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Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

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Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#71

Post by AndrewKemendo »

bobby_9x wrote: post #61

"Money won’t make you happy" I disagree with this. I've been running my own company for a little over 5 years. Not having to worry about my rent and being able to live a comfortable lifestyle has made me really happy. If I made $100 million and didn't ever have to worry about money again, I definitely would be happier. It's the peace of mind that I'm working toward. But, the money isn't the main thing that makes me h…

Money won’t make you happy

I have always hated this saying because it's worthless without the context of who is getting the money.

I grew up poor - money definitely made us happy because we could afford to move out of my aunt or my grandmother's house.

Everyone loves to cite the study that "above $75,000/year money doesn't make you happier" - without realizing that it's simply saying that there are diminishing returns above that point (standard economic marginal utility concept), not that overall happiness goes down.

The reality is that more money gives you different problems, not more problems and in fact opens up a world of opportunities that can keep generations beyond you above that $75,000/year mark.

Money is about what it enables and that is where happiness comes from. As a wise man once said:

"Money can't buy happiness [but it can buy] a WaveRunner. Have you ever seen a sad person on a WaveRunner?"

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#72

Post by poof131 »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #19
ideonexus wrote: post #12

> 1. It’s almost never rags to riches This is the point that has really started to become clear to me in recent years, and not just for startups but for artists, authors, athletes, and all the other dream jobs we idolize: so many of these people are either (1) not really making that much money or (2) already had a trust-fund or come from a wealthy background so they can spend all of their time writing, painting, or e…

If it's not in your blood to absolutely have to be an entrepreneur (or painter, writer, comedian, etc...) you probably shouldn't be one.

I don’t think this is helpful. There is no medical test for it being in your blood. This ends up being a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you quit, it wasn’t in your blood, if you succeed it was in your blood. Most entrepreneurs I’ve come across so far in SV have taken very little risk and come from rich, prestigious backgrounds. The ‘entrepreneurship porn’ of the amazing struggle tends to primarily be used to justify the huge disparity between employee and founder/vc equity. The “they deserve it” crowd, when in reality it’s just the structure of the power dynamic and has little to do with deserving.

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#73

Post by gist »

jgeada wrote: post #32

To me, the worst part of the fantasy is that we then consider the people that actually do make it to the "money shot" as if they were management geniuses, instead of lottery winners. Mostly the success has more to do with luck, timing and personal connections than the individual technical merits of the management team, but that is never what you read afterwards. And so you end up with all sorts of ridiculous manageme…

> To me, the worst part of the fantasy is that we then consider the people that actually do make it to the "money shot" as if they were management geniuses, instead of lottery winners.

This extends to engineers and computer scientists as well.

Take Wozniak. Constantly given countless platitudes when he was most likely as qualified as many engineers at HP who never came in contact with Steve Jobs. [1] But the story is always played as "he was Einstein in the Patent office just waiting to be unleashed".

Or Marc Andressen. Was he that special when he came up with, as an undergraduate, the Netscape browser? [1] Einstein special or just "special"?. (And of course there was Jim Clark who was there to help him..). Or the google guys as phd students. The list is endless.

This is not to take away from anyone's hard work as opposed to others of equal ability that slacked off of course. Credit is due however the over the top hyperbole of the media and bloggers is quite distasteful at times.

[1] And of course nearly 100% of what most people know about these people is what is written about them by others..

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#74

Post by BjoernKW »

mtberatwork wrote: post #34
tajen wrote: post #8

I was under HN influence when I started my solo product. I had designed it as bootstrapped: There is an opportunity, I fulfill it, then I don't go after the x1000 scaling. It worked at the end of year 1, and we're 2.5 years later, and I'm happy, not millionaire, but I have my own work schedule. There are several kinds of startups. The article mentions huge ones. Or you can start a consultancy, very classic business,…

> Or you can start a consultancy, very classic business, low risk. Low risk? Consultancy/freelance businesses are very high risk. Easy to start, very difficult to maintain.

I can't imagine a lot of businesses that come with lower risk attached than consulting:

You don't need equity. Profit margins are high. Depending on your particular expertise your services will be in demand for years to come (anything software-related). If you do it right you can work for several clients at the same time. At least you can always have a full sales pipeline so losing a contract won't be an end-of-the-world event for you.

Growing a consulting business beyond yourself, not selling your time but results, those are more of a problem but risk? Not really. At least not when compared to other businesses.

