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Thank HN: My bootstrapped startup got acquired today

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Re: Thank HN: My bootstrapped startup got acquired today

#101

Post by dr_kiszonka »

applied_heat wrote: post #79
dr_kiszonka wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When the lotto gets to be above $1 billion, I'll usually buy a ticket because it's fun to imagine the life I could have with that money. I buy lotto tickets for the same reason! Their expected value is very low but the maximum value is thought-provoking. For me, $50k would be life-changing. One billion is hard to imagine.

What would you do with $50k that would make such a difference in your life?

It feels strange to write about this, but resolving a health issue, paying off debt, and escaping the nerve-wracking cycle of short-term, low-paying gigs would be life-changing. I am the sole breadwinner, working 50-60 hours a week just to stay afloat, so I don't have the time to prepare for interviews and pursue a stable career.

There are many people like me.

Re: Thank HN: My bootstrapped startup got acquired today

#102

Post by soheil »

duxup wrote: post #7

Congratulations. I'm curious... what do people do after something like this? Vacation?

Typically PE deals require the founders to very much stay involved in the daily operations of the business unless they are near retirement age and that is the primary motive they are selling in the first place.

Re: Thank HN: My bootstrapped startup got acquired today

#106

Post by hapidjus »

thwarted wrote: post #100
klik99 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I met someone who was an early employee at King about a year after they were acquired for 5.9b - it’s a little different since he wasn’t involved with the sale, but he was still processing the insane amount of money he had. A year on he hadn’t moved out of his small apartment, still contracted, still used the same cheap phone, and hadn’t started investing beyond just the normal mutual funds/bonds/etc. it struck me as…

> I met someone who was an early employee at King about a year after they were acquired for 5.9b - it’s a little different since he wasn’t involved with the sale, but he was still processing the insane amount of money he had Is there a word missing in this? How did they join after acquisition and have a meaningful financial windfall? And being an early employee?

They met a year after.

Re: Thank HN: My bootstrapped startup got acquired today

#108

Post by amrrs »

duxup wrote: post #7

Congratulations. I'm curious... what do people do after something like this? Vacation?

He is already running a hacker house in bangalore with cohorts of researchers and practiontioners getting together - https://turingsdream.co/

so probably it's picking one of those ideas or investing in it!

Re: Thank HN: My bootstrapped startup got acquired today

#109

Post by bigiain »

elevatedastalt wrote: post #89

Congratulations! Just curious, usually being purchased by a Private Equity firm spells a death knell for the company. Of course at the right price it makes sense that you wanted to sell it away, but what are your thoughts about what will happen to the company now?

Just as a counter point, private equity seems to have helped WPEngine become so successful that Mullenweg has totally lost his mind over it.

Re: Thank HN: My bootstrapped startup got acquired today

#110

Post by criddell »

sky2224 wrote: post #96
criddell wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I find it’s really interesting how people act when the financial pressure gets suddenly removed. It seems so strange to me to hear stories about people suddenly coming into a bunch of money and not finding contentment or even ending up depressed. If I could afford to retire today, I would do it in a heartbeat and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't run out of things I want to do. When the lotto gets to be above $1 billion,…

It's almost analogous to having a video game totally completed for you in a way. Everything is "done" for you essentially since you just buy your way out of problems at that point. Before coming into that amount of money, you can be distracted by the survival aspects of living in society where you're just trying to make money and live comfortably. There isn't any necessity to have to figure out what you truly want ou…

> There isn't any necessity to have to figure out what you truly want out of life or what your passions are.

I most certainly don't have life figured out and I'm not particularly passionate about much but I do know as a 54 year old, I'm on the downward side of this mountain and there's so many things that are interesting to me. I'd love nothing more than to be a full time dilettante, living my life quarter-by-quarter, exploring a new topic every 3 months.

I guess what I'm really wondering is how some people with more money than they will ever need don't wake up in the morning excited to work on some topic they find interesting. A certain portion are just depressed or dealing with some other mental illness, but isn't the typical person interested in lots of stuff that they don't pursue due to life getting in the way?

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