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Post YC Depression

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Re: Post YC Depression

#91

Post by tim333 »

EinsDueTresFour wrote: post #49
fastball wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work 85ish hours a week and nearly 100% of it is spent on actual productive work.

I believe the focus of what's being said is that people who claim to work these insane hours, _and_ manage to keep all other plates in their personal lives spinning, usually do not spend that much time doing productive work. That is not to say that there are others who can do many actual productive hours. But usually, at least in my personal experience, when one does that they are sacrificing other aspects of their p…

It kind of depends what the work is and if it's tiring. Take someone like Warren Buffett - he's reading and thinking pretty much all working hours but it's what he likes to do and not especially tiring. Seems to work quite well in that case. The only real downside seems to have been his family complaining they didn't see enough of him.

Re: Post YC Depression

#92

Post by spottybanana »

drenginian wrote: post #80

People seem to become really attached to the validation from YC. Getting into an incubator or getting money from investors is zero measure of business success. Business success is users and growth and revenue. Whether YC blesses you is also zero reflection on you as a person. Rejection by YC means nothing at all. I think business is about trying to make money, it’s not about YC and funding and the scene and investmen…

> Business success is users and growth and revenue.

To me, business success is only the profit, what my business makes after the expenses - free cash to invest or share to shareholders. Everything else can go to hell, I don't care (except when it relates to making profit).

However nothing wrong if someone else has some other metrics. However I don't really understand why to pursue something else in business.

Re: Post YC Depression

#93

Post by bald »

drenginian wrote: post #80

People seem to become really attached to the validation from YC. Getting into an incubator or getting money from investors is zero measure of business success. Business success is users and growth and revenue. Whether YC blesses you is also zero reflection on you as a person. Rejection by YC means nothing at all. I think business is about trying to make money, it’s not about YC and funding and the scene and investmen…

Having been rejected 2 times by YC, could not agree more.

biz #1 is now series B at $120M valuation

biz #2 is now series A with $50M valuation

biz #3 is now seed with $15M valuation

I did not bother to apply with biz #3 to YC, probability-weighted, it was not worth the effort to me.

Re: Post YC Depression

#94

Post by giovannibonetti »

bald wrote: post #93
drenginian wrote: post #80

People seem to become really attached to the validation from YC. Getting into an incubator or getting money from investors is zero measure of business success. Business success is users and growth and revenue. Whether YC blesses you is also zero reflection on you as a person. Rejection by YC means nothing at all. I think business is about trying to make money, it’s not about YC and funding and the scene and investmen…

Having been rejected 2 times by YC, could not agree more. biz #1 is now series B at $120M valuation biz #2 is now series A with $50M valuation biz #3 is now seed with $15M valuation I did not bother to apply with biz #3 to YC, probability-weighted, it was not worth the effort to me.

I'm curious to know what biz #1, #2 and #3 are...

Re: Post YC Depression

#95

Post by xiphias2 »

bald wrote: post #93
drenginian wrote: post #80

People seem to become really attached to the validation from YC. Getting into an incubator or getting money from investors is zero measure of business success. Business success is users and growth and revenue. Whether YC blesses you is also zero reflection on you as a person. Rejection by YC means nothing at all. I think business is about trying to make money, it’s not about YC and funding and the scene and investmen…

Having been rejected 2 times by YC, could not agree more. biz #1 is now series B at $120M valuation biz #2 is now series A with $50M valuation biz #3 is now seed with $15M valuation I did not bother to apply with biz #3 to YC, probability-weighted, it was not worth the effort to me.

Your post contradicts itself. You either care about investor validation or not.

You just described your businesses by what investors value your companies, which means that you care about investors.

I think it's great though, both investor validation and user validation matter a lot in business (it doesn't matter if it's YC or VC).

Re: Post YC Depression

#96

Post by imgabe »

StevenWaterman wrote: post #15

This was a good article, but I want to briefly call out that `6X more likely to suffer from ADHD` is not a useful stat when trying to argue that being a founder causes health issues. ADHD is present from birth and cannot develop as the result of trauma. It's still an interesting statistic, but for a different reason. People with ADHD are more likely to become founders, as they're more driven by passion, challenge, an…

All of those could just as easily be that people who have that condition are more likely to start a startup.

Re: Post YC Depression

#97

Post by randlet »

spottybanana wrote: post #92
drenginian wrote: post #80

People seem to become really attached to the validation from YC. Getting into an incubator or getting money from investors is zero measure of business success. Business success is users and growth and revenue. Whether YC blesses you is also zero reflection on you as a person. Rejection by YC means nothing at all. I think business is about trying to make money, it’s not about YC and funding and the scene and investmen…

> Business success is users and growth and revenue. To me, business success is only the profit, what my business makes after the expenses - free cash to invest or share to shareholders. Everything else can go to hell, I don't care (except when it relates to making profit). However nothing wrong if someone else has some other metrics. However I don't really understand why to pursue something else in business.

That line stuck out to me too. As someone on here said recently "revenue is easy if you're selling dollars for quarters".

Re: Post YC Depression

#98

Post by sebastianconcpt »

aerovistae wrote: post #89
sebastianconcpt wrote: post #88

Some good points but no diagnose or solutions beyond the expression of the problem. Here is what I'd add for it: I don't care if you're make or female, people need to improve constantly in 3 parameters for their whole life-span: 1. Looks (basically proper nutrition and some degree of bodybuilding training) 2. Psychological strength 3. Affluence You need a life meaning mission that makes you feel good at improving the…

I don't understand why you said "I don't care if you're male or female." Are you expecting someone to argue that either men or women don't need that?

Lifting hard for females is often frowned upon.

Re: Post YC Depression

#99

Post by bob33212 »

fab1an wrote: post #27

One of the advantages of running your own business is that you set the tempo and values of it yourself. You. No one else. If you end up with something that isn't working out for you, you're doing it wrong. At my previous company, one of our (somewhat implicit) values was "suffering is not a KPI". And even though there are times when things are rougher, these should be exceptions, not the rule. At the same time, worki…

The 80/week people I have seen are "too busy" to stop and ask themselves if they are spending their time efficiently. They are focused on the short term tasks right in front of them. It is like someone saying they are too busy to get an oil change or new tires so they keep driving their car until they are stuck on the side of the road.

Re: Post YC Depression

#100

Post by amondal »

arexxbifs wrote: post #17

> Farmgirl Flowers CEO Christina Stembel normally sleeps just 4 hours per night Doing this for sustained periods of time will lead to reduced cognitive performance[0] and, eventually, severe fatigue and possibly depression. Sounds like optimal operating conditions for a CEO. If the dotcom bubble taught me anything, it's that working all the time is neither cool nor a measure of success, but rather the opposite. [0] h…

Once I read Matthew Walker's "Why We Sleep" - I've started prioritizing sleep over most things. Highly recommend that book.
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