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#75

Post by Disruptive_Dave »

bobby_9x wrote: post #61

"Money won’t make you happy" I disagree with this. I've been running my own company for a little over 5 years. Not having to worry about my rent and being able to live a comfortable lifestyle has made me really happy. If I made $100 million and didn't ever have to worry about money again, I definitely would be happier. It's the peace of mind that I'm working toward. But, the money isn't the main thing that makes me h…

My temporal self is jumping at this - if money "makes" you happy, then you are acquiescing to the concept that the removal of said money will "make" you unhappy. That can be problematic. [I realize I'm removing this from the context of work/income, I'm just indulging my mood this morning..carry on!]

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#76

Post by cousin_it »

cm2187 wrote: post #27
borplk wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

can you elaborate on that?

When I was at university (a few years ago but not that long ago), the majority of the other students only had one idea in mind, becoming a civil servant, doing 9 to 5, job for life, no pressure, lots of holidays and free time to do other things, and early retirement (I am not even kidding, 20yo students looking forward to retirement). Working hard, creating jobs, professional success clearly wasn't on the list. I'd r…

Computers, the Internet, and the Web were all created by government agencies. The glorification of entrepreneurship seems to be mostly propaganda. It's a bit self-contradictory too, creating jobs while disrupting industries doesn't add up.

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#77

Post by Mimu »

bobby_9x wrote: post #61

"Money won’t make you happy" I disagree with this. I've been running my own company for a little over 5 years. Not having to worry about my rent and being able to live a comfortable lifestyle has made me really happy. If I made $100 million and didn't ever have to worry about money again, I definitely would be happier. It's the peace of mind that I'm working toward. But, the money isn't the main thing that makes me h…

As my dad says (I don't know if it's from him or somebody else but who cares): It's better to have rich issues than poors issues.

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#78

Post by rday »

jerguismi wrote: post #70
mtberatwork wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Or you can start a consultancy, very classic business, low risk. Low risk? Consultancy/freelance businesses are very high risk. Easy to start, very difficult to maintain.

What kind of risk do you mean? At least you don't need capital.

I've been running my "consultancy" for over 5 years. Roughly 15% of my annual revenue is lost to non-payment. Customers pay late all the time. Literally. I've never had an invoice paid on time. Customers cancel projects right before they start, or pause projects half way through to focus on other areas.

Due to these situations, I try to always have 3 months of salary in the bank. I never do, but I try. If you are paid net 30, and invoice at the end of the January, that check will clear your bank account early March at best. This results in Just In Time mortgage payments.

If I were to hire somebody to code, and focus on sales, I'd need even more money in the bank than I have. This leaves me in a bit of a pickle.

You need a lot of capital. If 3 months of buffer salary for two employees isn't a lot of capital..... it's time to admit you are in a strong financial position and not everyone can simply be an entrepreneur.

(To answer the inevitable "charge more" question, I'm available for hire and I'll charge as much as you'd like :)

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#79

Post by jon-wood »

Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #75
bobby_9x wrote: post #61

"Money won’t make you happy" I disagree with this. I've been running my own company for a little over 5 years. Not having to worry about my rent and being able to live a comfortable lifestyle has made me really happy. If I made $100 million and didn't ever have to worry about money again, I definitely would be happier. It's the peace of mind that I'm working toward. But, the money isn't the main thing that makes me h…

My temporal self is jumping at this - if money "makes" you happy, then you are acquiescing to the concept that the removal of said money will "make" you unhappy. That can be problematic. [I realize I'm removing this from the context of work/income, I'm just indulging my mood this morning..carry on!]

I don't think it unrealistic to say that the removal of money (at least at certain levels) is going to make you unhappy. In the worst case all your money is removed, you can't make rent, and get kicked out. Now you're homeless, and either sleeping on people's couches or the street, and I bet you wouldn't be smiling in that situation.

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#80

Post by joelrunyon »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #71
bobby_9x wrote: post #61

"Money won’t make you happy" I disagree with this. I've been running my own company for a little over 5 years. Not having to worry about my rent and being able to live a comfortable lifestyle has made me really happy. If I made $100 million and didn't ever have to worry about money again, I definitely would be happier. It's the peace of mind that I'm working toward. But, the money isn't the main thing that makes me h…

Money won’t make you happy I have always hated this saying because it's worthless without the context of who is getting the money. I grew up poor - money definitely made us happy because we could afford to move out of my aunt or my grandmother's house. Everyone loves to cite the study that "above $75,000/year money doesn't make you happier" - without realizing that it's simply saying that there are diminishing return…

> As a wise man once said:

I'm pretty sure this was Daniel Tosh - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RoLdkgjKhs

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