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Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

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Re: Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

#31
post #24

A few observations: - Your post is a little judgmental of the people living this area. 9-5 jobs are nothing to be ashamed of and wanting to watch TV after a hard day isn't necessarily a fault. If I were a business leader in this area I'm not sure I'd be interested in working to fix this if such a thing is even possible or desirable. - What is your skillset? Are you a programmer? If so then you should be able to find…

1) Re: 9-5 - Thanks for catching that. My frustration came through on that a bit. I changed the wording. 2) Re: skills - I do everything but program. And by everything I mean everything - funding, prod dev, marketing, sales, operations, strategy, etc. Great point about not doing something driven by guilt. Thanks for your feedback.

Is it possible that you actually can't really do those things if your startup failed? In other words, is it possible you're representing having skills that you don't actually have? (It reads to me as if you have a willingness to practice those skills, though they aren't well developed.) Maybe it's time to honestly evaluate where you're at and invest some time into personal growth and development. You will reduce cognitive dissonance and through surrender to the mastery process some of your depression will be ameliorated.

Re: Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

#32

"People here want their safe, comfortable, 9-5 jobs, and their must-see-TV at night. There is no ecosystem to help drive and create new things." Considering your situation, a stable 9-5 sounds like a better option for you than a new and risky venture.

Yes I actually agree with you. I should have provided better context: 9-5 meaning that people here are mostly content with what they have. They aren't out and about in the city looking to build new ventures, take risks on big, unproven ideas, etc.

Re: Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

#33
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) Re: 9-5 - Thanks for catching that. My frustration came through on that a bit. I changed the wording. 2) Re: skills - I do everything but program. And by everything I mean everything - funding, prod dev, marketing, sales, operations, strategy, etc. Great point about not doing something driven by guilt. Thanks for your feedback.

Is it possible that you actually can't really do those things if your startup failed? In other words, is it possible you're representing having skills that you don't actually have? (It reads to me as if you have a willingness to practice those skills, though they aren't well developed.) Maybe it's time to honestly evaluate where you're at and invest some time into personal growth and development. You will reduce cogn…

Really good point, how do I go about achieving this? I'd like to believe that I have the skills, insights, strength, and endurance for all these things, but yet, I have to accept the reality that so far it has gotten me nothing. I'm open to change/learning - if my family weren't an issue I'd go anywhere in the world to learn, reboot, start over, grow, etc.

Re: Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

#34
Your situation with your family sounds terrible, but I think one important thing you should realise is that you are NOT responsible for their well-being. The desire to help is both understandable and laudable, but you should not confuse it with obligation.

Ultimately each of us makes our own choices about our lives (even if that choice is to depend upon others - many make that choice without consciously realising it), and in this case it sounds like your family are choosing not to improve their situation, and also trying to make your life choices for you. I have a friend with similar familial issues and from experience I would suggest that you at least enforce some boundaries so that you can live your own life successfully, and if they won't play along with that, consider that you may have to leave them to fend for themselves and forge your own path elsewhere.

We only get one, short life - please don't spend it in the service of people who don't appreciate what you're giving them, or actively obstruct your efforts to help and improve your own lot.

Their situation is NOT YOUR FAULT. Repeat that every day until you believe it - if you want to help them, of course do so, but make it a matter of choice and try to do it in a way that doesn't ruin your own life.

Re: Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

#35
I just accidentally deleted my post, but here's a rewrite.

Constraints: - little/no capital required. - location independent, or available at your current location. - must provide enough income to service/remove debt. - should provide a routine.

Assets: - can do "everything but coding", with most experience in a tech sector - a reasonably large amount of free time.

Possible opportunities: - sales, for either a local or a remote company, either in-person or on-line. any product. - consulting (niche yourself and show you're really good at one of your many skills, and pick something that can be sold without always being at the client site.) - what else can you do?

I'm attempting to strip away the emotional baggage from the situation, to make it easier to see what might be possible. Maybe that could help.

Re: Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

#36
I'll second the Learned Helplessness - your strategy currently seems to revolve around changing your parents, changing your immediate family and changing your town in order to stablize your life. Unfortunately, though other people can change, they can rarely (if ever) be changed by others. You need to stop focusing on the townspeople, the parents and the family, and start focusing on the thing you can change - your circumstance-strategy and your goals.

