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Why Should I Start a Startup?

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#231

Post by tonyedgecombe »

metalliqaz wrote: post #54
marssaxman wrote: post #44

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.

Actually, I don't think many people can stop that "institutionalised misery" spilling out into their family life.

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#232

Post by tonyedgecombe »

mwseibel wrote: post #60
agentultra wrote: post #7

> 1. The vast majority of startups are not successful This alone is why 90% of people will not choose to work at a startup. You will work long hours, for crap pay, and you'll be waiting in line if there is an exit. The odds of there being an exit worth anything to anyone other than a founder are small enough to not even worth considering. If you are a founder you're gambling on your chances. There are ways to mitigat…

On the flip side - if you want to be a founder - try to start early. On balance you often have fewer constraints, lower expenses, and much more life flexibility.

Or start later because you are likely to have higher savings, better contacts and more experience.

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#233

Post by sah2ed »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #232
mwseibel wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the flip side - if you want to be a founder - try to start early. On balance you often have fewer constraints, lower expenses, and much more life flexibility.

Or start later because you are likely to have higher savings, better contacts and more experience.

Starting later selects for a founding a different kind of company than the one a fresh graduate/drop out would found.

I don't think there is a best time to be a founder; it's largely an individual thing.

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#234

Post by raghava »

xchefhatx wrote: post #65
ABCLAW wrote: 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.

>> it's not the wife, it's you

Also, anyone who thinks "I couldn't/didn't/wouldn't because ... " and hides behind those excuses, should read Charles-Bukowski's air-and-light-and-time-and-space (https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/10/04/charles-bukowski-ai...)

ZenPencils on air-and-light-and-time-and-space, for a more delightful read. (https://i0.wp.com/www.brainpickings.org/wp-content/uploads/2...)

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#235

Post by spacedmountain »

jasode wrote: post #229
lomnakkus wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This article is selling a narrative that you want to hear with a huge dollop of confirmation bias as andy_ppp points out. It's not very likely that you or your family are that 0.01%[1], but it is very likely that you think you are exceptional. (I wish you all and your family all the best, but one needs to be very careful around this kind of narrativium.) [1] Made up number, obviously.

A meta observation around the reaction to the word "exceptional" based on some posters' comments: - lomnakkus: "It's not very likely that you or your family are that 0.01%[1], but it is very likely that you think you are exceptional." - deepGem: ", being frustrated with day to day life doesn't make one exceptional." I think the problem here is that Mz's chosen word of "exceptional" makes it look like a superior attri…

Probably true, but 'twice exceptional' is the established term that describes what you are saying [1]. For example, someone who has 'genius' IQ (of 98th percentile) along with an uncommon neurotype (ADHD, autism-spectrum, dyslexia). These people often don't fit the stereotype of 'genius' nor their neurotype - and so are double 'misfits'. Probably the term 'twice exceptional' was chosen as more tact than 'double misfit', as these people often not accepted to normal society, especially as youth.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twice_exceptional

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#236

Post by harel »

Mz wrote: 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…

I totally agree with you. And although my two sons are too young to accurately observe this on them, I can tell you I fit the bill. I can manage on the 'fixed path', working in a company that has a plan sorted out, but I feel constrained and frustrated. I see rules as something nice but that has to be allowed to be broken when its the right thing to do. So I did do my start up journeys. A few times over the last 20 years and I'm still at it. I have never, however, heard it explained in that manner as to WHY I feel most comfortable when the odds are stacked against me and when I'm doomed and expected to fail. I revel in those moment as i know its my time to spark up and deliver. And when things get routine my light seem to dim... Until the next 'crisis'.

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#237

Post by harel »

lomnakkus wrote: post #222
Mz wrote: 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…

This article is selling a narrative that you want to hear with a huge dollop of confirmation bias as andy_ppp points out. It's not very likely that you or your family are that 0.01%[1], but it is very likely that you think you are exceptional. (I wish you all and your family all the best, but one needs to be very careful around this kind of narrativium.) [1] Made up number, obviously.

I'm not sure exceptional is the right word. I wouldn't even call it 'gifted'. Maybe its just being able to function better when the conditions are not ideal and the pressure is up, as opposed to when things are fine and there is nothing to worry about.

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#238

Post by mseebach »

Analemma_ wrote: post #35
Animats wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The odds of there being an exit worth anything to anyone other than a founder are small enough to not even worth considering. So if you go to work for a startup, you should demand substantially more money than with an established company. It didn't used to be that way. It used to be that the first dozen or so employees of a successful startup did very well, and the first hundred or so did OK.

> So if you go to work for a startup, you should demand substantially more money than with an established company. The problem is that most startups can't match, much less beat, established companies on salary, and they'll just turn you down. It's not even malice or greed on their part, it's just that they have a finite runway and a few tens of thousands of dollars a year on a single person can mean the difference be…

There's more to it than the small chance of winning the equity lottery. Working for a startup confers a number of non-monetary benefits that mega-corps don't. If you pay a startup-salary and then stick people in a cubicle and have them write TPS reports and deal with petty politics (ie: mega-corp conditions), people won't work for you.

The feeling of working for a company that will make a dent in the world, so to speak, and that your effort will have tangibly supported creation of said dent is a powerful motivator.

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#239

Post by dr_ »

Mz wrote: 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…

He went to Yale. He's definitely not average or with a learning disability.

Re: Why Should I Start a Startup?

#240

Post by Applejinx »

ericd wrote: post #198
mosselman wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

6% of a few billion is still a vast profit compared to their relative effort. It is not a bad thing either. Why shouldn't they make money? Profit is not a dirty word. Still @CryptoFascist makes a valid observation in stating that YC is probably not an impartial entity when writing about whether you should or should not start a start-up, preferably for them.

It wouldn't make sense financially or otherwise for them to try to trick people who aren't well suited to doing startups into doing one, which is what the parent seems to be implying. Also, the parent says that it's a terrible financial deal for most founders to do a YC startup, which is laughably wrong. If you succeed, there are few better ways to become very wealthy. If you fail, the most common failure mode I've s…

"It wouldn't make sense financially or otherwise for them to try to trick people who aren't well suited to doing startups into doing one, which is what the parent seems to be implying."

Yes it would, because luck plays a role. So long as would-be startups handle some of their runway themselves, of course it suits Y Combinator to have a larger pool of possible candidates.

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