Please do it. My life situation means I can't do things like this anymore and I regret it big time.
Ask HN: Am I crazy?
51–60 of 95 posts
Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?
#52You can either do it, or always wish you did. Your choice.
Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?
#53Sounds like you've got interest....
You probably ought to think a little about where you land after this if it doesn't become profitable, or decide that when your bank account drops to something ($200?) it's time to stop. On the other hand, this is the time to do something like this. It'll only be harder later.
Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?
#54You're only crazy if you don't stop in Boulder!
Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?
#55Normally I wouldn't advice spending everything to your last penny, but I take it that if you are broke you'll just stay at your parents house? If I understood correctly, you plan the trip so that 1500$ pays for the trip. So on day 1 after the trip you have 0$? Then what? That aside it is a good idea, probably you'll be invited to lots of things, get donations, maybe even some chances to work.
"So on day 1 after the trip you have 0$?"
And a really good story.
Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?
#56Definitely an interesting thought. I do have a few thoughts you may wish to consider:
1. Consider fewer case studies with more depth. 15-20 will involve a lot of contacts, possibly a lot of travel which will eat into the small savings, and limit your depth. On the other focusing on 6-10 but trying to get in some real time with them (several hours each at least) will let you get a lot more depth with less travel.
2. You may wish to carefully define entrepreneur. By itself it means everything from small business owner, franchise owner, founder of a traditional, capital intensive company (like Intel for instance), founders of web/softare startups, and people who make things in their garage to sell. I have not studied it formally, but I suspect this attract very different people. Unless you specifically want to do a longitudinal study to compare between groups, I would pick one. I presume you are talking about web/software founders, but this should be explicit (or explicitly rejected if I am wrong).
3. Remember you can publish this in numerous formats in short succession. There is nothing wrong with starting with a series of blog posts as a near 'stream of consciousness' on the journey, and then follow up with a book that summarizes, refines, and adds more traditional research/statistics to go along with the case studies you generated.
4. Related to 3, don't ignore physical books as a method of publication. While it is starting to change, there is still a strong bias in many circles giving books more respectability than other forms of publications. Also, they are more easily monetized than most other forms.
5. If you come to Las Vegas I know one software founder and one small business (retail) owner personally I can introduce you to.
Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?
#57Where did you go to college?
University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign My degree is in Political science with concentrations in computer science and economics. I also have about half a degree in physics and a whole lot of coursework (around the reqs for a minor) in math, english, and music.
Just out of curiosity, why such a wide focus? Did you delieberately set out to be "well rounded"?
I personally got a degree in math with a minor in philosophy and a large number of credits in computer science and several very random credits in other fields, but that came about from changing my mind about my major a couple of times.
Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?
#58Set up a website to chronicle your journey posting photos, interviews (even summaries), etc. and put a donate button on it. I wwould donate once I see you're doing it and committed.
Or if you want to try and get the money ahead of time: http://www.kickstarter.com/
Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?
#59You've put enough thought into the idea that if you don't do it, you'll be regretting it five years down the road, if not sooner. Plus, you're at the point in your life where you can't screw things up too badly if it doesn't work.
I would, however, see if I could dedicate an intense two months to building up a bit more savings. If you can, move back home for these two months. Get two jobs at Starbucks, don't go out, and take the bus to work. Yeah, those months will suck - but it will make the fun parts last longer.
I'd also +1 the idea about ditching your car - you are in the perfect situation for Greyhound/Amtrak: no money and lots of time. Get yourself a rolling suitcase with a suit container, and life out of that. It will handle your clothes nicely, and you shouldn't need any more gear for this than a point-and-shoot digital camera, a little digital voice recorder, and a netbook. You lose the advantage of having a backup hotel, but you save lots of money, and most places have shitty backpacker hostels you can crash in as a desperate measure.
Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?
#60If you haven't made money from writing before, don't count on being able to do it this time. Making money at writing is super bonus extra hard.
I think the majority of successful people failed many times before (and after). And his earlier freelance writing is different from starting his own project (like being a freelance programmer vs. having your own company). And it really is unimportant whether he succeeds with this project. It will teach him certainly many interesting things that give him more background -- for whatever he will do later.