What is is that compels you to start a business of your own? Dreams of freedom? Money? Success? Autonomy? What is the key driver? I mean, you know there are a lot of hurdles and endless hours of work, and no guarantee of succeeding, so why do you feel you still feel you have to do it?
Ask HN: Why do you want to start a business?
1–10 of 12 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why do you want to start a business?
#2Somebody outside of this forum told me the question was pointless: go do something that makes you money instead, he said.
So my answer was something like this:
On the contrary. The answer to this question will make me money. Thus far, I have made $100,000 online, and I am one of those people who "have to" do it, and I know what my motivation is.
Now I am wondering what yours is.
Why do I wonder?
Because I am making a product that targets you, obviously. So this is basic research
...
So there you have it, I guess that was a "full disclosure" that should have been included in the first question.
Re: Ask HN: Why do you want to start a business?
#31. Fun (business development)
2. Fun (technology)
3. Self determination
4. Not having to deal with unmotivated employees and their low quality results
Re: Ask HN: Why do you want to start a business?
#41. Fun (business development) 2. Fun (technology) 3. Self determination 4. Not having to deal with unmotivated employees and their low quality results
Fun. I like that a lot :)
In addition to that, I love being a "creator" -- when I do programming and writing (no matter if I'm creating the product or the sales material) -- there's a substantial difference between "creating what I've thought up" and "creating what somebody else thought up". Having creative powers, I would rather make my own "dreams" come true, than somebody elses.
I guess what also drives me is "time freedom" -- that I can choose to work less, and spend more time with my kids, if I want to.
So for me, autonomy, freedom, creativity are at least some keywords.
Re: Ask HN: Why do you want to start a business?
#5It's in my bones.
I'll attempt to clarify. I started a business because I had experiences through school that made me think hard about why I was doing what I was doing at all times. Things like endless piles of homework were forced upon me by authority figures I didn't respect, even though I had already mastered the material.
I have this unending urge to learn more; All the time. I started programming with self-taught ActionScript. Then JavaScript/html/css. I spend a lot of time attempting to master my mind (Thinking in different ways/languages) and this has led me to Clojure, CL, Haskell and Erlang.
Show me a company that is receptive to using those languages in production and has a distributed nature. A company that allows it's employees to choose projects and throw their weight behind them. With as few managers as humanly possible. Where collaboration is collaboration and not forced.
The closest I've seen to this mindset is probably Basho. Maybe Valve, but I've never talked to anyone at Valve.
I apologize if I'm not clear or not fully explained. The answer to why my life is forcefully thrust in this direction would require a blog post of massive length that I am not ready to write. An interesting note is that consulting is likely a side effect of not being able to find anywhere I wanted to work.
Re: Ask HN: Why do you want to start a business?
#6It's in my bones. I'll attempt to clarify. I started a business because I had experiences through school that made me think hard about why I was doing what I was doing at all times. Things like endless piles of homework were forced upon me by authority figures I didn't respect, even though I had already mastered the material. I have this unending urge to learn more; All the time. I started programming with self-taugh…
That's quite an interesting take. So do you make your living doing consulting, or do you create products?
Re: Ask HN: Why do you want to start a business?
#7I love it. I do it over going out with friends, going to the movies, or just about anything else you can name. And I have. But its not so much the business part as it is inventing and doing something. Business is just the vehicle to get things done and part of it.
Re: Ask HN: Why do you want to start a business?
#8It's in my bones. I'll attempt to clarify. I started a business because I had experiences through school that made me think hard about why I was doing what I was doing at all times. Things like endless piles of homework were forced upon me by authority figures I didn't respect, even though I had already mastered the material. I have this unending urge to learn more; All the time. I started programming with self-taugh…
That's quite an interesting take. So do you make your living doing consulting, or do you create products?
I make my living consulting. I took a couple months off to try and build a product with a friend, but it didn't work out for non-product reasons, so I moved to SF and started looking for new contracts a couple weeks ago.
Re: Ask HN: Why do you want to start a business?
#9I don't want to work for a boss. I want to control my own destiny.
Re: Ask HN: Why do you want to start a business?
#10I'm driven the desire to be the best at what I do. I get this drive from my dad, who owned a plumbing company. He always told me that he obviously didn't originate the concept of plumbing, so he can't take pride in inventing it, but he took a lot of pride in being the best.
The service that I'm offering is only a tiny bit unique but I take pride in my execution. I don't think that I could feel this level of satisfaction while working for a boss.