Should You Start A Startup?

Taggar says successful founders have varied strengths, and school or work performance does not reliably predict startup success. Early customer rejection demands resilience, which can be hard to judge from confidence or interview style. He describes Benchling founders Sajith and Corey, whose company took about two years to begin making revenue and later won major biotech and pharmaceutical customers.

Taggar says initial reasons for starting, including curiosity or wanting to make money, can change; lasting interest in the problem and the people may help founders through difficult periods. He recommends estimating the worst case, including a year with little or no salary, and deciding whether you can handle it. Startup experience can also build useful skills and open career paths, even if the company closes.

Taggar recommends treating the search for an idea and a co-founder as connected. Talk with people whose thinking you enjoy, explore technologies and products, and research topics that interest you. He suggests working at a startup to meet potential co-founders and learn how startups operate, then turning promising conversations into small side projects.

Taggar advises non-programmers to learn enough coding to build a first version or find a technical co-founder. Early feedback may be mixed, so look for users who care enough to change how they work; one passionate user can be stronger evidence than a large waitlist. He also suggests noticing whether side projects energize you and whether you enjoy working with your collaborators before deciding to leave a job.