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Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

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Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#131

Post by melenaboija »

czbond wrote: post #111
melenaboija wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you missed the point. As middle class you can't fail with your dart, you are either lucky or good with it. Maybe you are part of the latter, but if you miss your shot you are fucked in either case. Wealthy people can be damn bad with it but keep trying until it works, and if you are rich enough you don't even need to hit the center once and keep going.

Of course you can miss your shot. Many, many times. But it just means each time you have to give up a little more of your personal time and freedom for the next shot. No nights or weekends after the j.o.b. - each has to decide if that is worth it to them.

What you have to give up is relative to each situation and the only thing that makes a difference in my opinion is:

- You have to give up something

- You don't have to give up anything

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#132

Post by chiefalchemist »

grardb wrote: post #55
chiefalchemist wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 t…

To clarify, I'm not talking about IQ. There's no connection between IQ and (financial) success. It's how and what they use what they have.

There's a difference been thinking about and having lunch with Aunt X and Uncke Y the successful biz owners and the new Marvel movie and associated video game.

There's a difference between being smart about your body (read: food and exercise) and indulgening in anything advertised on TV. Spend a day in Princeton, there is a noticeable lack of excess weight and obesity.

Why? Because they think (and act) different.

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#133

Post by treis »

czbond wrote: post #96
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…

Realize the game you and your family are playing. Middle class have 3 paths out: - Single shot entrepreneurship - Repeated entrepreneurship with a job (no free nights or weekends) - Long term, multi generational wealth building over the course of 40-100 years with a mixture of stable career or above A wealthy family did the above but a generation or two before you or yours & someone else is reaping the benefit. Don't…

That's not true. A large majority of middle class kid can rely on their parents support until their 30s. I personally know several shitheads doing that and they're doing so because they're lazy. Not because they're working hard on some start up.

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#134

Post by idopmstuff »

coldtea wrote: post #83
boplicity wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Middle class kids can afford one throw. Gotta disagree with this. As someone who grew up middle class, I was fortunate, in a lot of ways, to also learn to be prudent with money. I started bootstrapping microbusinesses with almost no monetary investment. This eventually allowed me to support myself (on a very low budget), and then, later, on a slightly larger budget. Eventually, one of these businesses became succes…

> Gotta disagree with this. As someone who grew up middle class, I was fortunate, in a lot of ways, to also learn to be prudent with money. I started bootstrapping microbusinesses with almost no monetary investment. This eventually allowed me to support myself (on a very low budget), and then, later, on a slightly larger budget. Eventually, one of these businesses became successful enough to support a family comforta…

The whole point of the post you're responding to is that it's not a random outcome; it's an outcome driven by a strategy that is specifically useful for people with $0 in the bank and middle class connections. You're talking about $300k in the bank, but the quote you included literally says "almost no monetary investment."

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#135

Post by prottog »

coldtea wrote: post #83
boplicity wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Middle class kids can afford one throw. Gotta disagree with this. As someone who grew up middle class, I was fortunate, in a lot of ways, to also learn to be prudent with money. I started bootstrapping microbusinesses with almost no monetary investment. This eventually allowed me to support myself (on a very low budget), and then, later, on a slightly larger budget. Eventually, one of these businesses became succes…

> Gotta disagree with this. As someone who grew up middle class, I was fortunate, in a lot of ways, to also learn to be prudent with money. I started bootstrapping microbusinesses with almost no monetary investment. This eventually allowed me to support myself (on a very low budget), and then, later, on a slightly larger budget. Eventually, one of these businesses became successful enough to support a family comforta…

> What matters is aggregate outcomes

In the aggregate, nobody starts a business. It's hard work with lots of risks. Most everyone prefers to exchange their time and labor for a stable income.

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#136

Post by enumjorge »

donutdan4114 wrote: post #7

I don’t know that I fully regret starting a business but boy does it suck like 90% of the time. I’m fortunate in that the business does really well, but…. I just can’t stand it anymore. The stress, the boring, the frustrating, the getting taken advantage of, the weekend hours…. I suppose I fell a little bit into the trap of someone wanting to open a cafe because they like being at a cafe… well I like programming, I l…

> the getting taken advantage of

I’ve been thinking of starting my own business and I hadn’t heard of this before. It sounds draining. If you’re comfortable, would you mind sharing an example of how people try to take advantage of you?

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#137

Post by badpun »

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…

> Poor kids aren't visiting the carnival. They're the ones working it.

Aren't many first-generation immigrants (Koreans etc.) in the US entrepreneurs? They're certainly not middle class, and yet they make in it the business world.

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#138

Post by digging »

czbond wrote: post #123
broast wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is still more than other more privaleged people have to sacrifice per attempt

The only thing that matters is your OWN personal situation. Sure, some make it in 1 shot. Most don't.

It seems like y'all are arguing completely different points, which is often the case in conversations about hustle/motivation. You are both right

The value of what you are saying is that an individual can't change their circumstance, only make the best of it. This is true.

The value of what the OP is saying is that we should be aware of how our circumstances affect our chances. Be kind to ourselves if we fail, when it's so likely for us. And also that we should, if possible, change the circumstances for those who come after us.

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#139

Post by digging »

nightski wrote: post #106
coldtea wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If fairness is not an "ideal goal" what is? > The best things in my life have come from when I faced adversity, not when I was in a position of privilege Does that hold for kids hungry and unable to finish school because their parents don't make enough then? (Or much worse situations)?

To remove barriers and give people a chance to achieve what they desire (if they desire). That doesn't mean everyone will have the same opportunities and/or the same circumstances. And no it doesn't, this is not an argument against assistance programs.

Seems like an arbitrary line. Lifting someone out of poverty is removing a barrier. Helping people make social connections is removing a barrier.

Re: Entrepreneurs who regret starting businesses

#140

Post by idopmstuff »

I started and run an e-commerce company, and my best advice before starting a business is to think very little about what you want your product to be and a whole lot about what you want your lifestyle to be.

Want to have relaxing end-of-year holidays? Don't start a B2B SaaS company in which you're going to close a huge % of your yearly revenue in the last few days of the year.

Want to be able to travel? You're probably better off with an internet business than a brick-and-mortar store.

Want to be able to eventually step back? You need to make sure that there's a path to lessening your involvement over time without hurting the business.

I started mine during the pandemic and got it to profitability. It's not world-shifting money, but it produces solid cashflow. At that point, rather than trying to raise money and aggressively scale, I automated as much as I could. Got a manufacturer to make the products. Found a 3PL to handle fulfillment. Went through all the common types of support emails I got and made sure those questions were addressed proactively in the product or emails, so I get basically no support emails. Handed off bookkeeping to a professional.

Some of that has changed (the 3PL was terrible and for now I'm doing some fulfillment myself and using Amazon for the rest), but overall I'm only spending a few hours a week on the business. I write marketing emails, ship some product and place orders for stuff as needed.

The really nice thing is that I can move things on or off of my own plate as my workload changes. I'm working a full time PM job that I'm loving, and my wife just had a baby, so I might offload the marketing emails soon (but honestly they're super quick and I often just reuse last year's, so that's tough to justify). If I leave my job, I could definitely move manufacturing in house to expand margins.

I think more than anything, it's those qualities of the business that make it great for me (definitely more than the product).

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