5 myths about startups or why a startup is "Jumanji"

Azizbek Kurbonov, city — Tashkent, co-founder of the startup Sug’urta Bozor, Instagram

Whether good or bad, Central Asia is experiencing at least an information boom around the venture industry. Governments are creating funds, platforms for discussing investments, expansion, and much more are being established.

More and more young people, and not only they, want to "start" a startup, or even better, two. Because it's cool, and the position of "CEO" is better than "second assistant to the third manager of the fifth branch."

But, for me, a startup is like the movie "Jumanji." Everyone is interested in playing, but to get to the end, you have to live in the jungle for a while. Therefore, as a second-time founder, I want to dispel several myths:

1. It's easier than working for someone else.

Partly yes, you don't work for a boss, but for a client. From the first day of the startup's founding, your boss becomes your client. Everything revolves around them. If you have a super innovative project, you might even become the boss. But, it's not a fact.

A startup is about unpredictability; you can't predict what will happen next month.

2. Experience is not needed for "this" business.

There are individual cases where founders without experience were able to create something the market needed and achieve an exit. But, mostly successful founders have a lot of experience behind them, where they did things with their hands and interacted with other people. Without work experience, you can find a big problem. But, it's extremely difficult to build a strong team and bring the product to clients.

3. You work when you want.

This is complete nonsense. Founders work much more than in employment. Testing hypotheses and quick maneuvers in the market require time.

4. You become a rock star.

A startup is like getting into Harvard. Everyone dreams of getting there, but only after getting there do they understand how things work.

To put it mildly, not everyone is thrilled. But, the newspaper only writes about successful students and graduates of Harvard. They are the rock stars.

5. A startup is fun.

Haha. You made me laugh. I won't dispel this myth. Some people need to feel this thrill themselves.

I don't want to dissuade you from creating your own startup, but I wish for you to have correctly formed expectations. This way, you will be better prepared to start this journey!