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Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

bbc.com

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Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#51

Post by rsrsrs86 »

onion2k wrote: post #6

One of the things I learned running my first startup was that I really don't enjoy running a business. The mountains of admin work, the never-ending decision making, the constant anxiety of whether or not I made the right call, the pressure to never actually switch off and just work work work , all of the pointless 'networking' with people who're pretending to be interested ... it all adds up to a pretty horrible exp…

I always ask candidates why they want to work at an early stage startup as a developer, and “because it must be fun” is a show stopper.

Being a founder is certainly not fun. The good parts are there, like earning money, interacting with your team and seeing them grow, the first round, the first sale. But the job is quite painful itself.

Please note that not all startups and founders are / want to be funded with billions of dollars. The true story is that you are going to be overworked and fail 99% of times.

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#52

Post by [deleted] »

revelio wrote: post #22
FlyingSnake wrote: post #8

Entrepreneurship is like one of those carnival games where you throw darts or something. Middle class kids can afford one throw. Most miss. A few hit the target and get a small prize. A very few hit the center bullseye and get a bigger prize. Rags to riches! The American Dream lives on. Rich kids can afford many throws. If they want to, they can try over and over and over again until they hit something and feel good…

A nice analogy but it doesn't work. There aren't that many entrepreneurs who failed multiple times before succeeding at a business. If you look at the big businesses that dominate the US tech economy, they're all first time founders (Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft etc). There are also very few entrepreneurs bootstrapping their own business. Even rich kids go to VC, they aren't usually risking their own funds. Final…

[deleted]

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#53

Post by endisneigh »

dazc wrote: post #31
throwaway8456 wrote: post #10

I started, boostrapped and sold a SaaS business. By most standards, this was a resounding success. I won't have to work again ever if I don't want to. This being my first company, I was obsessed with it. Towards the end, I burnt myself out, I had neglected my wife and kids for years, and I was just so miserable. I used to love programming, but I could not concentrate anymore. I started developing resentment against t…

'I really wonder if it was really all worth it.' You concede your marriage suffered and suggest the impact on your health was negative, but both of these things could have happened if you were just surviving in a low paid regular job. Don't be so hard on yourself and enjoy your success.

Though I agree with the sentiment of your post...

> You concede your marriage suffered and suggest the impact on your health was negative, but both of these things could have happened if you were just surviving in a low paid regular job.

This isn't really a good way of thinking. Where will it end? You might as well do anything, since any negative outcome isn't necessarily inclusive of the thing you did.

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#54

Post by HPsquared »

revelio wrote: post #35
vlovich123 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you need to leave tech and VC money. VC’s are happy to throw money behind a bunch of smart college kids. Go try to go a different route and see all the doors shut. Also you don’t get to see all the people who don’t try their hand at entrepreneurship because the gamble is too great for them.

Yes, but the reason it's harder to get money for those sorts of businesses is because they're much less likely to generate large returns. The BBC couldn't / didn't want to find any tech entrepreneurs for this article (it's not like the UK doesn't have them), so they focus on people doing contracting or agency work. Of course it'll be tough to get investment in such a low margin and competitive business, VCs don't inv…

Most businesses don't generate extraordinarily large returns. Successful tech companies are in the long tail. Where's the investment in the middle?

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#55

Post by grardb »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #41
FlyingSnake wrote: post #8

Entrepreneurship is like one of those carnival games where you throw darts or something. Middle class kids can afford one throw. Most miss. A few hit the target and get a small prize. A very few hit the center bullseye and get a bigger prize. Rags to riches! The American Dream lives on. Rich kids can afford many throws. If they want to, they can try over and over and over again until they hit something and feel good…

> Rich kids can afford many throws. True. But the advantage is broader than that. They also have more able networks. Their parents more likely to know someone who can help who might know someone else who can help. The (support) network matters. But that's not the difference marker. It's WHAT they throw those darts at that matters. True story... A few years ago I attended (as a spectator) a hackathon at Princeton Univ…

As a Rutgers alumnus who was involved in the scene when college hackathons started really taking off (2009-2013, attended 40+ hackathons), I can say that this anecdote doesn't reflect my experience at all. Had you attended HackRU instead of HackPrinceton, I can guarantee you that the app ideas would be pretty much indistinguishable from those at other universities.

As for thinking differently, I can't speak much to that, but I've met quite a number of rich people with average and below-average thinking capabilities.

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#56

Post by qgin »

endisneigh wrote: post #53
dazc wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'I really wonder if it was really all worth it.' You concede your marriage suffered and suggest the impact on your health was negative, but both of these things could have happened if you were just surviving in a low paid regular job. Don't be so hard on yourself and enjoy your success.

Though I agree with the sentiment of your post... > You concede your marriage suffered and suggest the impact on your health was negative, but both of these things could have happened if you were just surviving in a low paid regular job. This isn't really a good way of thinking. Where will it end? You might as well do anything , since any negative outcome isn't necessarily inclusive of the thing you did.

I think it's more useful for second guessing your past choices.

You're absolutely right that it's worth weighing the chances looking forwards because it can guide your future choices.

But when looking back and thinking "if only I'd done this or that differently, everything would have gone well," that's torturing yourself with a imaginary timeline that never happened and for which there is a non-zero chance could have been worse.

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#57

Post by akrymski »

rco8786 wrote: post #3

I am 100% certain that many entrepreneurs regret their choices. But kicking off this article highlighting a person whose stated alternative to entrepreneurship was "consistent 7-figures at a management consulting firm" is laughable, as though that's an option for most people.

I'm pretty sure that the probability of hitting 7-figures in a consulting firm is smaller than hitting that figure as a founder of a startup.

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#58

Post by conradfr »

s1mplicissimus wrote: post #28
saliagato wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“ I have definitely lost a few years of life expectancy “ Why? Genuinely curious. Stress can lower life expectancy?

if you doubt that, I recommend living under high stress conditions for a couple years and see for yourself

What about living with no financial stress for the rest of your life, maybe it balances things out?

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#59

Post by [deleted] »

FlyingSnake wrote: post #8

Entrepreneurship is like one of those carnival games where you throw darts or something. Middle class kids can afford one throw. Most miss. A few hit the target and get a small prize. A very few hit the center bullseye and get a bigger prize. Rags to riches! The American Dream lives on. Rich kids can afford many throws. If they want to, they can try over and over and over again until they hit something and feel good…

[deleted]

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#60

Post by [deleted] »

FlyingSnake wrote: post #8

Entrepreneurship is like one of those carnival games where you throw darts or something. Middle class kids can afford one throw. Most miss. A few hit the target and get a small prize. A very few hit the center bullseye and get a bigger prize. Rags to riches! The American Dream lives on. Rich kids can afford many throws. If they want to, they can try over and over and over again until they hit something and feel good…

[deleted]
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