What it's like being at zero after 1 year

I'm a technical founder, I quit my job at Slack as a staff software engineer almost 1 year ago now to start a business with my friend.

No, we haven't reached product market fit.

No, we don't have thousands in MRR.

No, we don't even have any customers right now.

I had the naiveté of most founders thinking I could easily make thousands a month off my software (lol). You know it's going to be hard but for some reason you don't think it'll be that hard for you because you're a super genius. Although delusion is a prerequisite to being a successful founder, this uninformed optimism turned informed pessimism was rough for me the first year.

We have finally landed on a company vision that we love. We spent the last year chasing "boring businesses" that could make us money quickly before realizing we kind of hated it. Our current niche is notoriously difficult but if the last year has taught me anything it's that:

- Chances of succeeding are low anyway, might as well work on what you want (granted there needs to be the possibility of making big money if you succeed)

- Selling something that actually solves people's problems actually gets a very high response rate (aka cold calling is not just a numbers game)

- There's always someone else wishing they were where you are (relax on stressing yourself over your own moving goalpost)

Thought I'd share my reflections on a year, curious to hear others reflections on 2024 especially if you're a first time founder like me!