Live data from Hacker News

Why Should I Start a Startup?

blog.ycombinator.com

201–210 of 304 posts

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#201
Why create a startup?

Because you have a product and the development and marketing skills to persuade people to keep on using it. It's easy to get sidetracked with colorful terminology and complex definitions.

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#202
post #62

He sounds twice exceptional -- gifted, but with some sort of learning disability or handicap of some sort. Twice exceptional people often appear to be "average" but find an "average" or normal life enormously frustrating. Because of having some sort of handicap, it can take a lot to get them going. Once they get going, they often outperform others. Life is vastly better for them when they can create their own niche b…

Example cases: Richard Branson, John Chambers (Cisco), Ingvar Kamprad (Ikea), Henry Ford (GM or something), Bill Hewlett (HP co-founder)... All these guys were dyslexic and achieved fairly exceptional things.

Um, Henry Ford founded ... Ford Motor Company.

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#204
post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Example cases: Richard Branson, John Chambers (Cisco), Ingvar Kamprad (Ikea), Henry Ford (GM or something), Bill Hewlett (HP co-founder)... All these guys were dyslexic and achieved fairly exceptional things.

Um, Henry Ford founded ... Ford Motor Company.

I believe he was kidding :)

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#207
post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Twice exceptional people often appear to be "average" but find an "average" or normal life enormously frustrating Like all correlation to causation misconceptions, most people read this and imply the converse. I find the normal life exceptionally frustrating, so I must be exceptional, hence I must do a startup. I am questioning if this is indeed true. I believe that this is a misconception, being frustrated with day…

> I find the normal life exceptionally frustrating, so I must be exceptional Isn't this just the mantra of the millennial?

Start making cash right now... Get more time with your family by doing j0bs that only require for you to have a computer and an internet access and you can have that at your home. Start bringing up to $8624 a month.I've started this j0b and I've never been happier and now I am sharing it with you, so you can try it too. You can check it out here…

...........https://is.gd/qKRnJt

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#208
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure. This is a nice dichotomy. Until you add "living out of a car with your pregnant wife and 2 year old child" to the things you have organized your life to do. Humans are very adverse to ruin, and this has nothing to do with what they want to do or achieve. It has to do with what they do not want to experience or put others through.

At some point we have to stop using "the wife" as an excuse. I can't tell you how many times a friend has used "the wife" as an excuse for... not starting a project, not finishing a project, not learning something new, not starting a lifestyle business, not investing, not changing their career, not leaving a sucky job It's not the wife, it's you.

If my husband risked our financials to the point that our 2 years old have to live in car while I am pregnant, the hell I would object. Financial misfortune or unemployment or not having choice is one thing, being irresponsible to that level just because you want to "feel like special doer" quite another.

Sometimes it is not the wife, sometimes it is the wife. And other times it is being responsible and considering consequences of your actions on your children before taking action.

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The megacorp economy requires people to accept the likelihood of crushing institutionalized misery in exchange for a chance at being able to sustain a high salary long enough that the accumulated pile of cash after you finally quit will allow you to live a good enough life to make up for all that lost time and deferred happiness. I decided not to play along with that and will never again work for a megacorp, because…

But then you have kids, and kids require stability. So you go to work for the man, because the kids are more important.

But... start ups still pay engineers salaries that dwarf teachers, retail, and many other industries. Should people in those industries not have kids? Are they being irresponsible by not making 6 figures?

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#210
post #62

He sounds twice exceptional -- gifted, but with some sort of learning disability or handicap of some sort. Twice exceptional people often appear to be "average" but find an "average" or normal life enormously frustrating. Because of having some sort of handicap, it can take a lot to get them going. Once they get going, they often outperform others. Life is vastly better for them when they can create their own niche b…

Well put. The emphasis in this title is on the I.

A startup path has some unusual/extreme features (eg high risk, gatekeepers or gates...) that make it a poor fit for many/most people, even if it's a good fit for the above reasons. It would be great if we could get some of that flexibility to create your own niche, outside of Capital-S Startups.

For a relatively shallow example, consider the whole open plan debate that re-opens periodically on HN. Some people want X. Others want Y. All insist they are many times happier and more productive with the right setup. It's clear from looking at people's home office setup that individuals will put a lot more time, effort & money into a work environment that they control themselves.

Post reply on HN