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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

#71

Post by gkoberger »

Mave83 wrote: post #70
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 bo…

Maybe "boss" wasn't the right word – I should have said "Rather than having one boss, you now have dozens of people you're accountable to... investors, customers, employees, etc."

And sure, hiring can make issues go away (I've definitely done it!), but I think you're missing my point – no matter who you hire below you, if you're the CEO, the buck still stops with you. You're the one ultimately responsible.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#72

Post by andi999 »

chii wrote: post #20
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?

starting a startup is not the same as starting a business. By definition a startup is a type of business whose business model is not yet proven. So you end up with 2 types of risks in a startup - the normal risk of starting a business (like the electrical engineer), as well as business model risk where the model may prove to be unprofitable.

Thanks. This is the most useful concept I heard so far.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#73

Post by eastdakota »

This made me sad to read. Not everyone should found a company. Frankly, in school, the people who annoyed me most were the ones who vowed to be an “entrepreneur.” Always sounded pretentious. But, as someone who has garnered wealth and happiness from creating something from scratch, I do hope we continue to celebrate, if not idolize, that. And, I hope, we remember the humble beginnings of Yahoo, eBay, Google, Dropbox, Facebook, AirBnB, Cloudflare, etc. Not everyone needs to be a founder to be successful. But I hope everyone will continue to believe they can be one. Not for themselves, but for what they can build for the world.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#74

Post by goldenchrome »

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?

I think you mean "risky"... unless your startup is in the sex industry.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#75

Post by bananaface »

She misses the most important difference between owning a startup and owning a project in a company: actual ownership. You don't own the profits in a company. I mean, really??

Anyone can write articles like this. Be careful who you learn from.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#76

Post by jake_morrison »

I had a funny experience where a friend was trying to recruit me to be part of some venture.

We met up and got in a car with another lady who he was trying to recruit as well, and he kept talking about it as if it was already a done deal that we were in.

At one point, she and I looked at each other and were like "Excuse me. No offense, but I don't know who the hell you are." We didn't join his thing, but ended up starting three companies together, so we were compatible business partners.

You need some time to get to know each other. I find it's better if you don't consider it like marriage, investing a lot of emotion in it. It either works or it doesn't, and you can leave as friends.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#77

Post by 8f2ab37a-ed6c »

lacker wrote: post #17

For me, the way I thought about it was a bit different. When I did YC I had already worked at Google for a while, and the question I was asking myself was less "do I want to be a founder?" and more "is starting a company something I ever want to try out, in a career that will probably span decades?" If you've had jobs you liked in the past, and you figure that you can probably find those jobs again, and you don't imm…

Same here. I wanted to know what it was like to have all of that responsibility on my shoulders.

I felt like my career was moving at a snail pace within BigTechCo and I was capable of much more. There's no real risk in that situation, unless you're borderline destitute, have dependents who need you, have a serious medical condition that requires a high end employer to support you etc.

Even if you fail, you will have learned many valuable skills and perspectives, and might get hired at your previous employer with a better title.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#78

Post by qeternity »

eastdakota wrote: post #73

This made me sad to read. Not everyone should found a company. Frankly, in school, the people who annoyed me most were the ones who vowed to be an “entrepreneur.” Always sounded pretentious. But, as someone who has garnered wealth and happiness from creating something from scratch, I do hope we continue to celebrate, if not idolize, that. And, I hope, we remember the humble beginnings of Yahoo, eBay, Google, Dropbox,…

Also, it’s a distinctly SV mindset that startups and entrepreneurs is this zero/hero dichotomy. The world is full of “moderately” successful startups that throw off a few million in free cash flow for a relatively small team.

If I were to give advice to other founders, it would be stop building for an IPO/acquisition. Build for the middle ground, and take opportunities to step on the gas if you see them.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#79

Post by YungSven »

Mave83 wrote: post #65
amzans wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I‘m about to found a UG in the next few days, so I‘m curious why you say that I should found a GmbH rather than a UG.

Re: I Don't Want to Be a Founder

#80

Post by rawoke083600 »

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…

>Oh, and the rejection. The non stop rejection. Every single day, minute, hour. Investors, customers, employees, potential employees. It's not personal, but it sure feels personal. Even when things are going great, there's tons of little micro-rejections, non-stop. I wish someone told me that.

THIS! You feel like your back is always against the wall and you have to defend every product decision. You are right it's not personal and probably good the feedback(most of the time...) but you ja it's hard getting rejected 24/7. And even criticism can later be seen as "rejection" :/ Maybe it's best to view these things not in isolation but on a timeline.. Sure many of the things I produce today, might still suck, but I think it sucks less than my products from 8 years ago. Growth is definitely there.

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