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Ask HN: Entrepreneurs, how long did it take you to succeed?

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Re: Ask HN: Entrepreneurs, how long did it take you to succeed?

#21

Post by thiagoperes »

People usually think of "making it" as a single point in time that's binary. Granted, there's some truth to that: most people will feel fully comfortable with a few millions in their bank account.

But in reality, success can be savored a lot more pleasantly if you allow yourself to be conscientious of milestones and include having a great process of getting there as the definition of success.

I've met so many people (myself included) that burned themselves by thinking they will spend only a few years grinding to reach a certain milestone, and get frustrated when the narrow definition of success they've created for themselves isn't met.

I've also met a few others that have realized the above, usually with burnout then self-discovery, many which also "made it" by the standard definition, but have a strong sense of fulfillment.

Naturally the question is how. For myself, what worked is a mix of taking more risks (becoming a founder at 35+), experimentation and using various techniques (therapy, meditation, the usual suspects) to find what can drive me to work hard but with purpose or joy.

Re: Ask HN: Entrepreneurs, how long did it take you to succeed?

#22

Post by mlitwiniuk »

Define "to succeed".

Had one business (dev shop) that was successfully aqui-hired - but it took my 10 years to build it.

For last two years working on a startup, pivotel last year to GRC / compliance management. Finally with profit and growing number of paying customers, but still waiting to pay myself a decent salary. Moments of doubt are hiting more often recently, but I still think it's worth it.

Re: Ask HN: Entrepreneurs, how long did it take you to succeed?

#24

Post by asdev »

mlitwiniuk wrote: post #22

Define "to succeed". Had one business (dev shop) that was successfully aqui-hired - but it took my 10 years to build it. For last two years working on a startup, pivotel last year to GRC / compliance management. Finally with profit and growing number of paying customers, but still waiting to pay myself a decent salary. Moments of doubt are hiting more often recently, but I still think it's worth it.

To succeed, I mean product market fit, or the business being healthy enough from the founders perspective with minimal(always non zero) doubts.

Did you have experience in that space? Are you a solo founder?

Re: Ask HN: Entrepreneurs, how long did it take you to succeed?

#25

Post by asdev »

fellowniusmonk wrote: post #4

Overnight with a really solid idea with good timing where I understood the space. The same idea with bad timing (rentry after a fantastic exit that I juiced with a condition to not renter the space for 3 years and a subsequent launch just prior to covid), never, because I'm not going to spend my own money on getting it off the ground again post covid. I've got 3 things working now that are 10 years in the making if t…

Can you clarify more on your "overnight success"?

Re: Ask HN: Entrepreneurs, how long did it take you to succeed?

#26

Post by asdev »

jason_zig wrote: post #20

You should almost always stick with an idea for longer than you think. I've had 3 successful projects (one making over 100K MRR[0]) IMO the main differentiator between winning and losing is how fast you are iterating based on customer feedback. I think about it like throwing a dart at the dartboard. You might hit the bullseye in one shot but usually you'll just hit somewhere random then it's up to you to iterate and…

were your projects in spaces you were familiar with? I feel like that makes the dart less random. Also I feel like it's hard to get customers/users on calls

Re: Ask HN: Entrepreneurs, how long did it take you to succeed?

#27

Post by mlitwiniuk »

asdev wrote: post #24
mlitwiniuk wrote: post #22

Define "to succeed". Had one business (dev shop) that was successfully aqui-hired - but it took my 10 years to build it. For last two years working on a startup, pivotel last year to GRC / compliance management. Finally with profit and growing number of paying customers, but still waiting to pay myself a decent salary. Moments of doubt are hiting more often recently, but I still think it's worth it.

To succeed, I mean product market fit, or the business being healthy enough from the founders perspective with minimal(always non zero) doubts. Did you have experience in that space? Are you a solo founder?

Had experience with compliance before, now building on it and learning a ton. Growing number of customers suggest I’m onto something, so doubts are minimal

And yes, solo founder.

Re: Ask HN: Entrepreneurs, how long did it take you to succeed?

#28

Post by e9 »

Founding engineer 8 times. 5 exits(2 sold shares back to investors, 2 acquihires, 1 acquisition). Never really made any significant money. I would make 10x more if I spent same time at big tech. Milage may vary but my 2 cents if you want to be entrepreneur or work for a startup:

1. Enjoy the process (You can push harder and longer if you enjoy what you do and at the end it won't matter if money doesn't come because any time spent enjoying what you do is already a win)

2. Work with people you like (For founders: don't be single founder, 90% of the times single founders either don't know how to share or no one wants to work with them)

Re: Ask HN: Entrepreneurs, how long did it take you to succeed?

#29

Post by idw »

The saying goes: it takes ten years to become an overnight success.

As for the stick or twist question, if your only goal is to make money then twisting whenever it seems to make that more likely makes sense. Most people thrive on doing work they care about enough to stick with when it is hard, and my guess is that gets better results over time.

One bit of practical advice: celebrate the little successes on the way to whatever you may think a big success looks like. Wherever the journey ends up, it's important to enjoy it as much as possible.

Re: Ask HN: Entrepreneurs, how long did it take you to succeed?

#30

Post by asdev »

wewewedxfgdf wrote: post #2

You have to define succeed. I have had small business success in that it gave me and a small number of other people a really good ordinary income for 20 years. I have never had a breakout success that accelerates to something much bigger than that, despite trying for a very long time.

I would define that as success. My definition is the feeling of success in the eyes of the founders, not millions of dollars or whatever hyped up benchmark
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