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Ask HN: Why haven't you started your startup?

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Re: Ask HN: Why haven't you started your startup?

#31

Post by thrway63245 »

avery17 wrote: post #21
atleastoptimal wrote: post #12

Imo to really succeed as a founder you need either 1. 99.9th percentile technical brilliance 2. 99.9th percentile mixture of relentlessness and charm/natural likability due to charisma, attractiveness, etc 3. 99.9th percentile luck and alignment of the stars of marker forces and technological progress in your favor Imo if you know you're not a special, magical person by the first two metrics, watching how things chan…

If your definition of success is founding the next OpenAi and making a trillion dollars overnight then sure. If youre just looking to start a modest company that supports you and a few others reasonably comfortably then you definitely dont need any of that.

[dead]

Re: Ask HN: Why haven't you started your startup?

#33

Post by jrajav »

iancmceachern wrote: post #32

Why do we always have to talk in terms of startups? Why can't we just ask "Why haven't you started your business"

This is explicitly a startup focused forum run by a startup incubator. But I do agree with you, I wish there were more discussion of "boring" businesses here as much as there was railing about using "boring" tech.

Re: Ask HN: Why haven't you started your startup?

#34

Post by DeepSeaTortoise »

I'm coming more from the hardware side and have only recently started to learn programming.

What's holding me back the most is that I do nog know how to finance my projects without giving up control, shares or create financial liabilities I'd be on the hook for.

Second there are the regulatory and legal hurdles. How do I find out which standards each component has to live up to and how do I properly document and possibly report compliance with them? What documents do I have to submit to which agency, what licenses do I have to obtain and who has to certify my product before I'm allowed to sell it?

Realisticly I'm expecting to drive my first few businesses over the financial and regulatory cliff at full speed and I do not want to be in the car when it goes over the edge.

Re: Ask HN: Why haven't you started your startup?

#35

Post by takinola »

atleastoptimal wrote: post #12

Imo to really succeed as a founder you need either 1. 99.9th percentile technical brilliance 2. 99.9th percentile mixture of relentlessness and charm/natural likability due to charisma, attractiveness, etc 3. 99.9th percentile luck and alignment of the stars of marker forces and technological progress in your favor Imo if you know you're not a special, magical person by the first two metrics, watching how things chan…

I don't think the empirical evidence supports this assertion. I don't think successful founders are necessarily that much of an outlier in terms of technical or emotional capabilities. Sure, those help and I am sure there are tons of examples of founders that rank crazy high on these scales.

However, I suspect it is a lot simpler (in concept not execution) than most of us think. Success probably is a combination of ability (you must be able to actually do the work), persistence (to push through when it is hard going), insight (to be able to determine where to apply the previous two skills) and a healthy dose of luck (never hurts).

Re: Ask HN: Why haven't you started your startup?

#36

Post by iancmceachern »

jrajav wrote: post #33
iancmceachern wrote: post #32

Why do we always have to talk in terms of startups? Why can't we just ask "Why haven't you started your business"

This is explicitly a startup focused forum run by a startup incubator. But I do agree with you, I wish there were more discussion of "boring" businesses here as much as there was railing about using "boring" tech.

I meant "we" in the broader sense, but understood that wasn't clear or even the obvious context.

Re: Ask HN: Why haven't you started your startup?

#37

Post by ed_mercer »

RecycledEle wrote: post #27

Any successfully business will be sued in frivolous lawsuits, which have a finite chance of winning. First example: a friend of mine ran restaurants for many years. A black woman claimed she drove past his restaurant and that a man standing across the street from the restaurant gave her a dirty look. She knew that was the restaurant owner, not based on any facts or logic, but based on the Black Way of Knowing. She su…

Throwing up your hands in the air and giving up is easy. I’m not going to say there aren’t any crooks out there, but generally speaking The System is in favor of justice. Most people aren’t crooks. When going about your life you can’t expect things to be fair and rely solely on your moral high ground or goodwill when things aren’t fair, you need to fight back. Game The System as hard as you can and be prepared when things go south.

Re: Ask HN: Why haven't you started your startup?

#38

Post by Mrirazak1 »

For me initially for the last 2 years was working on hardware as software people and we struggled to really find what we’re building and how to build it until recently when we realised that what we’re creating was evolutionary not revolutionary and it would cost way too much for us to even build a prototype. So we ditched it. Learnt a lot.

Now we’re working on an another software startup focused on creativity. Once again I think funding is the biggest issue and finding the right idea to grow beyond the idea alone which those two things take time. So hopefully we have an MVE in early new years and we can start getting some alpha testers onboard before we go full out waitlist and start raising funds.

Re: Ask HN: Why haven't you started your startup?

#39

Post by Mrirazak1 »

codingdave wrote: post #2

I'm not sure this reason is "interesting", but it is the truth: Because startups are high-risk/high-reward choices, and I'm just fine with a low-risk/medium-reward life.

That’s true for a lot of people. Which I used to hate then now I’m like it’s fine because not everyone wants to do all the work to make something happen or it fails.

Re: Ask HN: Why haven't you started your startup?

#40

Post by devwastaken »

At the end of the day startups are not there to be successfull on their own. You birth a baby, raise it, then sell it and watch as your metaphorical child becomes everything it shouldn't have been. You might have money, but the corp you sold it to owns that intellectual property.

For long term businesses to succeed on their own we have to remove intellectual property laws. Allow for actual innovation not barred by vertical integration and oligopoly cronyism. The current system rewards whoever buys all the startups that develop IP. Sometimes the horde of lawyers force them into it.

The other reason is that it takes a team, and few are ready or believe they can work in startup conditions. Or theyre devs that got in early with another corp and truly do not know what it's like to build a foundation. The specific expertise necessary is also difficult to source.

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