Tag: startup struggles

When Dreams Turn Into Daggers


When the hand that built the dream holds the knife that kills it.

In 2008, six of my friends did something most people only dream about.

They walked away from cozy jobs, steady paychecks, and the warm security of “playing safe” to build something bigger. Something worth remembering. They were all in their late 20s, brimming with fire. They took loans, emptied savings, and pledged the prime of their lives to a single dream.

The world of entrepreneurship, however, wasn’t the romantic adventure they imagined. It was brutal, unforgiving, and often lonely. They worked sleepless nights, took no salary for months, and when they finally did, it was far below what they could have earned elsewhere. They traded comfort for survival, and survival for the hope of victory.

And slowly, painfully, they built a brand — a brand that became a name others admired, a story that inspired.

But today… that story has a bitter ending.

One person’s greed — one — has turned all of that sweat, sacrifice, and shared hardship into ashes.
Three of my friends, who bled for this company for 15 long years, have been thrown out. Not because they failed. Not because they lacked value. But because the man they trusted — a friend — decided he wanted it all.

Money. Power. Control.

The irony? That man is my friend too. And watching him walk the same path as my ex‑business partner is like déjà vu wrapped in heartbreak. I’ve lived through betrayal. I’ve woken up to the taste of iron in my mouth, knowing someone I trusted had buried a knife in my back. I know the hollow it leaves inside you.

He needs to understand — really understand — what it means to crush the very people who carried you through the storms.
He needs to know that the applause he hears today will fade… and karma has the longest memory of all.

And to my friends who were wronged —
I want to tell you this:
Believe in yourself. Stay the course. Don’t let the poison of betrayal seep into the veins of your purpose. Karma takes time, yes… but when it moves, it never misses. I have seen it with my own eyes.

Success built on betrayal is a glass palace. It may look beautiful now, but the cracks are already forming.
And one day, when it shatters, the shards will cut deeper than any knife.

The Entrepreneur’s Curse: When the Dream Becomes the Cage


Built to break free, but chained by our own ambition.

“I started to escape the 9-5. But now, I work 24/7 for a boss called ‘my dream’.”

Every entrepreneur starts with a fire in their belly. We tell ourselves, “I’ll be my own boss. I’ll build something meaningful. I’ll find freedom.”

But somewhere along the way, that freedom becomes a mirage. We become prisoners to our own creation — locked inside a cage we proudly built brick by brick.

The never-ending chase

Entrepreneurs are wired to keep moving. The moment we achieve a milestone, we don’t celebrate — we set a new, bigger one.

Your startup gets its first 100 customers? You think, “Why not 1,000?”
You close a big deal? You’re already eyeing the next.

Ambition is our superpower. But it’s also our slow poison.

The idea overdose

Our minds don’t stop. We’re cursed with constant ideation — new products, new pivots, new “next big things.”

We often leave half-built bridges behind, chasing the next shiny island on the horizon. And each unfinished idea weighs on us like a ghost of potential.

The loneliness paradox

Surrounded by a team, admired by peers, loved by family — yet feeling utterly alone.

Why? Because the final decisions, the late-night worries, the quiet fears — they’re all yours.

Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan — and that orphan usually lives in the entrepreneur’s heart.

The financial and emotional rollercoaster

Some months feel like flying private jets; other months feel like you’re holding on to a falling kite in a storm.

You burn cash, energy, and sometimes your own sanity to keep things alive. Meanwhile, friends in stable jobs post pictures from their vacations, and your blood boils — not from envy, but from the realization that your hustle never really sleeps.

The silent sacrifice

Family dinners become “quick calls.” Gym sessions become “next month.” Sleep? A mythical creature you read about in productivity books.

The worst part? You justify it all in the name of “passion.”

The identity trap

Your business becomes your identity. Wins feel like personal validation; losses feel like public humiliation.

The line between *who you are* and *what you do* blurs until you can’t find yourself outside your pitch deck.

“We wanted freedom, but we got shackles made of ambition.”

The entrepreneur’s curse isn’t just about work stress. It’s about the emotional tax no one talks about. It’s about fighting invisible wars within your mind, every single day.

Yet, we keep going. Why? Because despite the curse, we love the game.

We love building, dreaming, and living on the edge. Because deep down, even our suffering is a story we want to own.