When to Quit: Founder Opportunity Cost
March 12, 2025
You have to be incredibly resilient to build a company from idea to IPO. Almost everyone who has made it will tell you there were many times when their company almost shut down.
You have to be incredibly resilient to build a company from idea to IPO. Almost everyone who has made it will tell you there were many times when their company almost shut down. But should there be a limit to that resilience? The reality is plenty of startups will stagnate and then the question becomes how long should a founder wait? Here’s the indicators I look for when a founder asks if they should consider a new opportunity or keep working on their current idea.
If your growth is flat and you’re about to run out of cash, that’s usually the most obvious indication that it’s time to move on. You can cut costs across the board to extend runway, but once you’re down to the skeleton crew and still out of money, it might be time.
Is there a growing number of customers who are reliant on your product? If you don’t have a lot of people using it or the engaged customers are in steady decline, then you may have reached a natural peak on the current idea.
If you find yourself wanting to work on something else, if you’re using your evenings to play around with prototyping something new. If it’s a struggle to get excited about helping your current customers. These are all signs that it’s time to work on something else.
Best of luck out there.
