Live data from Hacker News

What no one talks about when running and selling a business

medium.com

61–70 of 198 posts

Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business

#61
post #6

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.

All? No thanks. I'll take my life as it is and live it the best I can rather than to live for promises of eternity that most likely are nonsense. It's perfectly possible to find balance in your life without religion, which destroys as often as it heals.

how does it destroy? even if its nonsense I've seen people find a sense of community and purpose from religion.

Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business

#62
His problems have nothing to do with the money... not sure why he correlates that. Sounds like he simply sucks at interpersonal skills ...

E.g. "I feel like my opinion doesn't matter around him because I haven't made $1 mil" we'll if that's how you make people feel it's your fault... if they're simply insecure whiners it's your fault for keeping them in your life...

Same thing with friends...

Another area to improve would be a sense of style (no person with style buys $300 jeans, they're basically a product targeted at insecure nouveau riche... just shop at H&M)

... I guess the only reason this article is popular is that it comforts people who haven't made a million dollars that his life sucks too regardless...

Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All? No thanks. I'll take my life as it is and live it the best I can rather than to live for promises of eternity that most likely are nonsense. It's perfectly possible to find balance in your life without religion, which destroys as often as it heals.

how does it destroy? even if its nonsense I've seen people find a sense of community and purpose from religion.

I would suggest you turn on the 6pm daily news.

Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business

#64

I am in my 40s and I work with a young married guy in his mid 20s who i would consider a level 1 software engineer on a scale of 1 to 5. He is a dreamer thinking he can strike it rich with his great startup idea working on it part time because he hears stories of all the people who sold their startups and thinks that's such a glamorous life. First I told him about survivorship bias and laid out basically the same sta…

Founders don't start companies to live a "pretty good life in the top 10%". We do it because we are ambitious, want to solve huge technical and business problems, make our mark, and change the world. We usually have more energy and sleep less than others. We love work. We love our business. Most of us would not want to be corporate "drones". It would be like a living death.

I fear most entrepreneurs really do care about leaving a mark. Any mark. Ad tech companies? Big data (selling) companies? Marketing (convince the consumer to buy something excessive) companies? LinkedIn and other companies that intentionally force dark patterns on their users? Security companies selling spyware and hacking tools to anyone who'll pay?

The world could do with fewer of those marks IMO.

Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business

#65
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If he only has seven figures, he needs to stop spending like that. Most people who make money all at once blow it within seven years. You can only spend about 4% a year of your net worth. Even that's pushing it with today's returns.

For the ones that don't know: 4% [0] is supposed to be the amount your wealth grows, on average, every year. If you spend at most 4% of it, you end up never eroding it. [0] www.investopedia.com/terms/f/four-percent-rule.asp

To be pedantic, your wealth will erode at the rate of inflation if you spend the exact amount it grows (if you are measuring wealth in dollars, that is). The proper amount is S=G/I where S = spend rate, G = growth rate, I = inflation rate.

Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business

#66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how does it destroy? even if its nonsense I've seen people find a sense of community and purpose from religion.

I would suggest you turn on the 6pm daily news.

I actually know the answer but asked because i am curious how the well mannered, well spoken, well known OP would respond :)

Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business

#68

I am in my 40s and I work with a young married guy in his mid 20s who i would consider a level 1 software engineer on a scale of 1 to 5. He is a dreamer thinking he can strike it rich with his great startup idea working on it part time because he hears stories of all the people who sold their startups and thinks that's such a glamorous life. First I told him about survivorship bias and laid out basically the same sta…

Founders don't start companies to live a "pretty good life in the top 10%". We do it because we are ambitious, want to solve huge technical and business problems, make our mark, and change the world. We usually have more energy and sleep less than others. We love work. We love our business. Most of us would not want to be corporate "drones". It would be like a living death.

That's true and I told the guy that he has to make a choice. Either he has to be willing to "settle" with being a corporate drone and enjoy a nice work life balance or come up with a great idea and go all in and execute. Very few if any of the well known startups get successful by doing it "on the side".

Re: What no one talks about when running and selling a business

#70

All these things he listed (losing touch with friends, ruining business opportunities, treating people poorly, appearing 'higher class') happen to almost everyone at some point in life but without being rich.

Ya, it seems his real issue is he spent his 20s and 30s with the goal of getting money and now that he has it winners what's next. I believe the term is midlife crisis. I do find it sad that he,like so many other people just write off how hard and important it is to raise kids. "I'm not a stay at home parent". I've heard it from doctors, CEOs, and others. As a society we really need to stop outsourcing the raising of…

[deleted]
Post reply on HN