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

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 62 posts

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

#1

Post by jmagar »

Let's set the stage here, as I'm sure most will be expecting a nice motivating pitch about why you should quit your job. My purpose here is to find a way to keep one of our bright young stars from doing just that.

He wants to execute on his planned startup, and I want to provide all the same opportunities a startup offers, within my organization, so that there is no need to look elsewhere for it. So what motivates the decision to fire your boss? And I do believe that people don't quit their jobs, they quit their boss. But we should not get side tracked by the "quit your boss" thread: his decision to do a startup was made before he was hired, and he very openly shared his plans with us and we made our offer anyway. He signed, and now the deadline he set on day one is approaching.

Is it the opportunity to make more money? Possibly over a long distant event horizon, but his startup is unlikely to match the salary potential of the next two to three years.

Is it ownership / equity? Stock options are available, thus it is possible to use this incentive to keep him within our engineering team.

Is it responsibility? His career path can include that too, and I'd be happy to start transferring more on to his shoulders.

Is it influence, decision making, and direction setting? Well, we kinda fall down there. Many cooks in this kitchen, and most have greater influence than is available to him. His voice is heard of course, and great ideas are easy to spot no matter who they come from, but if he expects his voice to win out every time I can't provide any assurances that it will be so.

Have I missed anything?

Let's not forget the other things that corporate life provides that Start Ups simply can't compete against: we've got cash which means all your standard developer care and feeding: snacks, beverages, free lunches. With cash comes profit sharing, job security, benefits, paid vacations, etc. We've got lots of people in the office too and that adds to your daily life experiences: co-workers become friends become family. And he's got me, and many others, as advocates within the company trying to show that we are invested in his career and will support him no matter which path he chooses.

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

#2

Post by noodle »

a good idea keeps me from starting my next startup right now.

i've said this many times before here, but one of the biggest things that prevent people from starting a startup is the instability of the startup. the family man or person with larger financial responsibilities will usually need the steady paycheck.

some of the pro-big-company arguments that you make are off the mark.

make more money? yes, in the short term. with the risk of a startup, there's potential for great reward, especially if the company gets acquired.

ownership/equity? those are nice, but you typically get more with a startup.

responsibility? career path? sure, you get some control, but not nearly as much as you will in a startup with a small team. you get to do so much more when working on a startup.

influence? again, so few people, your voice counts way more, especially if you're an expert at something.

company benefits/culture? they don't even compare. a company can pay for lunch, great, but that doesn't mean that they understand what the people want (my company is a good example of that). "paid vaccations"? typical startups don't track hours and you take off the time that you need when you need it. just get your work done.

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

#3

Post by ComputerGuru »

It's an incorrect assumption that you can't work on a startup while working at a company. If you have a boring 8 hour day job, you still have sixteen hours left in the day. The first 8 hours may be mind-numbing and leave you exhausted and incapable of independant thought, but focus hard enough and you can get a decent 6-8 hours for a quality coding spree at minimum. You just have to get used to the work.

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

#4

Post by cperciva »

ComputerGuru wrote: post #3

It's an incorrect assumption that you can't work on a startup while working at a company. If you have a boring 8 hour day job, you still have sixteen hours left in the day. The first 8 hours may be mind-numbing and leave you exhausted and incapable of independant thought, but focus hard enough and you can get a decent 6-8 hours for a quality coding spree at minimum . You just have to get used to the work.

If you have a boring 8 hour day job, you still have sixteen hours left in the day.

Of course, you're going to spend 6-8 hours out of those 16 sleeping. And 1-4 hours travelling to and from work. And 0.5-1 hours preparing and eating breakfast and dinner (I'm assuming you have lunch during your 8 hours at work). And at least 0.5 hours showering/shaving/brushing teeth/getting dressed/etc.

focus hard enough and you can get a decent 6-8 hours for a quality coding spree at minimum

If you only need 6 hours/day of sleep and live five minutes from where you work, sure. But for most people there simply aren't enough hours in the day to stay alive while working two full-time jobs.

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

#6

Post by swombat »

Nothing, I'm on my second one.

Oh, and to answer your question, what made me go start my own business is I couldn't stand the way things were done in the big corp world.

I'm impatient. I want to get things done. I want to achieve things. I cannot stand the idea of being given orders. I have no respect for authority, only for competence. I want to realise my potential. The tedious and endless game of corporate politics bullshit is just a problem to be solved, as I see it. And one valid solution for it is to get out. This game just isn't worth the candle. What do you get for learning the ropes of the politics game? More politics. It's self-defeating. "The only way to win is not to play".

The corporate world also has a well earned reputation for being bland and boring. All the dishonesty and obsequiousness that comes out of needing to maintain a "normal" image makes it conforming like a mass of grey goo. Embrace weirdness and difference. Accept the idea that exceptional people are not normal. Then maybe it'll be less bland.

I haven't looked back since I quit. Life is so much more varied and interesting. I only ever do things that I think are worth doing. I work at my own pace (which is 10x faster than anything I ever observed in the corporate world). I work exclusively with brilliant people, doing something which I think is worthwhile.

Even if there wasn't more money in the long term, this is an infinitely preferable lifestyle.

What about you, yourself, who asked this question? Why do you stick around in this corporate world? If you're wondering why all these people are leaving, maybe you should go and find out for yourself. Believe me, it's worth it.

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

#7

Post by perdurabo »

Lack of what I perceive to be a solid idea that I can maintain interest and passion in. ADHD is a bitch.

I tend to be a jack of all trades (master of all, too) flitting from one thing to the next.

Other than that, little fear about the rest of the stuff you mention. I'm hungry for an idea I can be devoted to.

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

#8

Post by vaksel »

Savings is the most important thing...once you have enough savings you can walk out.

If you really want to keep the guy around, make it easy for him to do his startup while he still works for you. i.e. have him spend 60% of the time working on your stuff, and 40% of the time are free for him to work on his startup. If he gets that security he'll probably stick around.

And chances are he'll be able to provide the same amount of productivity during that time.

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

#9

Post by vaksel »

ComputerGuru wrote: post #3

It's an incorrect assumption that you can't work on a startup while working at a company. If you have a boring 8 hour day job, you still have sixteen hours left in the day. The first 8 hours may be mind-numbing and leave you exhausted and incapable of independant thought, but focus hard enough and you can get a decent 6-8 hours for a quality coding spree at minimum . You just have to get used to the work.

tell that to the mobwars guy who is getting sued by his old company because they are claiming he created it while he was supposed to be working on their stuff

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

#10

Post by swombat »

swombat wrote: post #6

Nothing, I'm on my second one. Oh, and to answer your question, what made me go start my own business is I couldn't stand the way things were done in the big corp world. I'm impatient. I want to get things done. I want to achieve things. I cannot stand the idea of being given orders. I have no respect for authority, only for competence. I want to realise my potential. The tedious and endless game of corporate politic…

Oh yeah, and one more thing...

all your standard developer care and feeding: snacks, beverages, free lunches.

Really? At your company, can I stay in bed or spend the day doing something else when I hit one of those days when I don't feel like working? Can I work in my dressing gown? Can I prepare my own food in my own kitchen? Can I have a 10-second commute from my bedroom to my office? Can I have a nap whenever I want to? A 2-hour nap?

Perks-wise, working in most corporations doesn't hold a candle to working for yourself.

Post reply on HN