Your wife or your cofounders' wives? I only ask because you phrase it in plural.
Clearly, the original poster is polygamous.
Any recommendations on convincing wives to let their husbands become entrepreneurs?
31–40 of 51 posts
Re: Any recommendations on convincing wives to let their husbands become entrepreneurs?
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
You really don't understand marriage. You don't just do things - You work together.
Actually I understand only too well. I know the OP's situation is no good because your partner should be supporting your dreams/goals/aspirations and vice-versa. You should never have to ask permission, or convince someone to "let" you pursue your dreams. Nobody who truly cares about you would ever try to stand in the way of it. "Because I really want to" is reason enough for anyone you're that close to. Bringing in…
The act of convincing is an important one. You need to convince your spouse that it's important to you. More important than all the other concerns (that's the hard part).
Re: Any recommendations on convincing wives to let their husbands become entrepreneurs?
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
It always implies disparity.
No, in a marriage it implies parity: each party gets a veto on decisions that will affect them both.
Gyro, ever been in love? Do you even understand how a partnership works? What about co-founders? Do you just individually do whatever suits you, or do you discuss what's most important for the company and make decisions together?
Same goes for a marriage. It's a partnership - all decisions are cooperative. All major decisions (should) be by consensus. (flame edited out by author).
Re: Any recommendations on convincing wives to let their husbands become entrepreneurs?
#34dude, if you cant convince the one who decided to spend the rest of her life with you, how are you going to convince people who dont know you to invest in your company?
those are two different things because the interests and constraints of your spouse will be quite different from those of your investors or consumers.
Re: Any recommendations on convincing wives to let their husbands become entrepreneurs?
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, in a marriage it implies parity: each party gets a veto on decisions that will affect them both.
Gyro, ever been in love? Do you even understand how a partnership works? What about co-founders? Do you just individually do whatever suits you, or do you discuss what's most important for the company and make decisions together? Same goes for a marriage. It's a partnership - all decisions are cooperative. All major decisions (should) be by consensus. (flame edited out by author).
I would suggest watching the personal comments and insults. The fact that we view an issue differently does nothing to indicate that your view is correct, and your conclusions are wrong.
Re: Any recommendations on convincing wives to let their husbands become entrepreneurs?
#36Re: Any recommendations on convincing wives to let their husbands become entrepreneurs?
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, in a marriage it implies parity: each party gets a veto on decisions that will affect them both.
Nobody should ever get a veto over your dreams and aspirations.
If you're in a relationship like that, you're both sharing the risk -- and if you can't convince her of the rewards, it sounds like there's a serious problem.
Re: Any recommendations on convincing wives to let their husbands become entrepreneurs?
#38It's a super tough thing. I think the startup founder with a successful marriage and a successful startup is the rare exception. They're both full-time commitments and one almost always loses the battle for attention. Tom Leykis (much hated LA "shock jock") advises (paraphrasing): Do not get married until you've achieved your dream in life. I think that's good advice to take, even if it's tough thing to face. I haven…
And what if one has many dreams in life? In fact, what would a life look like if one stopped creating and pursuing dreams?
I'm married, I still have dreams and still work to achieve them. Ideally, your marriage would incorporate the pursuit of both partners' dreams - a balanced approach.
Convincing your wife should be simple: tell her why you must pursue your dream. Ask her what her fears are and then explain your perception of each of those fears and how you plan to address them. It pretty much comes down to dispelling any fears she has.
Re: Any recommendations on convincing wives to let their husbands become entrepreneurs?
#39I think it's a highly personal situation, and depends a great deal on the couple. Some people actually enjoy working together - I don't think I would (I'd rather hear what my wife did at work that has nothing to do with my job), and the 'hedging' aspect of someone with a steady job isn't a bad thing, either. I've tried to get my wife to read as many of the really good articles as possible - some of PG's stuff... I tr…
My wife and I read together most of "Hackers and Painters" by PG. I was surprised -- she really enjoyed it. I think this was partly what got her enthused about microPledge. (Some of the chapters were too techie and not readable-out-loud, like "A Plan for Spam". We skipped those.)
Re: Any recommendations on convincing wives to let their husbands become entrepreneurs?
#40I think the prospect of financial security for their (possibly future) kids is the biggest selling point.
And not just the prospect of -- get funding now. I don't mean a huge amount, just angel funding. We did this and it really helped my wife get on board.
Also, don't let the startup take over. Maybe if you're single you can work 14 hour days ... but I've got a family, and it comes before startup (mostly :-). I'd rather be happy than rich.