The Startup Side Project Bubble
davidhauser.com
The Startup Side Project Bubble
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Re: The Startup Side Project Bubble
#2I agree with the article to some extent, however I do feel like a lot of people find if they don't have something to tinker with on the side get incredibly bored. I know I like many others need variety in the types of stimuli I find in my work/development/entrepreneurial pursuits and I think this is perfectly healthy.
Once you start stringing along your employer, just pushing buttons and not giving them some of your best work hours - then yes I agree it is frustrating, but I don't believe this is the case with the majority of engineers/others who work on side projects. Surely people doing this are the minority and can receive stern talks and/or let go if they are really not worth their salary?
Re: The Startup Side Project Bubble
#3I'm sorry, but this whole article is based on a completely unfounded premise - that being the premise that you're not "committed" to your startup unless you've quit your dayjob and are working on the startup fulltime. But there's no basis for asserting that, and it is - quite simply - not true.
It's not "shooting yourself in the foot" to work on a startup while working a dayjob, it's called "funding your startup with your dayjob salary". And if you don't have a pile of capital just lying around waiting to be spent, or aren't (interested in|willing to|able to) raise outside capital, it's essentially your only choice.
And why exactly should I care about "stringing along my present employer"? I show up, do the work I'm asked to do, and they pay me some amount in return. What I do on my time is my business.. If my performance drops, they are welcome to fire me. If anything, this should be seen as a call for employers to recognize their entrepreneurial minded employees and find a way to leverage their talent to do something entrepreneurial within that firm. Better yet, invest in the employees startup and tell them to get out and work on it fulltime. Now that's a win-win for everybody.
But don't think you get to call who is or isn't a "real entrepreneur" based on who has or hasn't quit their dayjob. If anything, the folks doing it "the hard way" deserve more respect and recognition than the people running around acting like raising a round was an end unto itself, and who seem to think that the point of a startup is to raise money (as opposed to making money).
Re: The Startup Side Project Bubble
#4I disagree with most of the points.
1. People usually start a side project because they are unhappy at work. If they are unhappy, they are unlikely already giving their best
2. On another note, a side project often gives your a great deal of satisfaction, accomplishment, control and responsibilities that you wouldn't get in your daily job. This balances your morale and will make you perform better both at your daily job and at your side project
3. I worked on a number of side projects in the past. Some successful, some not. But in ALL of them the learning was priceless. I didn't start side projects because I wanted to start a business and go all-in. I did start them because I wanted to learn things that spaced beyond my daily tasks at work. And it worked brilliantly.
Also, if you've a mortgage to pay and a family to maintain, you have some responsibilities that make the "go all in" move quite a big risk. And I do believe it is possible to start a business starting as a side project first - it just takes much more time and energy and, most of all, patience.
Re: The Startup Side Project Bubble
#5I'm sorry, but this whole article is based on a completely unfounded premise - that being the premise that you're not "committed" to your startup unless you've quit your dayjob and are working on the startup fulltime. But there's no basis for asserting that, and it is - quite simply - not true. It's not "shooting yourself in the foot" to work on a startup while working a dayjob, it's called "funding your startup with…
You are missing the point, I am not saying you should raise money. I bootstrapped my company and am very proud of it.
It is hard to argue that spending 40+ hours in a week on something other than you startup shows you are committed to your startup. You are committed to making money and then working on your startup.
I have personally invested in many employee's startups but that does not change the fact that trying to do both is a distraction that does not serve you or your job.
Re: The Startup Side Project Bubble
#6I disagree with most of the points. 1. People usually start a side project because they are unhappy at work. If they are unhappy, they are unlikely already giving their best 2. On another note, a side project often gives your a great deal of satisfaction, accomplishment, control and responsibilities that you wouldn't get in your daily job. This balances your morale and will make you perform better both at your daily…
I find it hard to believe that everyone starting a side project is unhappy at work, I don't think the 2 are related. If you are unhappy at work you should leave.
I am all for doing stuff on the side so as not to get bored, to learn and 50 other things but then let's not call it a startup and a business. An entrepreneur takes calibrated risks and makes things happen when others can't or won't.
Re: The Startup Side Project Bubble
#7I agree with the article to some extent, however I do feel like a lot of people find if they don't have something to tinker with on the side get incredibly bored. I know I like many others need variety in the types of stimuli I find in my work/development/entrepreneurial pursuits and I think this is perfectly healthy. Once you start stringing along your employer, just pushing buttons and not giving them some of your…
Once you start stringing along your employer, just pushing buttons and not giving them some of your best work hours - then yes I agree it is frustrating, but I don't believe this is the case with the majority of engineers/others who work on side projects.
