My relationship recently ended because of my startup life. The continuous work and mismatched schedules made it very hard. She never explicitly said "it's me or the startup" but it became apparent that things would never work with my startup lifestyle. Has anyone else faced this decision?
Ask HN: If you had to choose, would it be your startup or significant other?
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Re: Ask HN: If you had to choose, would it be your startup or significant other?
#2I haven't but I think everything has a reason. If you're really passionate about this idea than keep pushing.
Re: Ask HN: If you had to choose, would it be your startup or significant other?
#3This is very related to a work/life balance discussion HN had recently: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2386235
I had more to say, but it got long. Expect a blog post in future.
Re: Ask HN: If you had to choose, would it be your startup or significant other?
#4Relationships are hardly written in stone.
Take the time to understand your feelings and talk to you ex.
If you can't get to an understanding then is likely that the problems between you two go deeper than you think.
Re: Ask HN: If you had to choose, would it be your startup or significant other?
#5Startup.
Re: Ask HN: If you had to choose, would it be your startup or significant other?
#6After two failed startups, my fiance later wife has let's say "become very wary" of new projects.
And that sucks. But, I wouldn't trade her (or our kids) for all the money in the world so the choice is easy.
That said, I have two active projects and at the moment and I'm treading very, very lightly with them. My plan is to remain stealth (from her) until/unless I get traction and then that would put me in a better position to further negotiate ala time commitments, etc. :)
Re: Ask HN: If you had to choose, would it be your startup or significant other?
#7Finding someone you really like is not easy and may not happen again.
Pushing for more efficiency may help. Some tips:
1. Rid as much of time-wasters as possible. Ditch your tv, game set, etc. Avoid reading too much news, forums, etc.
2. Be more time-conscious with your activities, i.e., don't stray. E.g., reading is good but be selective. I've seen some non-startup related topics making getting so much upvotes even on Hacker News. E.g., debating to get feedback is good but debating to win is not.
Re: Ask HN: If you had to choose, would it be your startup or significant other?
#8Should be possible to do both. Mark Zuckerberg has had the same girlfriend for 7 years.
Re: Ask HN: If you had to choose, would it be your startup or significant other?
#9Should be possible to do both. Mark Zuckerberg has had the same girlfriend for 7 years.
Fugazi: "Money lets the pieces fit where they fall"
Re: Ask HN: If you had to choose, would it be your startup or significant other?
#10It's an extremely tough spot to be in if your significant other isn't the type who understands or is willing to put up with startup life (mostly the lack of time for each other). While it can work, often it doesn't.
I've been down this road quite a few times. To me, it really is more of a matter of asking is this person right for me if our lifestyle choices conflict. So in essense, the startup almost always win.