The Misleading Narratives About Being a Founder/Entrepreneur

Scroll through LinkedIn or startup circles long enough and you’ll see the same patterns.

The “founder journey.” The “light and dark sides of entrepreneurship.” The “everything costs something” speech.

They sound deep, but most of them are motivational packaging, not reality. Many come from people who want to look like founders more than they want to build something real.

You can spot it easily. Endless posts about fundraising rounds, team culture, resilience, morning routines, founder depression, mentorship quotes, and photos from investor meetings. What’s missing is the part where you actually solve a problem someone pays for.

The 10-Year Myth

One of the most common claims is that entrepreneurship is a journey limited by years. That’s not how it works. If it ends after 10 or 15 years, you either quit, retired, or the company shut down. Nothing wrong with that. But otherwise, the road doesn’t stop.

The stakes rise. The problems evolve. But they never disappear.

Each new level brings its own version of chaos. You don’t finish the game. You just play on harder settings.

The Light Side Illusion

There’s constant talk about the bright side — funding rounds, prizes, PR, “world-class teams,” or showing off company size. I did the same. Most founders do at some point. But notice how rarely anyone shares real numbers — revenue, profit, or cash flow — while preaching about transparency and honesty. And don’t say it’s a “commercial secret.” In most cases, it’s not. It’s just uncomfortable to admit that growth stories often look better on slides than in reality.

That’s because the light side is easier to talk about than the real work.

True founders don’t chase applause. They build because they can’t not build. Their mind never stops. They see broken systems and think about how to fix them. They are driven by something they often can’t explain.

It’s not about headlines or hype. Those moments feel good, but they fade fast. The danger is when younger founders start believing that’s the goal and begin chasing optics instead of outcomes. That’s how many get stuck in the illusion of progress.

The Dark Side Drama

Then there’s the opposite extreme — the dark side. Missed birthdays. No balance. Anxiety. Burnout. It’s often shared like a badge of authenticity.

But not everyone burns out. Some founders like the squeeze. They find energy in pressure. Others can’t handle it. There’s no fixed formula.

In the beginning, most of us don’t realize how important family is. Over time, you learn to balance it the same way you learn to balance a business. You make mistakes, you adjust, you improve what matters.

If it feels like pain for too long, something is broken. Either the business is off track, or you are forcing yourself into the wrong kind of work.

Entrepreneurship is not meant to be suffering. It’s creation under pressure. The difference is how you digest the pressure — as pain or as part of reality. Being an entrepreneur is not about being a victim of suffering. It’s probably the most self-chosen path there is, so if you really suffer, then it’s not yours. And if you don’t, stop acting like a victim. :)

The Fundraising Trap

Funding updates dominate founder conversations. Many treat raising a round like crossing the finish line. But raising money only means someone believed your story. It’s part of the process, not proof of success.

There is nothing bad about funding. In some cases, it’s the only way to move forward. The problem starts when raising money becomes the goal instead of the tool.

It doesn’t necessarily mean the product works or that customers care.

Real validation happens when people pay — and keep paying. That’s the market speaking. Everything else is noise.

Too many founders spend years pitching investors instead of building products. They master decks, not solutions. I went through that phase too. It was easier to raise money than to build something people loved and paid for. I’m glad I learned that lesson early. The real game begins when the customer pulls out a card, not when an investor wires funds.

The “Founder Persona” Problem

We now have a generation performing the founder role. They post like founders, dress like founders, talk about vision and grind, but rarely sell anything. It’s a performance.

Even many real founders fall into the same trap. They start counting down to exit, planning retirement from the “founder life.” Nothing wrong with that, but for a real entrepreneur, the drive never disappears. It’s not a job. It’s a mindset.

Being a founder has become a badge, not a result of solving something valuable. That’s the distortion. You don’t become a founder because you post about resilience. You become one because you make something useful exist.

And about the “changing the world” narrative — there are millions of entrepreneurs building successful businesses without “changing the world.”

The Real Constant

The path doesn’t get easier. It only changes shape.

At $10K in revenue, you worry about paying bills.

At $10M, you worry about people and systems.

At $100M, you worry about markets, politics, and risk.

Different level, same tension.

I think the only right way to move forward is to ask yourself: do you enjoy solving real problems, or are you chasing validation and attention?

If it’s the latter, the dark side always wins.

The Real Filter

Being a founder or entrepreneur isn’t a business plan, a funding milestone, or a motivational checklist. It’s not about showing your best side online or building a personal brand around quotes.

It’s about wanting to keep building when no one’s watching, when the hype is gone, and when the next problem shows up.

There is no finish line. No “one big result.” It’s an infinite process. You go up and down, again and again.

And that’s what makes it real. That’s exactly what makes it exciting.

I’ve learned this the long way. Through failures, pivots, exits, and restarts. The pattern repeats, but the drive never fades. The real reward isn’t the outcome, it’s the ability to keep playing the game and still care enough to build again. And yes, the monetary reward always comes when you create real value — maybe not immediately, but always eventually.