Starting up v/s PhD

Here are some of the points why I feel startups are similar to doing a PhD in many aspects

You not only have to find solution to an existing problem - you have to find and define the problem itself

PhD starts with making yourself familiar with the field in general by doing relevant courses, then gradually a problem statement is sketched, is made more and more concrete over many iterations. Similarly founders in startups not only have to solve a customer problem/necessity, they have to find what the problem/necessity is first. They spend doing market research, surveys , ground level work by interacting with customers first to arrive at the Value Proposition.

The cycle of Idea -> build -> measure -> validate -> learn

After defining the problem statement comes the stage of ideation and experimentation. Both in PhD and startups, hypothesis are created, tools and mechanisms are built to test those hypothesis (a minimal viable product in startup) - data points are measured from that experimentation and learning is made whether that idea was validated or not.

Strong feedback mechanism

Both in startups and PhD, feedback is available from time to time which makes you question the direction you are working on and whether you need to evolve or pivot. In PhD feedback is given by professors, your data points and your own speculations in that direction, in startups its given by customers, products performance , VCs etc.

Both are strong test of one's character

I read recently that PhD is more of a test of a person's attitude and his character rather than his intellect. Because of the sheer nature of PhD - which is finding something that is not known to anyone else in the world - even the brightest minds start to question themselves. Similarly for Startups the one has to solve an undefined problem, find markets, make a product and survive in a highly competitive environment - which tests the emotional integrity of the toughest persons as well. High amounts of personal pressures,speculations and introspections are involved through out the journey. In both PhDs and startups the highs as well the lows are very extreme.

At the end of a PhD/Startup you are one of the best persons in the world, who knows about that field

Most people get drenched into personal, emotional, financial, social pressures in the process and are not able to cope up with it. The ones who survive are the ones who have made a dent in the world - by adding to that was already existing.

Both have funding problems! (:p)

Raising money for an idea that you believe in but have no proven record that your hypothesis is true is not an easy task. Whether raising funding for research projects or pitching your idea to the VCs - both require good communication skills and structured thinking to convince someone else to put their money on you.