For a SaaS to help founders I had over 200 wait-list sign-ups. I think only one tried the MVP and that was about it. I put significant time and effort into building it. Marketing is incredibly difficult. Possibly why Paul Graham says there needs to be at least 2 co-founders.
I am done. I give up
761–770 of 1001 posts
Re: I am done. I give up
#762Re: I am done. I give up
#763Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of the privileges people don't often think about is being able to afford to fail. If you don't risk destitution after your startup fails, you can try and fail many times, learn and try again. It's like continuously rolling two dice, and you only need to get double sixes once, and after that it's private jets until you die. One of the many reasons the rich get richer and the poor, well you know how it goes.
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…
> This is one of the underappreciated benefits of the Nordic-style welfare state: everybody can afford to fail.
So then the Nordics are the startup capitals of the world, far surpassing all other countries, right? Right?
Re: I am done. I give up
#764I honestly feel for you and understand how frustrated you must be feeling. I also think you put too much pressure on yourself and that you went after a lifestyle instead of working on a product that solves a problem and with that achieve your goals.
Two things that come to my mind: - The majority of the startups operate in new/unproven markets. Three startups is far from being a lot in this scenario. Ask how many failed startups the best entrepreneurs have worked on and on some cases you'll see 30+. - If you don't have access to venture capital, it's wise to work on your startup as a side gig and see how it goes from there. You would have much likely had more runaway ($$$) and be confronted with other business opportunities that would result in other (sometimes better) ideas.
The last point I want to add is related with the type of startups I see being founded. I view the Product Hunt feed on my Telegram and if I do a scroll over the next month or so, +80% are startups about tools for other entrepreneurs or slight variations of already existing companies (with the majority being note taking apps). I'm really not feeling a lot of innovation there.
PS - I run a side-gig Cybersecurity newsletter (cyb3rsecurity.tips) with decent results and the traction is definitely there while having 0 followers on Twitter.
Re: I am done. I give up
#765Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This is just startup porn. It’s the same in any category (make money flipping houses!, crypto!, etc.) As a rule of thumb, assume 99% of influencers are full of shit. Stay off instagram. This 100x! Many of the big influencers in these indie/startup/productivity niches seem to earn a lot of money at first sight. If you look deeper, a lot of these influencer seem to be making a lot of money from courses they are selli…
My all time favorite is Robert T. Kiyosaki's book "Poor dad, rich dad". Pretty much everything he teaches about financial success is fiction. In reality he worked a regular 9 to 5 job, failed at starting his own business, and finally made money by selling this book and providing seminars.
Just looked at his Twitter. Seems like he's gone off the deep end and is now grifting like Alex Jones. Posts about Fauci, woke liberals, FBI + KGB working in cahoots....pathetic, really.
Re: I am done. I give up
#766If you haven't already, you could reflect on your 'failures' to see what you can learn from them. You may identify areas you want to develop in yourself, spot something you could tweak in your products, or just clarify your career aspirations.
Re: I am done. I give up
#767Succeeding in the startup world reminds me of the funfair analogy: The rich kid will have a go at throwing the dart at the balloon, and miss. But, because they're a rich kid, they just take out their wallet (or parents' wallet), get more stubs, and try again (and again) until they hit the balloon. The middle class kid will have a go at throwing the dart at the balloon, and also miss. Then they will walk away, saying…
I fully agree with your message but some of the joke examples are misguided in my opinion :) Some of those you're making puns with (like Coders at Work) are not about startups or recipes for success, but interviews with early practitioners, and have historical value, much like interviewing scientists. I also think that software engineering and methodology/best practices book fall in another category. What you want to…
There is also a Founders at work. The funny at work title may have been a riff on that.
Re: I am done. I give up
#768Earlier quoted context omitted.
"High trust" seems entirely contradictory to Danish society. Universal skepticism and a universal dislike for every other human in existence are the core ideologies here. Maybe a tendency to not interfere with tasks assigned to others to avoid having to deal with people is being misinterpreted as trust?
No. My Norwegian colleagues trust that they will receive healthcare. They trust that their representatives in the government are acting more or less in good faith. They trust that money in the government is going towards protections and services and infrastructure. And if you look around in Norway, you can generally get the feeling that the government is taking care of things. Go to America and it seems like the coun…
> No. My Norwegian colleagues trust that they will receive healthcare. They trust that their representatives in the government are acting more or less in good faith. They trust that money in the government is going towards protections and services and infrastructure.
This is not quite true in Denmark.
There's have been multiple cases in recent times with the government willingly taking illegal action. Trust in public health care is that it'll keep you alive, but that's getting a nurse to look at you takes half a workday and the majority of the staff is running away due to poor pay. Those needing psychological help have generally been neglected, and those with gender identity issues are borderline abused. Environmental policies are "revised" as we get close to the deadline and haven't made the progress needed.
So I would not say that there is trust in the government and its services - merely an understanding that as change is very slow, you can expect the same tomorrow as you do today. That the US is worse is somewhat of a different discussion to whether or not the Danish people is a "high trust" society.
Re: I am done. I give up
#769Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This is just startup porn. It’s the same in any category (make money flipping houses!, crypto!, etc.) As a rule of thumb, assume 99% of influencers are full of shit. Stay off instagram. This 100x! Many of the big influencers in these indie/startup/productivity niches seem to earn a lot of money at first sight. If you look deeper, a lot of these influencer seem to be making a lot of money from courses they are selli…
My all time favorite is Robert T. Kiyosaki's book "Poor dad, rich dad". Pretty much everything he teaches about financial success is fiction. In reality he worked a regular 9 to 5 job, failed at starting his own business, and finally made money by selling this book and providing seminars.
I fell into this whole startup hustle bubble a while ago, obviously I also read the book "Rich dad, poor dad". At least I tried, it was bad. Not only was it unrealistic, it also dismissed a whole lot of external factors at play at accumulating such wealth and didn't feel realistic at all. I did not know that he worked regular 9 to 5 and only generated his wealth by providing advice how to build wealth, but its not really surprising and fits the picture fairly well.
Re: I am done. I give up
#770It sounds to me like your expectations are way out of whack. I’ve seen friends, acquaintances, and colleagues become entrepreneurs. Without an exception, every one that has a serious social media presence is a fraud. They have a company that is either money losing or fed by their parents. They pretend to be entrepreneur geniuses on social media but really have done nothing but basically be instagram models. The peopl…
Also one needs to keep in mind that many startup "successes" are actually either negative or neutral outcomes. I know several "acquisitions" where the end result was investors making negative returns (receiving back pennies-on-the-dollar, if anything.) Meanwhile, the former CEO gets a cushy job as an advisor at the new place, announcements all over social media, etc. The actual companies barely had any revenue.