mthrowaway

I know startups are hard and they are not for everyone. I know the media, twitter, and blogs don't talk about the gruesome parts of doing your own startup but here I am struggling with starting my own thing and looking for some advice.

I'm an SWE/EM with 10+ yrs experience. Worked at FAANG, small and large startups. I left my last job bc I really believe that I can start a company and it's really one of my life goals to do so. Sounds cliché but fast forward a few months and I'm having some expected turbulence.

I've tried a few MVPs and while the MVPs got less than 100 users, I got demotivated about them because it seems like for every idea I have there's already a startup that's doing something very similar (if not the exact thing) - and is super well funded or positioned. Because I'm trying to figure out "the unique" angle for the startup, I'm also having a hard time attracting a co-founder.

I don't know how to navigate my current situation. If you have any thoughts/advice that would be amazing!

(my ambition with the startup is to eventually match my bay area salary. I'm not concerned about short term finances)