Ask HN: What keeps you from beginning your Start Up?

Some of the best lessons in life come from contrast. Being able to remember what it was like at a regular job provides a lot of motivation for people to continue working hard at their own company. You will also learn some good lessons about what to do, what not to do and make contacts.

To be judged on what I produce not how many hours I'm in the office.

Rewards equal to my contribution, this is where corporations fall down completely. If I'm ten times more productive than my team mates why am I not rewarded in such a manner OR to be more truthful I will not put in any more effort than is needed to secure my position in the corporate hierarchy. So I dutifully do what I consider a mediocre amount of work and yet am rewarded in the top 10%

I couldn't care less for the crappy soda and chips or a paid lunch. Pay me the money and I'll decide how I wish to spend it.

I've been in large corporates for 10 years. A corporate can basically never compete against this kind of desire (which, is actually quite rare).

Even though I've got more senior over the years, you just end up with less control over more - until you reach the point that you're just a powerpoint jockey.

It's almost impossible to do something innovative at a large corporate - because of the inertia and the massive amount of consensus building that's required to do anything different. Pure design doesn't exist, it's an exercise in compromise.

That's not meant to knock it. The environment suits many (i.e most) people. It won't suit everyone though.

Personally, I've never found going over the top to keep someone around is a good idea - If someone wants to leave to broaden their horizons, I'd encourage it.

Sometimes they leave and succeed - then they're a great person to keep in contact with. Sometimes they leave and it doesn't work out - in this case they sometimes come back, and usually a much better and more capable person for the experience.