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Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

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Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#151

Post by bgilroy26 »

Retric wrote: post #143
bgilroy26 wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your last quote captures the point of the age-old phrase. The point of "Money can't buy happiness" is that happiness doesn't have a UPC. The connection between money and happiness has tangible intermediaries. You have to spend the money in order to be happy. The wisdom of it is putting the ball in the hands of the listener. A lot of times people can get excited just about making money. That's fine because there are s…

High scores in video games are effectively meaningless. People still chase them. IMO, dying with a lot of money is no sadder than devoting your life to packman. It's hard to think of being a CEO as a Hobby, but internally the rewards are similar to a guild leader. People tend to attach a lot more meaning to cash than it really deserves. It's not a virtue, just a token of exchange and nothing more.

How are video games meaningless? They are entertainment. If someone devotes their life to pacman, they hopefully enjoy it!

It seems to me that we do not disagree. From my point of view the CEO/guild leader discovered that he/she enjoys working and that they do not enjoy anything that is very expensive. That is great!

All I am saying is that making a lot of money should go hand in hand with asking 'What will I use this money for?'.

To your point, if you ask the question and decide that you get a lot of personal fulfillment from activity that makes money, you might not be able to spend it as fast as it comes in.

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#152

Post by elcritch »

stuxnet79 wrote: post #103
rwhitman wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a narrative we're told about entrepreneurs that we're not told about Wall St. One of the founding values of America is that anyone with innovative entrepreneurial drive can start their own business and build wealth from nothing. It's what brought so many immigrants to this country, and is even taught to us in school as being the backbone of capitalism. Most people in America have never actually met a successf…

Yes, I mostly agree with your point. I have been reading a lot of biographies of successful entrepreneurs lately and have discovered that quite a lot of spinning and outright fabrication occurs in how their backgrounds are presented. Like right now I am reading Elon Musk's biography. It's said he had a "tough" upbringing. Yet he had access to a "Commodore VIC-20" in apartheid-era South Africa and further was able to…

Having access to a "Commodore VIC-29" or other accoutrements of wealth doesn't prevent one from having a rough upbringing. From the biography details, it seemed Elon Musk had to deal with with psychologically skewed family members in addition to making way in a backwards society bent on apartheid and violence. That can break a man. These resonate with me precisely because I've had to endure similar things. Not every part of the US is a safe haven. I'm blessed to have gotten where I am, but it's not without scares and I'm sure Musk has his as well. Some parts of myth making actually brings out more of the truth in a story.

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#153

Post by r2dnb »

Riod wrote: post #150
r2dnb wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the reasoning but the need for capital depends on your situation. For example if you want to start a software business and are a good developer you need no capital. The only thing you need is time to work on your venture. It might look like it's the same because taking time to work on your venture requires to have money but there's a big difference. You might want to read this : http://read.reddy.today/r…

The author could work on getting his/her point across. I mean if I need something and see something that addresses that need, why would I not then want it? Any help would be appreciated.

I see your point, but this can happen both if you created a want-based venture or a need-based venture - and marketed the product correctly in the later case.

Perhaps this is out of the scope of the article as it doesn't concern itself with presenting marketing techniques but focuses on contrasting Lean Startup with another model, and outlining the underlying need to differentiate need from want ventures

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#154

Post by pluma »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #62
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…

I am always a bit sad when I see money equated with success. Money is an artifact of success, not a result of success. There are many "trust fund" kids who have lots of money and zero success, and there are successful people who do not have a lot of money (generally "yet"). Success is defining a vision of how you want things to be and then working to make that happen. For some it will bring in additional money, for e…

Money is a catalyst.

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#155

Post by epalmer »

nickpinkston wrote: post #54
chubot wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably when you have to try NOT to do something...? Like at this point, I would have to try not to play guitar. Or try not to program and experiment with designs for systems software. But I am trying TO start a business as well. It doesn't come as naturally. I like the idea of making money independently... and I actually DO like satisfying customers. But so far not enough to give it a real concerted effort. (I have…

"when you have to try NOT to do something" - I think that's a nice litmus test for it

I think that works some but for me it has been messier than that. I think self reflection and friendly peer feedback helps. Also some personality assessments help. I have found that "Strengths Finder" has helped me in my career find a place that is satisfying and where I can be extremely competent. As a ADHD with Dyslexia I had to slog through the boredom of the growing my skills till I was competent in programming.

