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Ask HN: ADHD and Entrepreneurship

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Re: Ask HN: ADHD and Entrepreneurship

#11

Post by decide1000 »

Yes, it will. I have ADHD.

I had a good job. Made some money. Quit my job. Started entrepreneurship. I failed for 3 years. All my money was gone, literally. I found a business partner who did the commercial stuff, the stuff which took too much energy of me. I basically gave half of the company away for free to him. Now we earn money, have clients, are happy.

Don't focus on others, focus on the process. People with ADHD have the ability to accelerate. Find your sweet spot.

Re: Ask HN: ADHD and Entrepreneurship

#12

Post by hndude »

decide1000 wrote: post #11

Yes, it will. I have ADHD. I had a good job. Made some money. Quit my job. Started entrepreneurship. I failed for 3 years. All my money was gone, literally. I found a business partner who did the commercial stuff, the stuff which took too much energy of me. I basically gave half of the company away for free to him. Now we earn money, have clients, are happy. Don't focus on others, focus on the process. People with AD…

Are you two partnered up doing consulting? Or do you all have a product?

Re: Ask HN: ADHD and Entrepreneurship

#13

Post by ensocode »

I think that ADHD people can be a perfect fit for one-man shows. But as there are less limiting factors than at a steady 9-to-5 job, things like burnout or procrastination could arise. It all depends on management and focus... and as the other comments say, if it is about products: Sales!

Re: Ask HN: ADHD and Entrepreneurship

#14

Post by mklepaczewski »

ADHD is a spectrum of traits. Which ones do you experience?

I’ve learned to think of everything as a feature—not an advantage or disadvantage, but simply a characteristic. Some features are beneficial in certain situations, while others may not be. Even a high IQ can be a disadvantage in certain scenarios.

Focus on your strengths, ignore your weaknesses, or hire people to handle the tasks you find challenging.

Re: Ask HN: ADHD and Entrepreneurship

#15

Post by a-saleh »

To me, the core of my ADHD experience is, that for better or worse, I need the journey to the result be somehow compelling. Meds somewhat help, but steps that are not compelling or absolutely necessary are really hard to pull myself through.

One of the things that helps - having somebody on the journey with you. That makes it worth it and you get somebody to help you keep focus.

Re: Ask HN: ADHD and Entrepreneurship

#17

Post by nickd2001 »

If it causes procrastination, that's a problem. Seems to me, being an entrepreneur requires high levels of self discipline, vs working in some big org where you get told what to do and held to it. I worked at a start-up where my boss who was one of the founders, didn't do what needed doing if it didn't interest him. Suffice to say, the company wasn't ultimately successful. Its understandable that with ADHD people seek to escape the strait-jacket of the conventional workplace, and find somewhere that they can tailor more to their way of working, but I'd caution about entrepreneurship, might be even worse. And if you don't get on with "what you're meant to be doing" you then don't get paid. Whereas in conventional job its easier to work your a* off the next day if you faffed about and had nothing to show one day.

Re: Ask HN: ADHD and Entrepreneurship

#18

Post by incangold »

codingwagie wrote: post #8
romeros wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got 1 paying customer. I already built it. But I have to revamp it.

I dont know you or anything about the product, but before revamping, go get ten more sales. sales. sales. this is coming from an engineer with adhd :)

…and then you have customers, who will start demanding things. Now your motivation is externalised. Stressful, but we do not tend to get things done without stress, and inertia is anyway stressful in a different way.

Re: Ask HN: ADHD and Entrepreneurship

#19

Post by decide1000 »

hndude wrote: post #12
decide1000 wrote: post #11

Yes, it will. I have ADHD. I had a good job. Made some money. Quit my job. Started entrepreneurship. I failed for 3 years. All my money was gone, literally. I found a business partner who did the commercial stuff, the stuff which took too much energy of me. I basically gave half of the company away for free to him. Now we earn money, have clients, are happy. Don't focus on others, focus on the process. People with AD…

Are you two partnered up doing consulting? Or do you all have a product?

We run 2 saas companies
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