Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I Don't Want to Be a Founder

carolchen.me

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 245 posts

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#61

Post by el_benhameen »

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…

As someone who would love to pursue that path, I’d be interested in hearing more about your story if you’re willing to share.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#62

Post by unishark »

thinkingkong wrote: post #58
unishark wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Startup" is not really synonymous with "small business". It may not be a universal view but it does seem really common nowadays for the word "startup" to imply attempts at fast-growing, VC-funded new companies. Also while most people don't work at the big-name sexy tech companies, I think the author's point was about what people should aspire to as the pinnacle of a career. Not what people commonly settle for.

Do you have any self awareness of how awful that sounds?

I guess not. Maybe you can elaborate?

Are you aware of the forum guidelines governing comments?

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#63

Post by ThePhysicist »

Mostly valid arguments. Founding a startup with a co-founder can be like being in a marriage, and there are a lot of frustrations on the path to success (or failure).

That said, she doesn't seem to realize how privileged she actually is, having to choose between a high-paying job at a SV company or accepting to join one of the most famous startup accelerator programs... I don't think she does that on purpuse, just seems a bit out of touch (but then again this is HN so maybe not).

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#64

Post by AmericanChopper »

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.

This seems like a rather naive view to me (and one that I also used to have). As a business owner you are far more accountable to a far greater number of people than you ever will be as an employee. You have the authority to make more decisions, but it’s hardly a “whatever you like” sort of situation. Nearly all of the decisions you make will just be about balancing all the responsibilities you have to other people. As a business owner you might have more authority, but there are many areas where an employee would typically have more freedom. An employee has the freedom to leave all their work problems at the office and go home at the end of the day, or take a vacation. An employee has the freedom to leave the moment a better opportunity comes along. An employee has the freedom to only worry about the problems they’re specifically employed to solve. A business owner would not be expected to have any of that. If your primary concern is a greater level of autonomy at work, then you’d typically be better off seeking and employer who will give you more autonomy than you would be owning a business.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#65

Post by Mave83 »

amzans wrote: post #47
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,…

Yes it's all Germany based. Don't go the UG way, just found a GmbH.

Please note it is possible to found it with 12500€ and have to provide the other half of the 25k€ later.

My first company was without the GmbH protection and benefits. It was ok but I would not do or suggest it to anyone. Hell of a pain to migrate to a GmbH later.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#66

Post by fancyfish »

gkoberger wrote: post #21

I remember as I was starting my company, I reached out to a founder of a company you've likely heard of for advice. We grabbed drinks, and he practically begged me to not start a company, for my own sake. I thought he was a dick. But he wasn't wrong. Write down a list of why you want to start a company. I bet the list involves things like "building something nobody else has," "getting to program and design and do a b…

Do you think some of these issues could be ameliorated by setting out guidelines in the very beginning such as sticking to a simple business model, saying you won’t scale past a small size, and outsourcing business-related work to 3rd party services? Many engineers probably identify with your quotes about “building something no one else has” and “freedom to work on what I want.”

I think many of us would find guidelines like that useful! Because to a corporate engineer drone like myself, starting something small like Pinboard sounds rewarding.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#67

Post by nyxf »

It is really a choice between wanting freedom while accepting the troubles that come with it or sitting under the shade of employment with the occasional bug bites. Most of all, I am glad that there is this awakening that one questions their situation and wants to change things up. That to me is growth. Thanks for sharing this.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#68

Post by taneq »

jarsbe wrote: post #14

Why is it that starting a tech start up is seen as an uber difficult task often resulting in burnout while starting a business in a technical occupation such as electrical or refrigeration is (seemingly) less risque? Surely there are a plenty of opportunities where rather boring software can be applied to business problems. Does it always need to be a monumental technical accomplishment to create a success?

The term "startup" here implies that you're building technology to provide a scalable product or service. Starting an electrical or similar contracting company is more like going freelance than working on a "startup". You're directly selling your hours so it's very accessible and easy to bootstrap, but scaling it up is far harder.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#69

Post by gkoberger »

fancyfish wrote: post #66
gkoberger wrote: post #21

I remember as I was starting my company, I reached out to a founder of a company you've likely heard of for advice. We grabbed drinks, and he practically begged me to not start a company, for my own sake. I thought he was a dick. But he wasn't wrong. Write down a list of why you want to start a company. I bet the list involves things like "building something nobody else has," "getting to program and design and do a b…

Do you think some of these issues could be ameliorated by setting out guidelines in the very beginning such as sticking to a simple business model, saying you won’t scale past a small size, and outsourcing business-related work to 3rd party services? Many engineers probably identify with your quotes about “building something no one else has” and “freedom to work on what I want.” I think many of us would find guidelin…

Yeah! I specifically was using the YC definition of "founder" here (VC backed, etc), since that’s what the article is about. Indie hacking is a completely different ballgame!

I've started a few other companies in parallel (for example, https://startupescape.com/) that collectively earn similar to my company salary, and take a few minutes a week to run. You have a limit on how big you can get and how much of a difference you can make, but if you're cool with that then it's definitely possible! In my mind, the only downside is that you're working alone rather than with a team – and it's really fun to have people to share the journey with!

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#70

Post by Mave83 »

gkoberger wrote: post #21

I remember as I was starting my company, I reached out to a founder of a company you've likely heard of for advice. We grabbed drinks, and he practically begged me to not start a company, for my own sake. I thought he was a dick. But he wasn't wrong. Write down a list of why you want to start a company. I bet the list involves things like "building something nobody else has," "getting to program and design and do a b…

"You'll spend more time writing emails than writing code. You end up bogged down in organizational issues, not dreaming up cool new features. Rather than having one boss, you now have dozens... investors, customers, employees, etc."

why not hire a COO that takes care of it? Don't do jobs that you are not happy with for long. For some short time that is acceptable, but not for long.

I don't count my customers as by bosses. And as long as you don't give yourself the trouble, they are not your bosses. However it is important to focus on them, try to think about them and know what they need before they even know it.

Post reply on HN