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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.

#41

Post by johnrob »

mattman wrote: post #24
jswinghammer wrote: post #11

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.

I was going to recommend that living with the parents might free up some time to hack out a new idea, but I see you aren't a developer. As such, I'll suggest a non-programming idea: rebuild the old version of Techcrunch. Write a blog about cool startups. Actually use the products, provide screenshots and reviews. Don't write about Apple,Google,Facebook,Twitter, or funding rounds greater than 1 million. I promise you'll have at least 1 reader ;)

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

#42

Post by pavel_lishin »

mattman wrote: post #32
pavel_lishin wrote: post #6

"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.

You do not need to be building a new venture, or taking risks, or trying out unproven ideas. You need to get a job and make money so you and your family don't starve to death.

It sucks that you're in a place where nobody shares your motivation, but you still need to eat.

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

#43

Post by mattman »

oliakaoil wrote: post #9

I really don't have much personal experience to draw on here, but just to add my two cents, you might try to think about why you initially became an entrepreneur, techie, developer. Something that always makes me feel better no matter what my work-load or responsibilities is spending some time on a project just for the sake of my own interest. These are NOT money-makers, just rough ideas for anything that truly inter…

I'd like to think that I've thought about this, but almost every interest of mine involves something that in no way shape or form includes being around for my family. But you are right in the fact that I need to focus more on what I find enjoyment in / take pride in.

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

#44

Post by davidw »

mattman wrote: post #24
jswinghammer wrote: post #11

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.

Why not take the time to learn to hack? What with all the internet resources out there, IRC, mailing lists, and whatnot, it doesn't really matter where you are, and some 'peace and quiet' would be good for the concentration you'll need.

At that point, maybe you can have a go at doing something along the lines of "Start Small, Stay Small":

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YH9MMI?ie=UTF8&tag=...

The idea being that with a niche product, it's not going to be an all-or-nothing venture, and you'll be able to run it just fine from wherever you are - no need to be somewhere where startups are 'hip' and you can recruit 30 people after you get your millions in funding.

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

#45

Post by Kaizyn »

zackattack wrote: post #31
mattman wrote: 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…

You do realize that startups fail for any number of reasons. Founder's not having all the necessary skills may be a contributing factor, but I would be willing to wager quite a bit that it is not a leading cause.

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

#47

Post by r0s »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #6

"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.

Sounds like those people would like more media, like movie rentals.

Buy a redbox machine? Start a rental store?

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

#48

Post by quizotic »

Our lives are over in a blink of an eye. One day follows the next ... and then it's over. You should decide what you want your days to mean. What do you want to experience? What do you want to do with this world you've been given? How are you going to make it happen?

It's easy to let the current sweep you along. You can tell yourself you are noble for taking care of the parents who took care of you. Except one day is the last day. The story "of you" will have been finished. Do you want a chapter titled "and he took care of his parents"? Nobody but you knows the answer. You are the author. Whether you want or not, every day, you write a page.

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

#49

Post by Duff »

Here's what you need to do.

1 - Practice humility and drop the attitude. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. 2 - Come up with a plan to have a net worth of $0 in 18-36 months -- owe nobody anything. If that is impossible to conceive of, make sure that you are exploring all avenues -- including bankruptcy. 3 - Get off the couch. Establish social connections. Go to church. Volunteer somewhere. Join a book club. Work in a coop. Do something. 4 - Build your relationship with your parents. Don't "manage" them. Easier said than done, of course. 5 - Work. Anywhere.

Sorry to sound like an asshole. Live for the present and don't worry about the future until you have fixed some of the stuff going on now.

Print out your post. Your goal shouldn't be starting a company -- on December 8, 2011 you should be able to look back on today and be able to say that life is better, and that you refuse to go backwards again.

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

#50

Post by phektus »

You might be in a better position than most of us. You are poised to start all over again. You may have no idea how empowering that is.

I see only one problem in your situation actually, but maybe it's just me oversimplifying everything. You need to believe in yourself once again. Snap out of it, wake up. You're still alive, and that should count for something.

Maybe you can make use of the app I made to create resumes, if you still don't have one: http://www.cvstash.com. Other than that, all I can say is that maybe you need to dive into an altogether different industry, one you haven't explored before. There are always problems to solve.

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