Happy Family, Successful Start-up. Impossible? • Hacker News Board

Re: Happy Family, Successful Start-up. Impossible?

#11

Post by jeffio » Sun, Feb 12, 2012, 3:49 AM UTC

It is definitely possible and I do this on a daily basis. I work from home, have 2 kids and have founded two startups. It's not without its challenges that's for sure...

Here is a post I wrote for parents in the same situation as me: http://maplebutter.com/superhero-tricks-for-startup-parents/

And here is another post I did last week summarizing 20 great articles on this topic: http://jeff.io/posts/20-inspirational-articles-for-startup-p...

I am always keen to read comments when these kinds of posts hit HN. We are not alone STARTUP PARENTS!!! :)

Re: Happy Family, Successful Start-up. Impossible?

#12

Post by whatusername » Sun, Feb 12, 2012, 3:56 AM UTC

mirceagoia wrote: post #8

mkramlich wrote: post #7

potentially harder? of course. impossible? of course not.

Sheryl Sandberg shows it is not impossible. Marcus Pincus, the same. And probably there are more...but yes, it is hard and takes a lot of understanding from both.

Here's another take on Sheryl: http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2012/02/07/what-facebooks-ipo-...

Re: Happy Family, Successful Start-up. Impossible?

#13

Post by danbmil99 » Sun, Feb 12, 2012, 4:00 AM UTC

Only at the same time

Re: Happy Family, Successful Start-up. Impossible?

#14

Post by cheez » Sun, Feb 12, 2012, 4:36 AM UTC

Your relationship with your kids will be fine. It's your wife you really gotta worry about.

Re: Happy Family, Successful Start-up. Impossible?

#15

Post by verelo » Sun, Feb 12, 2012, 5:11 AM UTC

My business partner (who i feel is slightly crazy for what im about to tell you...) has 4 children and a pregnant wife. Somehow he manages to do it, and from what i can tell, they're pretty happy.

I think it just takes a very special kind of person, but in general...its not out of reach for the /normal/ entrepreneur. It is however very hard, but what in life isnt?

You get in what you get out of everything in this world, so i think it just comes down to being able to balance your life. Maybe one day i'll be brave enough to have children, but that wont be until i feel like im smart enough to understand how to balance the responsibilities.

Re: Happy Family, Successful Start-up. Impossible?

#16

Post by redguava » Sun, Feb 12, 2012, 5:51 AM UTC

Surprisingly enough... there is no set rule here. Some people have trouble doing both, others manage both just fine. I would guess there is a correlation between those that really want to achieve both and those that do. Are we going to assume because a few successful people don't have a typical family life that this is because they are successful... and not because they didn't want a typical family life? That seems like a more obvious explanation to me.

So often we look for simple rules as an explanation, but typically outcomes are a result of many smaller factors. It's like the recent discussion here about VC causing more startups to fail vs. succeed. Maybe we can realise that VC isn't the deciding factor, in fact there is likely no single deciding factor, just a bunch of things that impact the outcome.

Re: Happy Family, Successful Start-up. Impossible?

#17

Post by AznHisoka » Sun, Feb 12, 2012, 6:36 AM UTC

cheez wrote: post #14

Your relationship with your kids will be fine. It's your wife you really gotta worry about.

I think being away from your wife once in awhile is actually a good thing. If you're with her all the time, you get cabin fever, and you become irritated/bored with her. You need some time alone to rebuild the passion.

Re: Happy Family, Successful Start-up. Impossible?

#18

Post by frasertimo » Sun, Feb 12, 2012, 6:43 AM UTC

I feel the article was far too one-sided and didn't really do much to start a quality debate around this issue.

Let's look at this from a hacker perspective. Does an instance exist? Yes. Is this instance replicable? Ah, now we have a question.

Re: Happy Family, Successful Start-up. Impossible?

#19

Post by michaelneale » Sun, Feb 12, 2012, 8:31 AM UTC

jeffio wrote: post #11

It is definitely possible and I do this on a daily basis. I work from home, have 2 kids and have founded two startups. It's not without its challenges that's for sure... Here is a post I wrote for parents in the same situation as me: http://maplebutter.com/superhero-tricks-for-startup-parents/ And here is another post I did last week summarizing 20 great articles on this topic: http://jeff.io/posts/20-inspirational-a…

Currently doing/attempting/have done. Seems to be that working mostly at home (or being very near home) is an enabler, otherwise it would be too much absence. Just being there seems to be a big part of what kids need.

Re: Happy Family, Successful Start-up. Impossible?

#20

Post by davros » Sun, Feb 12, 2012, 8:44 AM UTC

redguava wrote: post #16

Surprisingly enough... there is no set rule here. Some people have trouble doing both, others manage both just fine. I would guess there is a correlation between those that really want to achieve both and those that do. Are we going to assume because a few successful people don't have a typical family life that this is because they are successful... and not because they didn't want a typical family life? That seems l…

I agree there's no one solution for every situation. But it is also important for people to realize that it is possible to balance family and start-up needs.

Startups can provide flexibility, especially in working times and telecommuting options that larger businesses usually cannot. That flexibility can enable you to spend the right time with your family and still meet the demands of a startup (which you shouldn't underestimate).