These are the best of times.. these are the worst of times..
For sure, these are not average times.. :)
Thanks Pg, keeps our spirit going!
Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy
101–110 of 204 posts
Re: Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you point to one essay where he uses the phrase "make money" or some variant thereof? More to the point: To me, a startup isn't about money. It's about freedom. That's where I've found much to like in his essays.
In http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html , Paul writes So who should start a startup? Someone who is a good hacker, between about 23 and 38, and who wants to solve the money problem in one shot instead of getting paid gradually over a conventional working life. So writing about startups is always implicitly about making money. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
In your search did you find any other examples? The original comment said "all the time". That's a very different reading from mine and I'm frankly not sure where it comes from. Even that essay you cite, the quote is a tangent. It's not the central thesis.
Re: Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy
#103pg was a lot more fun when he used to talk about other things than making money all the time.
One of the strange consequences of writing about several mostly unrelated topics is that you pick up readers with quite different interests. Then whatever you write next, the ones not interested in that topic complain that you've jumped the shark. I doubt I've written a single essay since about 2002 when someone didn't say something of the form "pg was ok when he was writing about x, but I wish he would stop writing about y."
And incidentally, it's not the making money aspect of startups that interests me the most. I'm mostly interested in startups as agents of change. We could right now be in the middle of a shift on the scale of the Industrial Revolution. Or not; always hard to tell from so close. But there is certainly something interesting happening.
Re: Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy
#104I agree completely. I have done startups before during recessions, and never had any problems because of them. Cofounders are a little harder to find, at least those who listen to the gloomy news and are scared because of it. However, good cofounders are easier to spot during recessions.
Re: Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy
#105"If we've learned one thing from funding so many startups, it's that they succeed or fail based on the qualities of the founders. The economy has some effect, certainly, but as a predictor of success it's rounding error compared to the founders." This is confusing -- wasn't Y Combinator started in 2005? Was PG funding startups before that?
Yes, and I have no idea. We should see in 3-5 years whether that statement is true or not. I'd guess not, although I'm not sure to what degree.
Re: Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy
#106I've always found that large competitors tighten up and don't release progressive new products during downturns. At the same time, new/small competitors are reluctant to start. That means there's no better time from a competitive stand-point. Now, investors will be reluctant, but if you are in a position to not need investors (self-financed), then I think it's an optimum time. Once up and running, with products released, the inevitable rising tide of the new economy will float all boats. Continue keeping expenses low and other disciplines ingrained during the downturn, and ride the new tide up.
Re: Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy
#107pg was a lot more fun when he used to talk about other things than making money all the time.
One of the strange consequences of writing about several mostly unrelated topics is that you pick up readers with quite different interests. Then whatever you write next, the ones not interested in that topic complain that you've jumped the shark. I doubt I've written a single essay since about 2002 when someone didn't say something of the form "pg was ok when he was writing about x, but I wish he would stop writing…
Don't stop writing about anything. Write more on more diverse topics.
Re: Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy
#108Your article is very timely. In fact I have a start-up that I have been building with a small team paid by sweat-equity. I also have an excellent and motivated business partner & co-founder who I trust and I keep on admiring his dedication and motivation despite having the most difficult time in raising seed money (apparently a requirement/excuse for VCs to event get involved). We are building a Web utility that facilitates information consumption. We are testing it with friends and family and the results are very encouraging. Given the state of the economy and the lack of financial resources, we have decided to continue to boot-strap our business and we will be releasing our Web tool for people to use. By the way, I found your article this morning using our product. The idea is to introduce it and demonstrate its usefulness through actual usage and viral distribution. We are also reducing our initial set of features to reduce the risk and wait for a measurable adoption rate to make a stronger case for funding. We are not serial entrepreneurs and deeply believe in what we have. We are convinced that with our passion, on-going re-enforcement from our users, the academic community and peers, we have what we need to fuel our passion and success. We are confident that we will succeed regardless of the investor community’s current mood. Thanks for a great article!
Thierry Hubert
Re: Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy
#109pg was a lot more fun when he used to talk about other things than making money all the time.
Seems to me that making money has always been a common theme in pg's essays. The "you should start a startup" message is stronger than ever, but that's always been there to some extent as well.
http://www.paulgraham.com/avg.html
http://www.paulgraham.com/road.html
http://www.paulgraham.com/gap.html
Re: Why to Start a Startup in a Bad Economy
#110Good article, but I disagree with the Microsoft/Apple example in the beginning. MS and Apple happened to come along when the microcomputer was really starting to take off, and they were able to ride that wave (while 1000's of other microcomputer startups crashed). One thing that worries me personally about starting the "stereotypical" HN startup right now, is that I think the free/fremium model is going to lose steam…
one of the problems with web-apps is that while they are cheap to get going ... many traditional VCs look elsewhere for their next investments. It's not a bug, it's a feature.
yep, that's not a problem with web-apps, that's a problem with traditional VCs...