dont leave the job/get an easier job. Ive been in jobs where yoi basically work 4h a week. Especially in very inefficient north european companies. nothing ever gets done.
Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?
201–210 of 345 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?
#202Wow so many negative comments. It is easy to start a startup in your 30s. In fact that is the only time you should start one. You finally have some life experiences to build a startup around. By 30 you should have enough money saved to run for a year or two. Your startup idea total addressable market should be clear. If it is close to a billion, go VC funded. If it is in the 10s of millions to a few hundred, bootstra…
Love your comment. However, remember that those ideas and practices for success were born in a demand market, and we’ve tipped into a market that is short on the supply chain side. The role of an entrepreneur is to gauge probabilities and be where it’s most needed in 3 years.
Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?
#203Can you negotiate down to a 4 or 3 day a week job and cover your expenses? Giving yourself one or two while workdays to make progress until you know it can work or not?
Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?
#204Earlier quoted context omitted.
Successful != typical, or even average in this context when referring to folks that start. If you’re looking at starting, it’s helpful, but it’s important to not delude ourselves either. Having more life experience helps, but when the funnel has a > 90% overall attrition rate, it’s still far from a sure bet. Part of the reason why the older folks tend to do better IMO, is it’s more likely at that age that they know t…
Possibly some but not that much. The linked research states that the age is still up at 42 when you remove "successful", and still 40 if you then add "software".
Interesting, thanks for the correction. Apologies for not RTFM’ng first.
Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?
#205My very concrete feelings on this is that you probably don't. Asking folks how to do this is a bit like asking billionaires how to get rich. It's a fun story but it's overfitting. The individual narrative that made a billionaire is unlikely to be available for you. If you ask some millionaires they may be more likely to give you some useful advice around sound investment strategies, living within your means, and iden…
I disagree with your advice, because it amounts to "sit around and do nothing, give up on your goals." I know someone who has a family who stated a side business in their spare time in their 30's. It started extremely modestly using just some spare time, and I think a lot of people have at least some spare time. The average person spends, what, 4 hours a day watching TV? If OP has an hour a day they can make at least…
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Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?
#206If you're in the US, one tangible first step (without making a decision one way or the other) is to unenroll from as many benefits at your current job and move to your spouse's health care + other important benefits. This takes a bit of the pressure off if you decide to pursue something more risky. You still have to generate income, but variable income is easier to plan for than health problems.
Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
Quoted post unavailable.
Is Elon Musk no longer a billionaire? Otherwise, hard to say that his success has ended or diminished in any meaningful way.
I would guess that in 2023's rankings he will no longer be the world's richest person. That's diminished success, although still an astounding level of it.
Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?
#208[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?
#209Here are two obvious ways that work (I've used both):
- Save up for a 3 month runway, for example by freelancing on the side of your day job. - Do the startup on the side. Potentially dialling down you day job effort to 75%.
Most startups will benefit from a pilot/MVP stage, perhaps you can reach that stage working only evenings?
I suppose the real question is if you really need to maintain the same standard of living. If you have a well paid tech job you can probably survive not spending like someone making 250 k, at least for a few months.
Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?
#210Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed 100%. When people ask me what the best time is to work on a startup, it's always when you have no dependents, living with parents, and perhaps no significant other. It's quite amazing just how much you can skim down your expenses at that point in life. Minimizing expenses, maximizing runway. The rest is luck. Just blind luck.
I would say it's not JUST luck. You're not going to sell a startup if you haven't created one. So there's requisite work that is then followed by luck.
Right. "The rest is luck."
I would say "chance", since there's no such thing as luck.