I also try to see if I am in the flow with hobbies or work, But being competent enough to be in the flow takes a lot of skills before you get there.

I have two girls that seem to understand well what their are meant to do both for hobbies and work. We practiced a lot of self-reflection with them when they were growing up and both have strong feedback loops with people they trust.

But it is messy. Maybe that is what we are meant to do. That is find out what we are meant to do. Kind-of meta.

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#156

Post by SFjulie1 »

logingone wrote: post #49
SFjulie1 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not alone Made my startup worked hard. Got contracts. Customers forgot to pay. It sucked. And in my country it was normal. It was not Africa. It was France. Big corporations do whatever the fuck want even if it is illegal. Trades dispute are regulated by "peers" tribunal dating from middle age that are crooked. And newspapers, teachers and politics that never had a job were pointing fingers randomly at problems.

There's been something related in the UK recently - Tesco not paying their suppliers. "...dating from middle age..." I've been noticing increasingly, while technology is buzzing ahead, just how many mechanisms and interactions in society are unbelievably outdated. Is this what sociologists are supposed to be advancing? What are they doing?

I know this will look like SciFi dystopia. But it is real:

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribunal_de_commerce_%28France...

Basically it is the most influential traders from your vicinity that decides how to settle your dispute.

Being judge and stake holder, what a nice idea of the independence of the justice. Bankruptcy in our country is being fed to vultures stripping you down to the core and making money out of your misery. Business in France requires way more bigger balls than in USA.

This joke is around untouched since 500 years. 2 times older than USA constitution. And socialist and liberal alike don't want to touch that.

EDIT: France is traditionally built on big corporations. Consular justice favors the most influential companies, that are often "represented" at the national assembly or founding politics. Not all "national" companies are equal. My great great grandfather was was shamed publicly in 1900 for having one of his employee presenting himself and him giving 5francs to the "société pour l'amitié franco allemande" and considered a dirty "fritz" working for the schleues. Big corporations are dynasty built (like Gates fortune and other US big corporations) but the catholic french long lineage dynasties are a tad more equal than the others.

Irony part of my family was protestant and being sacked from france in 1750. They tried to come back after some persecutions, and they almost all fled to the USA after 1900. Basically my family is consistently emigrating since 350 years.

So I am too like my family before a refugee of some kind and we have a tradition to build back our fortune. But actual immigration laws are a pain in the ass in every countries for business men with nothing but "know how" and no capitals. Emigrants are more and more second rank citizens nowadays in every countries.

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#157

Post by burp3141 »

lettergram wrote: post #88
rday wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 pa…

Have them put money in an escrow account. I have done freelance work since I was a kid and one thing I've always done was ask for money upfront, maybe not in my hands, but held by a 3rd party. Losses of 15% seem a bit high too me. Writing software for someone else is kind of like painting a scene from someone's dream. There is a good chance you wont hit 100% of what they were looking for, and your goal is to make the…

>Writing software for someone else is kind of like painting a scene from someone's dream.

Love it

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#159

Post by AndrewKemendo »

the_af wrote: post #94
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> without realizing that it's simply saying that there are diminishing returns above that point But I thought everyone got that point. It's not as if people thought every additional dollar brought them misery. People who quote this understand that you don't need this additional money, and that the effort/sacrifices to get it are not worth it.

>and that the effort/sacrifices to get it are not worth it.

Not quite. Marginal utility means the increase in benefit from an extra unit of some value, is some percentage less than 100% of the benefit gained from the previous unit.

Stated mathematically, its a logistic function.

Re: Entrepreneur porn is a dangerous fantasy

#160

Post by dragonwriter »

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…

> 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.

No, the studies I've seen (though it was at around $200K, not $75K, in, IIRC, early-2000s) that there was no marginal utility above the stated point. That declining marginal utility means only that each additional unit of income brings less additional satisfaction than the last, but there was a point in the study at which there was no additional satisfaction from additional income.

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