Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: As a single bootstrapper, how do you deal with the pressure?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 104 posts

Re: Ask HN: As a single bootstrapper, how do you deal with the pressure?

#61

Post by senorjazz »

>How do you deal with people saying, "That's it? Anybody could have done that in a couple weeks!"

lol (or at least smile to yourself) and ignore it. You will always get this. Later on, if the product is a success it will change slightly to "can you just make it do this, I don't think it will take long, just a couple of hours I could do it myself if I knew how". When the truth is it is at least 4 days of solid work (as in 32+ hours)

As for friends and family, be vague, don't tell them. If they are not technical, just baffle them with big words, throw in lots of buzz words so they don't want to see :)

Good luck

Re: Ask HN: As a single bootstrapper, how do you deal with the pressure?

#62

Post by throw9322 »

allfou wrote: post #26

Go get a job you're not an entrepreneur. People will constantly tell you - what you do sucks. It's rule number one in the wannabe-entrepreneur world. If you can't handle that part I'd suggest to go get a job. Otherwise, move one to step #2 - focus.

Like dang commented, I'm sure your comment was well-intentioned, so thanks for the "overly-hard slap on the back." And to respond to your first sentence: no. :)

Re: Ask HN: As a single bootstrapper, how do you deal with the pressure?

#63

Post by senorjazz »

sean_patel wrote: post #11

> programmers are just "coder monkeys" Wow, how condescending ( the family, not OP). Is this notion isolated or widespread? My family thinks I am a Tech Ninja, and almost all my Gym friends, many of who are in blue collar jobs, really look up to me.

well they are right, kind of. We are just the descendants of monkeys who code.

Ain't nothing wrong with that :)

Re: Ask HN: As a single bootstrapper, how do you deal with the pressure?

#64

Post by raarts »

sean_patel wrote: post #21
milge wrote: post #10

None of my projects went anywhere, and eventually, I gave up. I used to have the rosy view that with enough work you'll get there. That's largely untrue. You also need to know the right people (connections) and be very lucky. I hate to be a downer, but you don't often hear this side of the opinion.

> You also need to know the right people (connections) and be very lucky Not sure about 'being lucky' but 'knowing the right people' is very true. After Marissa Mayers took over the reins of Yahoo, she went on a 'buying spree'. Several of her acquisition were questionable, including an app called 'Summly' - a seemingly simple app that "summarized news" that she purchased for Yahoo, by paying 30 MILLION in ALL CASH de…

Luck has a lot to do with it. Marissa knew the people who started Google and that was luck. She may be talented but there are many others just as talented, who weren't at the right place at the right time. The founders who succeed may attribute their success to their hard work and persistence, but many forget they were actually very lucky as well.

Re: Ask HN: As a single bootstrapper, how do you deal with the pressure?

#65

Post by raarts »

sean_patel wrote: post #11

> programmers are just "coder monkeys" Wow, how condescending ( the family, not OP). Is this notion isolated or widespread? My family thinks I am a Tech Ninja, and almost all my Gym friends, many of who are in blue collar jobs, really look up to me.

I can attest this notion is widespread, especially among MBA types and entrepreneurs in general.

Re: Ask HN: As a single bootstrapper, how do you deal with the pressure?

#67

Post by Haydos585x2 »

ThomPete wrote: post #46

When I was practicing scales to become a guitarist in my youth, my mom always came in and said "can't you play something we we know". My guitar teacher on the other hand said great and gave me another to practice. You are making the mistake of "playing scales" in front of an audience who expect a performance of a final composition rather than a teacher who can provide feedback on your work in progress. Change the aud…

such a great analogy and something I'm absolutely going to steal. I don't play guitar but compete in a sport. The people that do it will be stoked that you've accomplished an intermediate scale though to other people you're some scrub with no talent. The same people unimpressed people will be amazed when you play their favourite song or for the OP his business is earning millions with many employees unfortunately I don't think they'll ever see, understand or appreciate the work that goes into learning things.

Re: Ask HN: As a single bootstrapper, how do you deal with the pressure?

#68

Post by kayman »

1. Ignore the critics. Unless they have something useful to say, don't listen to them. We live in an age of critiquing. Only listen to critics who are also producers themselves. Consumers - either they consume your product or not. Just measure it and try to get better at the metric each time.

2. Focus on creating things. Be a maker. Find joy in it. Regardless of how it comes out, if you enjoy the process, you'll repeat and get better at it.

3. Get in the habit of sharing. Accept that 90% of your work will be average and that's okay.

Finally, what you're feeling is normal. It's all part of the journey. Both professionals and amateurs face this fear in their own way.

Re: Ask HN: As a single bootstrapper, how do you deal with the pressure?

#69

Post by enos_feedler »

fillskills wrote: post #57
codegeek wrote: post #37

It is simple. Stop defending yourself. Don't talk to people about what you do unless you really think that there is a need or you know for a fact that they are the right audience. Family and friends are usually not the right audience for this. Tell them something vague like "Trying to do a few things of my own" and keep it to that. Overall, don't sweat it. 99% of people don't get this whole bootstrapper thing. They a…

I don't have direct advice, but this is what worked for me. Most of my family and friends all were very disappointed when I wanted to work on my idea. Some were unsupportive, some didn't understand why I didn't want a high paying job with security. But my mind was pretty set that I wanted to do it and I had enough buffer monetarily for a while so I was able to ignore their sentiments. Plus my explanations were not he…

Did you have a timeline when explaining this to close relations? I feel that the people around me were more anxious about _when_ I would decide to back to making money at some big company. When someone says, how long is "for a while?" what do you say?

Re: Ask HN: As a single bootstrapper, how do you deal with the pressure?

#70

Post by xpose2000 »

> According to my family, programmers are just "coder monkeys".

You don't have to prove yourself to anyone. I stopped trying a long long time ago. Anyone who thinks programmers are just "coder monkeys" aren't really worth even having a conversation with.

No one will understand what you are doing. You should read up on articles about what it is like to be a boostrapped company and the type of nonsense you will face. Perhaps others linked to a few helpful and motivational articles to get you started.

You need to have thick skin and confidence that you are on the right path. Enjoy the climb, even though it will be insanely difficult.

I started my boostrapped company barely making any money and now I make more than most people I know. Use that as motivation and realize that being on your own means you can exceed anyone's salary because you play by different rules.

Post reply on HN