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Post YC Depression

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Re: Post YC Depression

#141

Post by fudged71 »

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…

There are very valid reasons to be drawn to validation from groups like YC. They may be disconnected from business success, but they are valid nonetheless.

So what would YC disconnected from business look like?

Re: Post YC Depression

#142

Post by andreilys »

WillManidis wrote: post #117
amondal wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

You should not trust the claims made in that book. https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/

He responds to the claims here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3csz3s6

I would rather people over-compensate on sleep than under compensate.

Being sleep deprived while driving not only puts your life in danger, but also the lives of others on the road. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2808128/

Re: Post YC Depression

#143

Post by throwawaymsft »

quelsolaar wrote: post #64

You have to work on something you are passionate about. If you work on Sundays because you cant keep yourself away from it, then great. If you work Sundays because you think if you work hard enough you will become rich and successful, then you are likely going to burn yourself out. Your life is NOW, be happy now. Don't push it off. If coding all day makes you happy do so. but if you rather hang out at the beach do so…

"A classic is something everybody wants to have read, but no one wants to read." -Mark Twain

Many want to have had done a startup.

Re: Post YC Depression

#144

Post by xenospn »

WillManidis wrote: post #117
amondal wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

You should not trust the claims made in that book. https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/

I trust my body and my brain, and I know I feel absolutely awful if I don't get enough sleep. That's reason enough.

Re: Post YC Depression

#145

Post by gist »

What comes to mind is the saying 'if you can't take the heat stay out of the kitchen'.

I think of this constantly when hearing about people who want something (YC, acting, medicine, sports, music career, endless list) but then for some reason aren't built to take the punishment (that others are).

There are some people that can take the punishment (if you want to call it that) and not miss a beat. Just like there are people that can climb mountains, race cars, play football, run marathons and live off in the jungle.

This idea that everyone should be suited for anything is just not correct.

And don't think 'well I won't know so why not try?'. Most people have some basic idea of what they are cut out for and can do and tend to stay away from (smartly) things that aren't for them.

Re: Post YC Depression

#146

Post by sub7 »

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

Nope, it's net profit. I know there are fashionable exceptions like Uber/Amazon that grab market share in a winner take all market before focusing on profit but for 99% of companies out there, unit economics are still the measure of success.

I've been part of companies with insane growth, crazy fund raises etc that eventually died because revenue didn't keep up with costs.

Re: Post YC Depression

#147

Post by eitland »

smacktoward wrote: post #131
quelsolaar wrote: post #64

You have to work on something you are passionate about. If you work on Sundays because you cant keep yourself away from it, then great. If you work Sundays because you think if you work hard enough you will become rich and successful, then you are likely going to burn yourself out. Your life is NOW, be happy now. Don't push it off. If coding all day makes you happy do so. but if you rather hang out at the beach do so…

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity. -- Tao Te Ching, ch. 9, Stephen Mitchell translation ( http://taoteching.org.uk/index.php?c=9&a=Stephen+Mitchell )

> Keep sharpening your knife

> and it will blunt.

With real modern knives this doesn't make sense if you know what you are doing. Either I am missing something or something got lost in translation?

Re: Post YC Depression

#148

Post by hfdh434535 »

sebastianconcpt wrote: post #124
hfdh434535 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"people need to improve constantly" No they don't. Plenty of people happy to be as they are. When you're constantly running on this treadmill of self improvement, you'll probably get depressed real quick.

Degradation is Nature's default. Guaranteed by entropy. But for sure you are free to totally ignore how to make good use of an opposing force and get older faster, less healthier, less attractive and less free while "feeling happy".

Thanks!

Re: Post YC Depression

#149

Post by gbear605 »

bmelton wrote: post #126
gbear605 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At some point, working more hours makes you less productive. As an obvious example, you can’t work literally every hour of every day, since without sleep or food you can’t function. Now perhaps the curve for you really does peak at 100 hours/week, or 80 hours/week, but frankly I doubt it.

Acknowledging that there are thresholds for productivity, it also dramatically depends on the type of work and the objectives. Diminishing returns are bad for some tasks, acceptable for others, but both are subject to the types of deadlines. Implementing a half-good feature just in time for a big marketing event might be worthwhile or it might not, but cold calling potential customers to keep from failing generally i…

At some point, not only do returns diminish, but they actually become negative because your productivity during the first forty hours of the week goes down when you don’t get enough sleep, relaxation, etc. Perhaps that point is at 100 hours/week, or more, but I’d wager that it’s at the 80 hours/week mark where working more decreases your productivity.

And yes, it does depend on the activity, but even cold calling customers all day can become too much, or an extra ten hours of calling could make your sixty hours of programming less productive.

Re: Post YC Depression

#150

Post by totalZero »

sergiomattei wrote: post #3
totalZero wrote: post #2

"Pineapple Pizzas from Dominos (plus cinna-stix cause we're not fucking heathens)" The author lost my interest here.

So, in front of us we have a very eloquent and well written article talking about very serious issues that take place in the entrepreneurial community... and you're going to dismiss it because the writer decided to have fun for a split second? Gimme a break.

I don't think it's eloquent; it's pretty poorly written IMO; it is more cutesy than serious. Despite your assertions, those are subjective things. If you feel that your opinion is more valid than mine, feel free to explain why.

I read up to the cinna-stix line and my only thought was, "why am I wasting my time reading this?" It doesn't appear to be thoughtful and it puts focus on all the wrong things.

I realized at that moment that this post was not really about depression. It was about not getting what you want, not meeting your own expectations, and having to deal with reality.

YC is, for many people, a path to building a business. For others, it is a status symbol, a place where they try to make the next "Uber for X" as a way to spend time working with friends on something cool. That has nothing to do with YC and everything to do with the person's mentality. It is not specific to entrepreneurship and has everything to do with saying, "oh shit, this is actually hard to do."

Ultimately we are all alone with our thoughts, feelings, goals, and pain. Nobody else can sense or really know these things, but us. Getting kicked in the face teaches us this reality. There is some pain in beginning to understand reality. In this context, disappointment is healthy. It means you recognize the incongruence between your mental model of reality, and reality itself.

Depression sometimes has no connection to outcomes, and at other times it is a lingering rot from past outcomes. It is a trick that the mind plays, a tiring mental race through the muck of the past that leaves no energy to address the challenges of today. Depression is not burn-out, fatigue, nor disappointment. It is a slothy form of mental pain about an irreconcilable disparity between past expectations and the present. Irreconcilable means there's nothing I can do today to bridge the gap.

For me, the useful part of depression is the clarity it can offer about the future.

Do you note the difference in the way I am writing about the topic? I am not talking about pineapple pizza, nor cinna-stix.

It's not a childish topic and I don't want to be the audience to someone who discusses it in a childlike way.

You may now have the break that you requested I give to you.

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