I’ve got a bunch of friends who’ve always wanted to build a startup.

They’ve had ideas for years.

Scribbled them into emails.
Sent late-night texts: “Wouldn’t it be cool if…”

But then that f’n voice kicks in:

“Not yet.”

• Let me find a co-founder
• Let me talk to a few more customers
• Let’s get a little more experience.
• Let’s wait until the market is better.
• Let’s save a bit more.
• Let’s wait until the kids are older.

It’s always something.
A new reason.
A new excuse.
A new delay.

They scroll past startup stories thinking, “I had that same idea!”
They say, “I can’t believe that guy got funding for that.”
They meet founders and say isht like, “He’s not even that smart.”

But here’s the truth:

The timing will never be perfect.
The plan will never be airtight.
“Ready” never comes

I am so hoping they turn “not yet” into “now” at some point.
But honestly? I’m no longer optimistic they will

Somewhere along the way…
…ambition got replaced by caution.

Dreams gave way to deck-making and corporate life.

And the people who once talked about changing the world and doing cool isht their 4th grade self would have loved started optimizing for stability instead.

“Not yet” sounded reasonable & responsible.
And it quietly killed their ambition.