Entrepreneurs are almost always failing, almost always disappointing somebody...

"Entrepreneurs are almost always failing, almost always disappointing somebody. If you're excessively sensitive like I am, you take it very personally. I'm a freelancer now. Freelancers are entrepreneurs too, in a way. And, to this day, my first freelance project looms over my head. It was for a friend who ran a software business and wanted to expand it. He paid me something like $17,000. I had no experience in scoping or completing projects as a freelancer and, without getting into the technical details, the product flopped. He took a risk on me and I failed. He ended up taking a fulltime job — not immediately, but eventually. I don't know how much I had to do with that, and that's probably what bothers me most. Like, did I ruin his business? So, yeah, I think entrepreneurship can be sugarcoated. I wasn't prepared for the personal, human toll of failure. But despite the pain, I still have these temptations towards starting a new business. The demands of life just make it harder, now that I'm supporting my wife and five children."