Should You Launch a Startup? A Founder's Guide to Making the Right Decision
The question of whether you should start a startup is one that keeps many aspiring entrepreneurs awake at night. It's a decision that carries weight, not just because of the financial implications, but because it represents a fundamental shift in how you'll spend your days, where you'll direct your energy, and what kind of challenges you'll face. If you're reading this, chances are you're somewhere in that contemplative space, wondering if you have what it takes to build something from scratch.
The truth is, there's no simple test that can tell you definitively whether you're meant to be a founder. After working with hundreds of startup founders across various stages, we've learned that the stereotypical image of a startup founder, whether it's the programmer archetype or the charismatic tech guru, represents only a tiny fraction of the people who actually succeed in building companies. This is especially true in the European and Italian startup ecosystem, where successful founders come from incredibly diverse backgrounds, from engineering to design, from consulting to academia, and everything in between. The reality is far more nuanced and, frankly, far more encouraging for those who don't fit the traditional mold.
When you strip away all the noise about what makes a great founder, one quality stands above all others: resilience. This isn't the kind of resilience that gets you through a tough day at work or helps you bounce back from a rejected job application. Startup resilience is the ability to face rejection day after day, to hear "no" from potential users, customers, and investors, and still wake up the next morning ready to try again. The interesting thing about resilience is that it doesn't correlate neatly with the traits we typically associate with successful people. Academic excellence from prestigious universities, professional accomplishments at major corporations, and even confidence don't necessarily predict who will have the grit to push through the startup journey. We've seen quiet, unassuming founders build remarkable companies while watching seemingly unstoppable personalities flame out when their first startup idea didn't immediately take off.
Your Motivations: More Flexible Than You Think
There's a persistent narrative in startup culture that you need the "right" reasons to start a company. You'll hear that you shouldn't start a startup just to make money, that you need to be driven by a burning desire to solve a particular problem, or that you should only pursue entrepreneurship if you simply can't imagine doing anything else. While these motivations are certainly valuable, the reality is that your initial reasons for starting a company matter less than you might think.
Starting a company to build wealth is perfectly legitimate. If financial freedom and the opportunity to build something of your own is what motivates you to take the leap, that's a valid reason. Similarly, simple curiosity about what it's like to found a startup is enough to get started. The only way to truly know if you'll enjoy the founder experience is to actually do it.
What matters more than your initial motivations is what those motivations evolve into over time. The founders who succeed over the long term are those whose motivations deepen and mature as they work on their companies. They start caring deeply about the problem they're solving, they become invested in their team and customers, and they find meaning in the work itself. This transformation can't be forced, and it can't be predicted. You simply have to start and see what develops.
Rather than endlessly introspecting about whether you're founder material, a more practical approach is to assess what you have to lose. This isn't a rhetorical question. If you're fresh out of university, taking a year or eighteen months to work on a startup represents a relatively small opportunity cost. The job market will still be there, and you'll have gained valuable experience regardless of outcome. However, when calculating your worst-case scenario, don't forget to factor in the learning value of starting a company. Even if your startup fails, you'll emerge from the experience with skills and insights that will serve you throughout your career. As a founder, you're responsible for everything, which means you'll get exposure to sales, product development, customer support, and operations all at once. This comprehensive view of how businesses work is incredibly clarifying and can help you figure out where you want to focus your career energy.
The Italian and European job markets are increasingly valuing entrepreneurial experience. Many employers, particularly in the tech sector and innovation-driven companies, actively seek out people with startup experience, even if those startups didn't succeed. They value the self-starting mentality, the ability to take initiative, and the comfort with ambiguity that comes from working in an early-stage company. Major Italian corporations are increasingly looking to inject startup culture into their organizations and are hiring former founders to lead digital transformation initiatives and innovation labs. Even if your startup doesn't work out, the relationships you build within the Italian and European startup ecosystem and the reputation you establish as someone who takes initiative can completely transform your career trajectory.
Preparing to Start
If you've decided that you want to start preparing for your leap into entrepreneurship, you'll need two key ingredients: an idea to solve a real problem and a co-founder. The good news is that these aren't really separate quests. Your best ideas will emerge through conversations with smart people, and those same people might become your co-founders.
Rather than sitting alone trying to think up the perfect startup idea, focus on surrounding yourself with people you enjoy discussing ideas with. These might be university friends you naturally turn to when stuck on a hard problem, or colleagues at work who make you more productive and help you do your best work. I
Start having regular conversations with these people about technologies you find interesting, products you admire or are frustrated by, and industries you think are underrated or ripe for disruption. Consider the specific challenges of the Italian and European markets such as complex bureaucracy that could be simplified through technology, traditional industries ready for digital transformation, or cross-border opportunities that leverage Italy's unique position in Europe. Between these conversations, do your own reading and research to deepen your understanding.
This approach primes your mind to notice potential startup opportunities in your daily life, it helps you develop and refine vague impulses into concrete ideas, and it allows you to get to know potential co-founders in a low-pressure context. You're not interviewing each other or making commitments, you're simply exploring ideas together and seeing how well you work as thinking partners.
Once you're having regular idea conversations with potential co-founders, start turning some of those ideas into side projects. When someone says "it would be cool if someone built X," that's your cue to stop and think about how you could be the one to build it. Is there a simple first version you could create over a weekend?
The goal at this stage isn't to launch the next unicorn company. You're simply getting comfortable with the process of turning ideas into reality and experiencing the thrill of building and launching something, however small. Each side project teaches you something about what works, what doesn't, and what kind of work energizes you. Pay close attention to how much you enjoy the process of thinking up ideas and making them real.
Your Next Step Starts Here
At Dock Startup Lab, we work with aspiring founders at exactly this stage of their journey. Our founder academy program is designed for people who are curious about entrepreneurship but aren't quite ready to dive in alone. We help potential founders understanding the specific challenges and opportunities of building startups. We help you develop your ideas, find your co-founders, build your first prototypes, and make the connections that will support your journey both locally and internationally. Most importantly, we create the environment where resilient, ambitious people can come together and push each other to take that first step toward building something remarkable.
The new edition of our pre-incubation program is now accepting applications. If you're ready to stop wondering whether you should start a startup and start actually doing it, we'd love to work with you. Visit our application page to learn more about the program and take the first step toward becoming a founder. The worst case? You'll spend a few months learning, building, and meeting other ambitious people. The best case? You'll start a company that changes your life and maybe even changes the world.
Apply now and let's build something together.
