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Startups in 13 Sentences

paulgraham.com

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Re: Startups in 13 Sentences

#51

Post by ivankirigin »

user wrote: post #20

I have a great admiration for PG. But PG sometimes creates a false reality for those young kids of becoming millionaires some day with their startup. But the truth is most of them would be heartbroken when they realize that is not always possible. I hope some of you realize this and don't waste precious life and be happy. I hope I made sense.

  most of them would be heartbroken
That's a pretty bold statement. Do you know most of them? I know a lot of them, and they are smarter than that. A few failed startups come to mind where the founders immediately started another.

And the average age in YC is 25. These aren't young kids.

Re: Startups in 13 Sentences

#52

Post by rokhayakebe »

patio11 wrote: post #23
rokhayakebe wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although I agree with your comment, I must say that everyone (and I mean everyone), who is a startup entrepreneur, knows about HN, and reads all PGs essays knows that these are advices, opinions based on the experience from funding over 100 startups. Not rules, advices. And although I applaud your efforts and accomplishments at Tarsnap, I must say that you base your argument on significantly less than 100 startups.

And although I applaud your efforts and accomplishments at Tarsnap, I must say that you base your argument on significantly less than 100 startups. I don't believe this sort of comment is helpful. For one thing, "X works" and "Y can work, too" are not two bits of advice which are in opposition to each other, and shouldn't be treated as such. (Even when X = "Startups should have multiple founders" and Y = "Actually, y…

When speaking of expertise numbers matter. You can assume that the author is more knowledgeable than PG when it comes to encrypted data backup. As he says, he has sent a good 3 years working on his startups.

On the other hand, PG has also spent the past 3 years funding different startups and must have some decent idea about what is more likely to help a startup.

Same goes for you. I would assume that you are more experience in Bingo software then other programmers even if they are better programmers than you are. But in the field of Bingo, you would probably crush several highly talented developers.

Why?

"Weight of incomparable circumstances" probably.

Re: Startups in 13 Sentences

#53

Post by Jaggu »

I agree with checklist. This list is perfect for most startups but launch quick is not good enough. We need to launch and need to get good feedback so we can fix those issues. Sometime it is hard to get feedback. In that case we need someone who can market our product or who has good contacts to get the word out. Technical people like me has hard time to sell the product or idea. So for me (14) Hire or find co-founder with marketing skills.

Re: Startups in 13 Sentences

#54

Post by briancooley »

user wrote: post #20

I have a great admiration for PG. But PG sometimes creates a false reality for those young kids of becoming millionaires some day with their startup. But the truth is most of them would be heartbroken when they realize that is not always possible. I hope some of you realize this and don't waste precious life and be happy. I hope I made sense.

> don't waste precious life

Funny, but this is how I feel about my 11 year career spent with 3 huge corporations - that it has been largely a waste of 40-50 hours of my life every week. I've made 6 figures most of my career, and I've had plenty of time for my family. I'd trade the salary and benefits for something I was passionate about if I felt I could do it without being irresponsible to my wife and child.

I suppose the grass is always greener on the other side.

My sentiment is that it's worth trying when you're young because you might not get a shot when you're older.

Re: Startups in 13 Sentences

#55

Post by omnivore »

The problem with these posts -- and I liked it -- is that it always simplifies the path to all of this. I think a lot of folks are always missing something. Either they're decent hackers, but don't have partners. Or they're bad hackers and can't find a hacker to work with the build what they're gonna sell. Or they have a team and don't have a good enough idea to sell something.

I just think there are a lot of barriers to entry for folks who didn't go to Top 25 schools (or drop out of one) and as a result, they read stuff like this, get excited and think "I can make it!" without realizing the folly of their poor pursuits.

Re: Startups in 13 Sentences

#56

Post by omnivore »

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #41
user wrote: post #20

I have a great admiration for PG. But PG sometimes creates a false reality for those young kids of becoming millionaires some day with their startup. But the truth is most of them would be heartbroken when they realize that is not always possible. I hope some of you realize this and don't waste precious life and be happy. I hope I made sense.

The question is whether trying and failing to become a millionaire by doing something interesting makes you more unhappy than not trying. If the difference between expectations and reality is what makes us unhappy, then lowering aspirations to zero is what would make everybody happiest. I don't believe that it would. Creating the impression that it is possible to be sucessful with your own startup cannot be false rea…

And it's a hell of a lot better than working for someone else and letting them take ALL of the credit, while maintaining the inefficient status quo of their existence.

Re: Startups in 13 Sentences

#57

Post by omnivore »

trapper wrote: post #46
cperciva wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite possibly. If I was going to hire one person to do some contract work, I'm pretty sure that it would be a web designer. Most likely I'll do this myself, though -- even aside from the issue of money, I find that doing tedious things like web design myself (a) is a useful learning experience, and (b) allows me to think about issues a bit more clearly.

You need a cofounder who can take care of the ramen goal so you can focus on what you love best. The point of your business isn't to do it all yourself, it is to do something you love. If you find founders with complementing skill sets, it's win win win. I would say you could easily get a web/design/biz cofounder who could dramatically change your ramen and also enjoy a few of those tasks you have been putting off fo…

Not. easy.

Re: Startups in 13 Sentences

#58

Post by wensing »

Once you know what to make, it's mere effort to make it, and most decent hackers are capable of that.

This explains why someone like myself can start a startup and not feel embarrassed when they meet real wunderkinds (specifically CS gurus) along the way. On the other hand, maybe this means that good hackers aren't necessarily CS geniuses? http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html

Re: Startups in 13 Sentences

#59

Post by fleaflicker »

user wrote: post #20

I have a great admiration for PG. But PG sometimes creates a false reality for those young kids of becoming millionaires some day with their startup. But the truth is most of them would be heartbroken when they realize that is not always possible. I hope some of you realize this and don't waste precious life and be happy. I hope I made sense.

Everything on that list is true.

It's not false hope.

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