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Material things do not make people happy, at all. This! This is the found God moment everyone needs to come to. We will all die. You had better get your eternity in order. Answer that call within, and go find the true "why" that is eating at you on the inside. Read Acts 2:38.
Edit: Digging a bit further, it looks like the startup that he sold was Valet Gourmet which was a food delivery business in North Carolina and he worked on it for ~12 years. That's probably a bit longer than the tech startup timelines we tend to think of here.
I also sold my startup. same story as far as revenue, exit etc. I'm not sure that selling your company was the reason for your social issues. I've had the best year of my life post acquisition - spending more time with family, friends and thinking what's next. constantly thinking about what's next, it's actually annoying that I can't turn it off. The "how much did you make" question is super annoying and it happens b…
The pace I'd wound myself up to over the past 10 years of building culminated with a truly awful 2016 where I did little else but road-show, due-diligence, and try to hit targets required to close.
I haven't spoken to some friends in years, and I'm having trouble connecting with current friends & other parents in my community who are mostly "professionals" with 9-to-5s.
So I can identify w/the article, but my experience more closely mirrors GoRudy's - since we sold, and I started recovering from the chaos life has been great.
The two things outside of family that brought me back into balance:
1) Going to entrepreneur meet-ups and HELPING! I love diving in and helping other people on the path, making connections that are hard to find, etc. I would never have made it without people helping me, I use them as a model for helping entrepreneurs now.
2) Charity. Not "go to a donor party / write a big check" charity but meaningful, directed contributions are an amazing thing for the soul.
May we all have such high quality problems!
Everybody says this, all the time. I would like to propose the controversial theory that actually material things do make people happy, at least within certain constraints.
When I was younger I had shitty cheap material things which made me unhappy. Now I have better stuff which makes me happier.
I used to have a shitty unairconditioned apartment. That made me unhappy. Now I have an apartment whose temperature isn't a problem.
I used to have cheap furniture, which was uncomfortable, and that made me unhappy. Now I have better furniture which is comfortable, I am happier.
I used to have a cheap unreliable car, which broke down and made me unhappy. Now I have a reliable, comfortable car I have no reason to be unhappy.
If you're a baseline-unhappy person (as I suspect the author is) then material goods are unlikely to improve your unhappiness. But I'm a baseline fairly happy person, I don't get unhappy unless there's a specific reason, like discomfort or inconvenience. Sensible acquisition of material goods can remove discomfort and inconvenience, thus making you happy.
Material things do not make people happy, at all. This! This is the found God moment everyone needs to come to. We will all die. You had better get your eternity in order. Answer that call within, and go find the true "why" that is eating at you on the inside. Read Acts 2:38.
It is worth noting that you can also find fulfillment in intangible things that are not religiously oriented. Teaching/taking courses, artistic endeavors, and volunteering come to mind.
> Only 0.4% of all businesses make it to $10M in annual revenue. We made it almost halfway through...When I sold my startup, we had 100 people working with us.
> Unfortunately, I no longer have very many friends...
> ...Tesla...$300 pairs of jeans, $450 pairs of boots, concrete countertops...trips to New Zealand no longer bother me. That’s great and all, however ...you come across as a tone deaf asshole.
> Material things do not make people happy, at all. Everybody says this, all the time. I would like to propose the controversial theory that actually material things do make people happy, at least within certain constraints. When I was younger I had shitty cheap material things which made me unhappy. Now I have better stuff which makes me happier. I used to have a shitty unairconditioned apartment. That made me unhap…
Unfortunately, I no longer have very many friends. I worked so hard in my 20s and early 30s that I let my closest relationships lapse in the name of making money. It’s tough to keep friends around when you’re either working, or work is on your mind 24/7. One of the unfortunate side effects of hustle/grit/what have you, that I myself experienced and can relate to the author.
My definition of a friend is someone you can rely on when things goes to shit eg... Being half way across the country and you've just been robbed and they drive 20 hours to pick you up.
Now if they cannot even meet you half way across town because you have a deadline then I will say you don't have a friend.