Essay · 12 min read

After the TechCrunch Bump: Life in the Trough of Sorrow

Andrew Chen · andrewchen.com Free Intermediate

This is the piece that named the flat middle. Chen maps the exact stretch you are in: the launch hype is gone, product/market fit is not here yet, and every day feels like you are uniquely failing. His core reframe is that you are not, every startup crosses this valley, and his practical prescription is the same as ours: chase small tactical wins to keep morale and momentum alive while you grind toward fit.

  • The trough between launch and product/market fit is a predictable phase, not a personal failure, so stop reading it as a verdict on you.
  • Manufacture morale with small tactical wins rather than waiting on the big revenue moment that is not coming yet.
  • Keep the team small and nimble in the trough so you can run more product iterations per unit of runway.
Open on andrewchen.com ↗

The question it answers

  1. How do I keep going emotionally through the long, flat middle where there are no wins and no clear progress?

Read with it

  1. This is the founder-depression piece written for the Indian context, and it earns its place by pairing raw first-hand accounts... Inc42 Article · 15 min read Breaking Taboos: Dear Founders, It's Time To Speak Up About Mental Health Inc42 Staff, with psychotherapist Deepti Singhal
  2. This is the cleanest articulation of the exact move we are recommending: stop staring at the lagging revenue line and instead... Working Backwards (workingbackwards.com) Article · 15 min read Input Metrics: A Guide to Defining and Measuring the Drivers of Growth Colin Bryar and Bill Carr
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →