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Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?

#71

Post by mfrye0 »

I think you have a few options. One is the side hustle that slowly becomes profitable.

Another path is having a unique story that you can raise money on. A significantly sized problem that you are passionate about and have unique domain experience with. You can potentially acquire this unique experience via strategically picking where to work prior to starting the company. Such as taking a smaller salary specifically to get said experience.

The other path is just busting your ass working for someone else for awhile and building your war chest before going out on your own. Save up at least 1 year of living expenses.

For reference, I've done a blend of #1 and #3. Though in hindsight I wish I did more of #2. Having unique domain expertise gives you a competitive edge.

Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?

#72

Post by tracker1 »

higeorge13 wrote: post #59
lpolovets wrote: post #41

VC here. If you're building a bootstrapped business, then starting as a side project and building up revenue until you can go full time is probably the way to go. If you're going the venture-backed route, I think there's a misconception that there's no salary or minimal salary at early stages when you're funded, but this is not true. Most founders take a reasonable salary, where reasonably is defined more by your per…

Are we even allowed to do side projects? What if our employer claims ownership or even conflicts of interest with what we are building? How will i even present it into hn or producthunt with my name and all my credentials while i am still working somewhere else? Any employer would fire us on the spot if they found out, wouldn’t they?

Depends on the employer and where you live... you may have to get permission or specific exclusion when you start a job. As long as there isn't overlap with the business in question, I haven't experienced an issue working on the side.

Note: working on the side is not drawing multiple FTE salaries... but actual work outside business hours.

Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?

#73

Post by yieldcrv »

Giorgi wrote: post #13

>Are all startups at my age generally side hustles that become profitable enough to quit my day job? Pretty much yes. There is nothing wrong with it. Don't leave your job and don't forget your responsibilities. I am too doing this between kids sleeps etc whenever I find half-a-hour free to work on my projects. Yes it's slow and overwhelming but still a progress. I hope as kids grow, there will be more free time avail…

and its also the same at other ages with less encumbrances

they're all side hustles that become profitable enough to support, or its too big of a risk or too big of an opportunity cost, or there's worry about the "gap in your experience" etc, it doesn't matter what the "excuse" is, that's the responsible way

Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?

#74

Post by [deleted] »

lpolovets wrote: post #41

VC here. If you're building a bootstrapped business, then starting as a side project and building up revenue until you can go full time is probably the way to go. If you're going the venture-backed route, I think there's a misconception that there's no salary or minimal salary at early stages when you're funded, but this is not true. Most founders take a reasonable salary, where reasonably is defined more by your per…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?

#76

Post by atzero »

erex78 wrote: post #55

I'm the founder of a venture-backed company in my 30s with two young kids under five. My co-founder is also in the same boat. A few points: 1. My wife works in a well paying field (nothing crazy, but comfortable), and we were financially stable enough to be able to live without my salary for a couple years. 2. We were very customer focused from day one, even before we incorporated. We signed up several customers (usi…

Do you feel like that because you were once a professional, that it helps with the startup? As in, does it help you avoid useless nonsense that doesnt add to the bottom line?

Also the time management piece is ultra important here I think. Its like Leetcode for time management. Theres leetcode easy which is just brute force working hours, then theres more efficient ways of working that become more obvious in a professional setting. Its the one thing I have over myself when I was 24. I know how to manage time more effectively.

Do you feel the same way?

Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?

#77

Post by julianlam »

earino wrote: post #6

My 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…

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.

Re: Ask HN: How do you start a startup in your 30s when you have wife/kids/mortgage?

#80

Post by generalizations »

earino wrote: post #6

My 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…

> Then do an awesome startup when your kids are out of the house, you have a solid nest egg, and you can take risks again in your 50s.

Then figure you have 10-20 active years left, and do you really want to spend 5-10 of them on a startup?

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