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I Don't Want to Be a Founder

carolchen.me

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Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#41

Post by eropple »

chii wrote: post #24
gkoberger wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that's the case, definitely don't start a company. Instead of being beholden to one manager, you're all of a sudden beholden to dozens... employees, investors, board, customers, etc. Being a founder is just a job.

> Being a founder is just a job a founder has the power to make changes to his job. An employee doesn't. Even tho a founder is beholden to their investors, board and customers, the founder is also empowered (after all, he/she calls the shots). An employee is beholden to his/her manager, but cannot "call the shots" but simply takes orders.

> An employee is beholden to his/her manager, but cannot "call the shots" but simply takes orders.

This is true only insofar as the value you bring to the company cannot be outweighed by the shots you want to call.

If you are, for lack of a better term, that good (and while I have a dim view of VC-silly startups, the successful ones I know really are that good), that can be a very wide remit. It very well might be "wide enough," even, and it's worth considering.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#42

Post by satvikpendem »

There are a lot of bootstrapped founders, actually the vast majority of them since the percentage of companies that VCs fund versus the number of pitches is tiny, so this doesn't seem that accurate. Just look on www.indiehackers.com for more info on these types of founders.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#43

Post by [deleted] »

chii wrote: post #24
gkoberger wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that's the case, definitely don't start a company. Instead of being beholden to one manager, you're all of a sudden beholden to dozens... employees, investors, board, customers, etc. Being a founder is just a job.

> Being a founder is just a job a founder has the power to make changes to his job. An employee doesn't. Even tho a founder is beholden to their investors, board and customers, the founder is also empowered (after all, he/she calls the shots). An employee is beholden to his/her manager, but cannot "call the shots" but simply takes orders.

[deleted]

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#44

Post by aabhay »

kipply wrote: post #40
aabhay wrote: post #32

This article has such a strong mental bias towards the Bay Area worldview. It assumes so deeply that the two types of people in the world are VC-backed startup founders and engineers at top tier tech companies. This is so completely off. Many people (including me) decided to start bootstrapped companies that are profitable on day 1 (or soon thereafter), with richly rewarding work. Many folks literally can’t get a job…

This is correct (am author), bad oversight. Opinions were only applicable towards the scope you described

Hm okay, thanks for acknowledging! I guess the reason I had strong words for this was that the mental bias I observed is actually extremely pervasive among people here in the bay. In fact the first question I get about my firm is whether/how much I raised.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#45

Post by kipply »

aabhay wrote: post #44
kipply wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is correct (am author), bad oversight. Opinions were only applicable towards the scope you described

Hm okay, thanks for acknowledging! I guess the reason I had strong words for this was that the mental bias I observed is actually extremely pervasive among people here in the bay. In fact the first question I get about my firm is whether/how much I raised.

I'm afraid of Bay-Area-view-of-the-world-being-inaccurate sorta things, was kind of sad to see it in myself (though my scope was narrowed partially because my only experience was choosing between industry vs startup)

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#46

Post by raverbashing »

I think the commitment aspect of a startup is mostly underrated by people

Freedom? Closing the work laptop at 6PM is freedom. Not having to worry about office rentals, trash collection, bathroom cleaning is freedom. Fine, you could go WeWork for that, or just stay at home (aren't we all) but something will go off at night, or your future self will regret your past self decisions.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#47

Post by amzans »

Mave83 wrote: post #39

I successful founded startups since 20 years, starting in the age of 16. In none of them, I founded together with partners that I realy trusted like I trust my wife. However we worked together on a professional level and figured it out everytime. Why could we do that? because in the end it is a work for roughly 5y and if you stop even thinking about working 24x7x365 you have enough free time for recreational activiti…

Thanks for the inspiring story. I’m guessing that the 25K€ probably referrers to a GmbH in Germany :)

If so, would you say the GmbH/UG (Limited Liability Company) route is a good idea from the start for a solo founder of a bootstrapped SaaS?

I’ve been doing my research and maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like it has quite a lot of overhead for a first time solo founder like myself.

To clarify, I’m an expat in Germany, but I’ve even looked into setting up an LLC in the US or another limited entity because they appear more lightweight to operate than their counterparts in Germany. But then I end up in a complicated international tax situation.

I’m not seeking legal advice, just wondering if you have any tips now that you’ve gone that path several times successfully.

Cheers!

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#48

Post by Axsuul »

jaxn wrote: post #28
kipply wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yah my feelings about running a startup are completely different for bootstrapped/hacked up companies (I think that's the term?)

The downsides are still there it takes the same level of commitment, dedication, and obsessive effort to bootstrap. It has taken me 5 years to bootstrap a niche b2b saas to $1m ARR. It is both awesome and terrible.

That's an amazing achievement to have reached that milestone!

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#49

Post by Melting_Harps »

Mave83 wrote: post #39

I successful founded startups since 20 years, starting in the age of 16. In none of them, I founded together with partners that I realy trusted like I trust my wife. However we worked together on a professional level and figured it out everytime. Why could we do that? because in the end it is a work for roughly 5y and if you stop even thinking about working 24x7x365 you have enough free time for recreational activiti…

> For me it is absolutely no choice to be employed or working in larger companies. I want my own freedom :)

Living the dream, what are/were a few of them?

I still have too much psychological/mental stuff from my Fintech startup I left in 2018 to seriously consider doing it again, even though this pandemic put the Industry I focused on as an 'essential' Industry despite denying them access to financial services and payment processing at the same time.

I also now have made friends with an accountant at a very reputable Accelerator with connections to Silicon Valley VCs. Still, it'd be tempting to get to do it all again for not having to work for anyone again, even though I also bootstrapped and had to have a day job for the first 3.5 years.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#50

Post by galaxyLogic »

The value of starting a company is you can hope to accomplish something which other people have not. It is a bit like being an explorer finding new lands like Columbus. It is an adventure. But you might end up marooned.

Whereas if you just work for someone else you accomplish some income. You can pay your rent or get a mortgage maybe even buy a sports-car! But you don't have real job-security and in the US you don't even have the security to know if you get fired you could still keep your health insurance.

You are serving someone else's goal which probably is to maximize their financial profit. When you work for them you are their opponent. More for you is less for them. It's not full zero-sum of course but if they are the kind of person who just wants money they will view you that way, as somebody they can make money from. It's a game and they can win big, but you really can't. Your benefit is you learn things but after some years you start thinking you are wasting your life that way taking orders from some clueless greedy business-person.

Just my feeling at the moment.

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