Oh, that definitely happens. I've been there. What I question is whether or not it's a big deal, like the author of TFA seems to think. He seems to have some pretty weird ideas about things. Like, the idea that you're not committed to your startup if you aren't working on it full-time? WTF? How does that even start to make sense? Are you not committed to your wife if you don't spend 24 hours a day, 7 day a week with her? Are you not committed to your kids if you leave them for a few hours a day to go to work? Sheesh... commitment and time allocation are not the same thing!
And as for the effect on the present dayjob employer... who cares? As you say "(they) can receive stern talks and/or let go if they are really not worth their salary?" Yes, exactly. I've been there before. And you know what? It was a shittily run company, pumping out a shitty product, none of the other engineers were even slightly engaged or interested in what we were doing, and every single one of us was just punching the clock and collecting our paychecks. That I was working on a startup on the side is what kept me sane through all that. I don't feel even a pinch guilty that I reserved most of my mental and creative energy for the startup during that time. I did what they paid me to do, and if they had wanted more, they had the option to attempt to find a way to tap into the energy and drive I'm able to channel into something that actually matters. But they never took any initiative to try and connect with or understand their employees, so "tough shit" as far as I'm concerned.
Re: The Startup Side Project Bubble
#8A major reason that people do only what's required to get by in their "day job" and tool away on startups is that the promotion is dead. You don't advance in the workplace by any means except changing jobs or doing your own thing. Companies don't promote on merit anymore. So if you pour your heart into your job, you get nothing for it. You're better off pouring your heart into side projects-- even if they don't turn into actual businesses, they act as portfolio projects that might help you to make that next hop between jobs with an accompanying raise.
The MBAs have made this bed via all this "money doesn't really motivate people, here's how to hack motivation..." BS, and now they have to lie in it. If they want employees' full attention, they have to compensate it. People have to have a stake-- either stock or the real possibility of a meaningful promotion. You get what you pay for.
Re: The Startup Side Project Bubble
#9I disagree with most of the points. 1. People usually start a side project because they are unhappy at work. If they are unhappy, they are unlikely already giving their best 2. On another note, a side project often gives your a great deal of satisfaction, accomplishment, control and responsibilities that you wouldn't get in your daily job. This balances your morale and will make you perform better both at your daily…
I find it hard to believe that everyone starting a side project is unhappy at work, I don't think the 2 are related. If you are unhappy at work you should leave. I am all for doing stuff on the side so as not to get bored, to learn and 50 other things but then let's not call it a startup and a business. An entrepreneur takes calibrated risks and makes things happen when others can't or won't.
Being unhappy at work can be one of the motivation. For certain there are many others (wish to learn something else, wish to become the next big entrepreneur, wish to go solo). Many people can't just leave what they have, and they have a skillset that may get them to create a business, but not the required resources / contacts. A side project may be one of the way to start.
Agree on your second point - it should be called a side project. It's a startup / business from the day it actually _does become_ a business.
Re: The Startup Side Project Bubble
#10I'm sorry, but this whole article is based on a completely unfounded premise - that being the premise that you're not "committed" to your startup unless you've quit your dayjob and are working on the startup fulltime. But there's no basis for asserting that, and it is - quite simply - not true. It's not "shooting yourself in the foot" to work on a startup while working a dayjob, it's called "funding your startup with…
You are missing the point, I am not saying you should raise money. I bootstrapped my company and am very proud of it. It is hard to argue that spending 40+ hours in a week on something other than you startup shows you are committed to your startup. You are committed to making money and then working on your startup. I have personally invested in many employee's startups but that does not change the fact that trying to…
I don't think "commitment" means what you think it does. I could not possibly be more committed to the startup I'm working on now... it's basically my life. If I were married, I'd be less committed to my wife than to this startup (which may be a reason I'm not married, now that I think about it).
But, realistically, I don't have the capital reserves to just quit, and work on it full-time, so that simply is not an option. No amount of philosophizing, or Monday morning quarterbacking or commentary from the peanut gallery can change that. But if anybody thinks I'm not committed to this, I have two words for them...
I am not saying you should raise money. I bootstrapped my company and am very proud of it.
And if you aren't sitting on a big pile of capital already, you have two choices: Go out and raise a round, or fund via your salary. And going out and raising money has a lot of disadvantages, not the least of which is that every minute you spend chasing investors is a minute you're not working on the product, talking to customers, doing market research, writing marketing content, looking for partners and affiliates, or any of a zillion other things you could be doing to advance your cause.
It is hard to argue that spending 40+ hours in a week on something other than you startup shows you are committed to your startup. You are committed to making money and then working on your startup.
First of all, I don't need to "show" anybody that I'm committed to my startup. All this back and forth banter is amusing, but in the end, the only opinions that matter are those of myself and my cofounder, and the people we are selling to.
And who are you to tell somebody else what they are committed to? Fuck that... I'm committed to paying my rent, and putting food on the table, just because those are prerequisites to everything else. Beyond that, my dayjob salary is just seed funding for the startup.