I just read through a very interesting article by Marc Andreessen entitled “The Pmarca Guide to Startups, part 1: Why not to do a startup“.   This is a guy who knows what he’s talking about:

My specific experience is from three companies I have co-founded: Netscape, sold to America Online in 1998 for $4.2 billion; Opsware (formerly Loudcloud), a public software company with an approximately $1 billion market cap; and now Ning, a new, private consumer Internet company.

But more generally, I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in and exposed to a broad range of other startups — maybe 40 or 50 in enough detail to know what I’m talking about — since arriving in Silicon Valley in 1994: as a board member, as an angel investor, as an advisor, as a friend of various founders, and as a participant in various venture capital funds.

You can hop over to his site to read the full article which is very detailed or check out my summary below.

PROS To a Startup

• The opportunity to be in control of your own destiny
• The opportunity to create something new
• The opportunity to have an impact on the world
• The ability to create your ideal culture and work with a dream team of people you get to assemble yourself
• Money

CONS To a Startup

• Emotional rollercoaster
• Absolutely nothing happens unless you make it happen
• You get told no — a lot
• Hiring is a huge pain in the ass
• At some point you’re going to have to hire executives
• The hours
• It’s really easy for the culture of a startup to go sideways