He is in his 20s, he is running a startup that is going to change the world, he has raised $$$s from the top venture capitalists. That is the image so often portrayed in the media of your average 20-something entrepreneur.

Some of this is accurate. Arrogance is almost inherent to entrepreneurs. But so is its polar opposite, supreme insecurity! 

The media may not like to talk about it much because it'll ruin the mushy narrative. Yet if you find yourself at any gathering of startup founders, most of the discussions lean towards "dude-we're-about-to-die-zooomggggggggg!" than "we're-soooo-taking-over-the-world".

Prior to ycombinator when I knew very few(if any) founders, I thought intense mood swings was a personal problem specific to me. Then I end up at YC and speaker after speaker, week after week, make the point that startup life = definition of bipolar.

It was a huge awakening for me.

Previously during a down swing, I would close my website and go home. I did plenty of that in high school and freshman year of school.

What's it like now? My down swings are still here and they still create a weird dynamic especially if I'm around people that don't know me. But what is new is an ever-present knowledge at the back of my mind that this feeling of hitting my head into a wall..is just a wave. It'll pass. And more importantly, it'll be replaced with euphoria. Unfortunately, that too will pass.