What it Takes to Start A Start-Up

Founders are made of stiff stuff. To create a high-performing start-up that inspires with something new, you need more than just a crazy dream, grit, and psychological capital.

- Rachel Genevieve Chia

I find it hard to talk about what I do. Some people would find it crazy, says one entrepreneur. Adds another: I psych myself up when I run. That's how I deal with things.

Theirs and 150 other anonymous responses were captured in a survey on Singapore startup founders last year, which found that two in three founders have poor mental health, three out of four are easily irritated, and seven out of 10 have difficulty maintaining close relationships as a result of running a start-up.

Even so, the siren song of the startup life has charmed thousands, with the republic's start-up count quadrupling from some 1,000 players in 2014 to over 4,000 in 2020, according to PwC. What kind of person would give up the secure embrace of a corporate role to strike it out scrappily in today's prestige-driven nation?

According to Vikram Bharati, founder of Draper Startup House, They see millions of people using their products. They may be at step one, with 100 customers, but they can inspire you with the thought that one day, there's gonna be 100 million users, and the steps they're going to take to get there.

When starting a business, superstar founders also have a much broader perspective than the average Joe, he adds. They can sell you the big vision, an idea that convinces and inspires, a big dream of something new. The difference between a normal person and a start-up founder is that the founder can take a new concept and sell that idea to people whether employees, partners, investors, or customers - even if that idea is not well understood.

According to Francis Yeoh, a professorial fellow for entrepreneurship at the National University of Singapore's School of Computing, founders possess traits such as discernment, drive, confidence, and resourcefulness.