Here are a few things to consider, and some hard questions:

#5 - Why are you drowning in guilt, what have you done to feel guilty about? Your business failing? Your inability to support others who are not supporting themselves? Is your guilt misplaced, should you really be feeling responsibility?

I ask because guilt has a downward affect, responsibility upward - if you feel guilty that you can't support your family, you continue to sink into depression as you continue to fail. If you feel responsible for supporting your family, you find yourself needing to do just that and rising to goals that will fulfill that responsibility.

In regards to #2, I would consider this a cop-out. If there are no leaders, then you lead. If there are no innovators, then you innovate. If people want 9-5 jobs, then hire them, don't co-found with them. I realize that being in an "active" area can help in networking and support, but it also comes with disadvantages - competition for those same resources, false prophets and snake-oil salesmen, superstition-based strategy "Only 21 year olds can innovate, you need a 21 year old!", and it's own built in (false) positive-feedback loop. In my experience, "safe" or "inactive" areas are also usually somewhat economically depressed or limited - they rely on a factory or a set of services (hospitals, trucking depots) to supply most of the jobs. This can be a golden opportunity for an entrepreneur: there are probably lots of people there that need jobs or are working dead-end or low-wage jobs that would love a new business to open up in their neighborhood.

#4 Time to break the chain. If your whole family suffers from social-anxiety, it's time to ease them in to some new relationships. People need friends, and families need anchors. You can't do something creative or risky when you're floating anchorless. Your family needs to join the community, even if they do it awkwardly or slowly. My suggestion is this: choose an activity, sport, hobby or interest that at least 3 of your family share. I'm talking things like hiking, climbing, reading books, video games, sailing, motorboating, motorcyling, bicycling ... whatever it is that a few of you like to do. Find a local club that's related and join it. If there isn't one, start it. In fact, that may help you get your business chops back - running a small community club. Either way, you need to get your family "out there" and slowly the relationships will start to build. Once they have a few friends, they'll feel anchored to their community, their lives won't feel so out of balance, and taking risks will not seem so dangerous.

#3 I've never been faced with this situation so I'm not sure I can respond well. I'm tempted to say that if they don't want your help or won't admit they need it, perhaps you should let them make their own choices and back off.

Finally #1 - have you considered bankruptcy? If you're being smashed by crushing debt, the contracts you signed with those lenders hold escape clauses for you and them. Perhaps it is time to exercise yours?

Re: Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

#37
Matt -

I have "succeeded" (helped lead a company to acquisition), but I have also failed many times over and run myself in to significant debt with more recent ventures. Never Give Up

I hit days when nihilism gets the best of me, and I think "why am I doing this?" The solution is surprisingly simple, in some cases:

Get exercise, get vitamins, and get caffeine.

Proper exercise and vitamins will give you energy and reduce depression. Caffeine will get your mental gears turning and pump up your adrenaline - it will give you fuel to burn and motivation to burn it - try to limit yourself to 200 mg/day at most though. If you face more significant depression, go to a psychiatrist and they may prescribe you Prozac or an equivalently "harmless" drug. Depression is a mental sickness that we don't often realize we have.

Re: Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

#39

Have you considered immigration? Say move to a different country where there is plenty of startup capital, and your skill set might be in need and greatly appreciated. Try look into places like China, India and so on.

Yes, a lot actually. South America is on my radar for this very reason. My thinking is that if employers, clients, or other startups aren't seeing obvious/immediate value in my collective experiences, that companies/projects in other parts of the world might. I'll look around HN to see what others have done in this area.

Re: Failed entrepreneur, broke, unemployed, now taking care of aging parents. Help.

#40
post #25

mattman, I have been through something very similar. I'm a long time developer who has made great sacrifices to put my own plans on the back burner and move back to my hometown to care for my mother with Alzheimer's. It is the most important thing I've ever done. We are both doing exactly the right thing. You should be proud. A few thoughts... I have no idea who I am anymore professionally You are the same person you…

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Mattman, in case you're not aware, the email field in your profile is invisible. If you want to allow people to contact you, please add it to "about" textbox.

I have no specific advice for you. But I do want to cheer you on. Good luck and know that many of us are sending you our best wishes

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