had scared off possible investors and before I knew it: I ran out of money by 2007, at which point the "unique" risk of lawsuit was dwarfed by systematic meltdown created by Lehman Bros.' econocalypse. Scarcity of resources forced clarity

3/ we trekked on, but we were basically insolvent & borderline bankrupt. for years until 2012, I was always dreading payroll. we had to survive before we could even thrive. Even when we had "successes," they were so relative to other dead-ends & failures.

eventually...

4/ we hit platform/format fit:

linkedin.com/pulse/platform…
and took off like rocket ship, with @youtube becoming ground zero for copyright/monetization, that meant friction with rights holders. for years.

we fought for #WTFU but it was constant battles.

5/ eventually rights holders realized we would not be scared. But r success drew imitators/copycats. I love competition: it helps entrepreneurs keep team on their heels. Early team members get drowned out by later recruits who take "winning/success" for granted. So you fight that

6/ before long, loose capital makes people do stupid things, you're tempted to follow so the battle is about discipline & focus. A lot of temptation & whispers, which you have to drown out. It's like being a soldier, alone, at night, needing to focus to avoid getting shot.

7/ and just like that: poof, bubble bursts (Mashable fire sale, etc) and people throw you in same bucket. You have to ignore it, but you're fighting that "stigma," & so you're constantly "at war," with one thing or another.

8/ You're always "at war," with bad recruits, ineffective tactics. Externalities and self-inflicted wounds through ambition & pride. Just as things start to get quiet, boom: CoronaVirus. WTF? But, u love it. It's a formidable foe.

a16z.com/2011/04/14/pea…

Happy 42nd bday! /END

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