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I am done. I give up

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: I am done. I give up

#301

Post by necovek »

mensetmanusman wrote: post #235
jurmous wrote: post #10

A big fact of the entrepreneur world is that it is hugely based on luck. Luck of finding the right idea, the right market, the right timing, the right connections, the right customers, the right employees, the right financing. The basic fact is that most startups and most entrepreneurial dreams fail or get consumed by another for their talent/clients. And as an entrepreneur you fight against all odds. Most will fail…

Everything in life is luck, including your comment being top voted. If everything is luck, then it probably isn’t worth saying.

Everything in life has different odds of happening, and when lower odds materialize, we call that "luck".

There are a number of comments saying very similar things to the top voted one: so it was indeed luck that their comment floated to the top among the many others. Perhaps they were there right when the story was posted (luck, right?) Perhaps they used exactly the trigger words that made others appreciate the comment (luck, right?).

The fact that there is a luck element to many things does not mean that those are unworthy pursuits. And it's ok to acknowledge the luck factor when it can dominate the results (i.e. you wouldn't talk about a lottery without considering luck).

Re: I am done. I give up

#302

Post by KaiserPro »

throwawaybbq1 wrote: post #239
pavlov wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of the underappreciated benefits of the Nordic-style welfare state: everybody can afford to fail. Unfortunately it's rarely discussed in society as such. The political parties that built these welfare states have traditionally been associated with worker unions, and entrepreneurship isn't high on their agenda. The Nordic right-wing parties got ideologically married to Thatcher-style neoliberalism and pref…

The issue is who pays for the welfare state. Finland got a lot of its wealth through off sea oil I think. Not easy to replicate in almost every part of the world. If you make the population pay for the welfare state, you are essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul. The people you rob (the ones paying the bulk of taxes) have a lower incentive to produce. This is one reason the energy Windfall taxes being proposed everyw…

the UK (used) to have a reasonably comprehensive welfare net, and has a larger number of companies per capita compared to the USA.

One of the things that are never really discussed in these kind of things is that you are already paying for welfare, its just not even. Poverty leads to crime, which costs you, either in lost property, crap neighbourhoods, or in insurance.

Re: I am done. I give up

#303

Post by throwaway14356 »

throwawaybbq1 wrote: post #239
pavlov wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of the underappreciated benefits of the Nordic-style welfare state: everybody can afford to fail. Unfortunately it's rarely discussed in society as such. The political parties that built these welfare states have traditionally been associated with worker unions, and entrepreneurship isn't high on their agenda. The Nordic right-wing parties got ideologically married to Thatcher-style neoliberalism and pref…

The issue is who pays for the welfare state. Finland got a lot of its wealth through off sea oil I think. Not easy to replicate in almost every part of the world. If you make the population pay for the welfare state, you are essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul. The people you rob (the ones paying the bulk of taxes) have a lower incentive to produce. This is one reason the energy Windfall taxes being proposed everyw…

whose issue is that??

unlike the US you can just leave and not pay.

it seems to me people outside countries with decent welfare have all of the issues?

something like give me private jets or let me starve by the side of the road, nothing in between must exist.

i actually enjoy paying for people playing video games all day while smoking weed and getting drunk while businesses scream how they cant find employees. Specially the combi self centered and assholes really cant find anyone anymore.

You have to pay what it costs to hire people. If the offer isn't competitive with not working you are going to have to pay more.

Long term employees are also leaving for better jobs.

ill gladly pay for the transition back to sanity.

Re: I am done. I give up

#304

Post by nowherebeen »

joshwolff wrote: post #279

Hate to say it, but you sound like you're victimizing yourself. You're not a victim. And victimhood mentality likely played a large role in your failure. Try to change your mindset and try again when you feel you're ready.

OP needs to accept responsibility for his choices. Blaming it on other people for his choices doesn’t seem right.

Re: I am done. I give up

#305

Post by gohigh54 »

jurmous wrote: post #10

A big fact of the entrepreneur world is that it is hugely based on luck. Luck of finding the right idea, the right market, the right timing, the right connections, the right customers, the right employees, the right financing. The basic fact is that most startups and most entrepreneurial dreams fail or get consumed by another for their talent/clients. And as an entrepreneur you fight against all odds. Most will fail…

For me I found the harder I worked the luckier I got. There are opportunities everywhere and it takes a long time of trial and error to get it right. It is not for everyone. Very few succeed in a linear or parabolic trajectory.

The OP should be proud of their efforts. This was a learning experience that will absolutely help them in the future. Think of this as finishing a super tough college course and passing. On to the next phase.

Re: I am done. I give up

#306

Post by logotype »

jacquesm wrote: post #77
saalweachter wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was an engineer at a successful startup. We grew, we went bankrupt, we laid off most the company, the founders kicked in enough to keep us going and we restructured to give the remaining people larger shares. We became profitable and finally sold to another company. My payday was about $70k, which was a nice bonus, I was happy to get it. I moved on to big tech. The company withered away, the company that bought it…

That sucks. I know quite a few stories like that. I'm more active as an investor these days than as an entrepreneur, the projects I still run are more for fun than for income (or even potential income) and I can't tell you how happy I am that that pressure has abated somewhat. It's annoying that even the successes tend to screw over the employees and more often than not the founders as well. Typical dilution by the t…

That’s exactly what I started: https://gitlab.com/logotype/fixparser

It’s a quite boring project, but it is niche - and there is no alternative, at least not in the JS/TS ecosystem. Many startups/crypto/financial institutions (including YC startups) uses and are paying customers of my product.

I’ve tried finding an investor (including YC) to grow the project but no-one is interested. It doesn’t matter, I’ll keep going anyway. But if someone is interested reach me at info@fixparser.io

Re: I am done. I give up

#307

Post by bbq123 »

Mental health is extremely important and should be given a priority in ones. Also, being a startup founder is not the only way to be happy and successful these days.

Still, it is sad to see someone, who apparently has so much discipline and persistence to give. Hit me up on Twitter (@phprunner) in a few days, maybe we can talk.

Re: I am done. I give up

#308

Post by ajju »

It is ok to give up. It is ok to come back to entrepreneurship to it if you want at some point. It is ok to never think about entrepreneurship again.

What matters is that each point you make the decision that makes sense to you.

And if you choose to look back one day, you may find that despite failing being an entrepreneur for some time helped you in ways you may not have realized or anticipated.

Either way, as you said, optimize for your mental health. All responsibilities in life seem like chains some of the time, but if your startup feels like a chain all the time - then by all means - break the chain.

Re: I am done. I give up

#309

Post by croes »

jurmous wrote: post #10

A big fact of the entrepreneur world is that it is hugely based on luck. Luck of finding the right idea, the right market, the right timing, the right connections, the right customers, the right employees, the right financing. The basic fact is that most startups and most entrepreneurial dreams fail or get consumed by another for their talent/clients. And as an entrepreneur you fight against all odds. Most will fail…

And if you are lucky you can write books and give talks about how your luck was the result of your superior dexterity, work ethics, intelligence etc.

Re: I am done. I give up

#310

Post by gherlein »

19 of 20 startups "fail." Meaning they don't exit for huge valuations. Go look at many of the "successes" and the founders had a deep safety net. Meaning they could afford it. Access to affordable capital and luck. Seriously. Don't be down on yourself. Did you learn? Probably. Did you make deep friendships along the way? Probably. Those count too. Don't let hyper-capitalism define "success" for you.
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