• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

BobbyVoicu.com

Curious about stuff

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Blog / Archive
You are here: Home / Misc / Sheer Panic: Way Too Familiar for a Startup Founder

Sheer Panic: Way Too Familiar for a Startup Founder

August 7, 2013 By Bobby Voicu

surface

The panic was creeping on me little by little. I was breathing through my mouth, as told, but the water was going from above my eyes back to under my neck and back again and I would feel compelled to breathe through my nose every time my head was above the water.

This is how my first ever scuba dive experience began. Sheer panic, no matter how much I tried to control it: WHY CAN’T I BREATHE THROUGH MY NOSE? After all, in my 15 years of competitive sports (handball), all I was told and forced into was to breathe-in through my nose and breathe-out through my mouth.

Looking back to that first day of diving I can compare the feeling to that of building a startup. Its life is like a sinusoid, with ups and downs and feelings of drowning and terrifying panic for the person crazy enough to try and start one.

Fortunately, though, 10 minutes later you control your the breath, even if you swallow some Mediterranean salty water from time to time. And 25 minutes later you are really surprised that you need to go back to the boat, because the lesson it’s over (Oh, so soooooon???). Of course, this is just the beginning, because dangers are close by, you are just blissfully unaware of them.

And that’s how you feel for exactly 5 minutes in startups: you have everything under control. Yeah, right!

Still, I wouldn’t trade that panic for anything else. Or, frankly, I could live with less of it…

Photo credit

◀MavenHut in the Romanian Press
Lifestyle Business: A Real Option▶

Filed Under: Misc

>>> If you want to continue the conversation, email me at me at bobbyvoicu dot com

Bobby Voicu

Bobby Voicu writes here from time to time.

Footer

About

I write about things that raise my curiosity. And I’m quite curious about all kinds of things.

For a full “About Me”, go here.

Recent Posts

  • My Bluesky ID: @bobbyvoicu.com
  • Batman is Here, on the Quest – XR Industry News of the Week – Oct. 24
  • XR Industry News of the Week – Oct. 10
  • XR Industry News of the Week – Oct. 4
  • XR News of the Week – September 14th, 2024

Friends

  • Sami the Westie
  • XR Gamer Digest

The CEO Library Collections

  • Best Leadership Books
  • Best Productivity Books
  • Women Entrepreneur Books

Copyright © 2025 · Privacy Policy · Disclaimer

We use cookies to enhance your experience. By clicking "Ok" or by continuing to use the site, you agree to this use of cookies and data. Ok