The entrepreneur’s path looks glamorous from the outside: fancy-pants networking events, coverage in the WSJ, and the ever elusive successful exit.
The truth, lived day-to-day, is mostly small, lonely, expensive stretches of uncertainty.
No paychecks only bets on ideas.
We learn by shipping, by failing (hopefully quickly) and by iterating on thin evidence.
The difference between giving up and grinding through often comes down to what a friend will do. Little, reliable actions are all it takes to send the message: I believe in you enough to help.
The best founders are pragmatic and it follows that the best way to support entrepreneurs is grounded in the practical.
Showing up emotionally helps, but …
Practical-help compounds
Want to be useful? Do concrete things.
Beta-test the product and give a structured five-minute critique
Introduce one person you know who might be valuable
Show up to a launch for 30 minutes and ask three smart questions
Post an honest review somewhere that matters
Dare I say the obvious - buy the Whatchamacallit being sold
Each of these actions has outsized value because founders operate on feedback loops while in echo chambers of signal economies - that few make it past.
Thoughtful actions can helpfully pivot months of work.
What’s the point of this rant?
A performative ❤️ or an ambiguous “congrats so cool!” in a group chat is good enough to beat the Level 1 Boss. And if you want to keep playing the game, perhaps try:
Holding them accountable, gently. Entrepreneurs need cheerleaders and critics. Encouragement that sugar-coats reality is useless; so is McKinsey-level skepticism that leaves the founder FMLing.
Try asking what did you learn from your last experiment? Or who is the customer you’re serving now? And another one … what would a meaningful win look like in the next two weeks?
Don’t say “let me know if you need anything.” We know that isn’t a promise to do anything helpful. Instead make an explicit offer or simply buy their product and tell someone if you liked it. If you didn’t like it, then tell the founder why.
Don’t be the friend who erodes confidence
“One of us has an actual job” is not only banal but it’s condescending. If your default response is doubt, your words will start to sound like a London weather forecast - too cold in the Winter and too hot in the Summer.
If you can’t be optimistic, try to be constructive. If you don’t believe in the idea, be transparent, but don’t act as a roadblock to access.
Introductions withheld are opportunities stolen
Founders survive on momentum. If your friend hits a small milestone such as a first paying customer (maybe it could be you!), first positive review or funding perchance! - consider telling others. Endorsements become social proof and fuel.
Being silent about your friend’s progress is a missed lever for them and perhaps a sign you might be caught up in yourself.
Examine your excuses
Too busy …
It’s not my field …
Must be nice to be able to …
If you care about someone, you’ll find one concrete way to move their needle.
Being absent with reasons is still being absent.
Challenge
Pick one founder-friend of yours and do one thing for them this week that directly helps their work.
Try to do it in a way that changes their reality, not just your conscience.
For entrepreneurs …
… the exit is an end in itself, for everyone else the EXIT is a means to escape.
