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Now is the time to do a startup

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Re: Now is the time to do a startup

#31

Post by rza »

niuzeta wrote: post #26

I've felt this way for some time here in HN. It feels as though the culture is that you're expected to have ambition to create your own startup, thrive to do better, if not the best, and make yourself matter , except in this case, there's always an unmentioned postscript "in startup world" I don't even want to discuss the Red Queen Effect , but hear me out. I am a recently graduated developer, with little ambition in…

It's fine if you don't want to create a startup, I'm pretty sure this is article is directed toward people who have a startup idea, but are too afraid to commit to it. As for what arguments against 'You should be more productive' or 'You have to contribute something to be a worthwhile human being', that is pretty much trying to answer the meaning of life, and is sure beyond the scope of this article.

Re: Now is the time to do a startup

#32

Post by tvladeck »

Breefield wrote: post #2

Startups should be based on an opportunity to solve a problem, not "wanting to do a startup." Check your motivations.

You're not disagreeing. The first step in a startup (as far as my read on this world is concerned) is to identify and validate a real problem that you can solve.

Re: Now is the time to do a startup

#33

Post by md224 »

niuzeta wrote: post #26

I've felt this way for some time here in HN. It feels as though the culture is that you're expected to have ambition to create your own startup, thrive to do better, if not the best, and make yourself matter , except in this case, there's always an unmentioned postscript "in startup world" I don't even want to discuss the Red Queen Effect , but hear me out. I am a recently graduated developer, with little ambition in…

Here's a basic fact: what matters in life is that you're happy.

It's a simple idea (figuring out what makes you happy is the actual hard part). If you're happy, then you're already thriving; it doesn't make sense to say "I'm happy, but I'm not thriving." What's the point of thriving, after all, if not life satisfaction?

I think your friends have a narrow-minded view of what makes life worth living. I'm not saying they're wrong about their chosen path; they're just generalizing from their experience to everyone else, and that seems foolish. Everyone has to find their own happiness. For some, it's building a company. For others, it's learning, writing, etc. Neither way is objectively "better" than the other.

There was a great Onion article recently that parodied the fallacy of assuming others are failing if they don't share your goals:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/unambitious-loser-with-happ...

Re: Now is the time to do a startup

#34

Post by timr »

jlees wrote: post #23
OhHeyItsE wrote: post #20

Excuse Number 5: I don't have an idea. Everyone loves to tout how 'ideas are shit!'. But, when you spend a lot of your time trying to spot problems, only to find out every one of them has been done already... Excuse Number 6: Health Insurance. I've saved enough to cover my mortgage & living expenses for a year. What I haven't saved for is an insurance plan that will not bankrupt my family if one of us has the unfortu…

I was scared by #6 (being new to America and having a great plan from my former employer), but between COBRA and individual plans, I was surprised how easy it is to be covered. My COBRA was terrifyingly expensive (more than my rent), but I got a very affordable individual plan to cover myself and my spouse despite having a recent accident in my medical history. Or you could move to a country where it isn't a problem…

Important note, if you're not familiar with individual plans: be very diligent about reading the fine print, and (if at all possible), finding someone who has direct experience with billing large medical expenses on the plan.

Individual plans often have so many hidden loopholes and exceptions that when you actually get sick, they're totally useless. It's nasty to discover that your insurance company is going to drop you for some bureaucratic detail ("you had acne once? Oh, you didn't tell us that on the application. We're not going to cover your heart surgery.") the first time you really need the coverage.

Re: Now is the time to do a startup

#35

Post by refurb »

Killswitch wrote: post #29
refurb wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing that a lot of people ignore in this equation is that you might end up owning the house, but you paid a lot more for housing than you would have if you just rented.

Not sure about anywhere else, but where I am (Midwest USA), I can pay $800/mo for a nice 3+ bedroom house, a nice plot of land, 2 car garage, etc in a nice neighborhood, or I can pay $700 for a 2 bedroom apartment. Sure I'm saving $100 a month, but in the end, the house is worth more and goes back to what was stated earlier. After 30 years you own a house.

Of course location makes a big difference. If you're in a market where the house price to rent ratio is favorable, then it can make sense. Of course, when you sell your house you're on the hook for the 7% commission, plus all maintenance items. The sort of stuff a renter never pays.

I'll just say that I ended up renting when all my friends were telling me I was stupid not to buy. Three years later I walked away from my rental after paying $30K total in rent, while my friends ended up losing more than $30K when the price of houses dropped (only 10%). That doesn't even include the mortgage payments they made as well. All in all, they paid twice what I did for a place to live.

Also, home owners often forget to include the cost of their down payment. If you put $100K down and your house appreciate 2% per year (which is pretty decent) you're out the extra 3-4% the renter made by keeping that money invested in the market.

I think we can agree that owning a house sometimes is a good thing, but it certainly isn't the best financial move for everyone.

Re: Now is the time to do a startup

#36

Post by zecho »

refurb wrote: post #25
mason240 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Replace mortgage with rent and the issue is still the same. If you are single you can probably move in with parents or a friend to save on costs, but that is almost impossible if you have a spouse and kids. There is a very good reason behind home ownership: After 30 years of mortgage payments, you own a house. After 30 years of rent, you have nothing.

The thing that a lot of people ignore in this equation is that you might end up owning the house, but you paid a lot more for housing than you would have if you just rented.

That's most likely untrue unless you find a rent controlled apartment or you compare apples to oranges in housing. Sure if you compare an $800/month 1-bedroom flat to the mortgage on a quarter million dollar home, there will not be parity, but you need to compare apples to apples. In my area, $800/month is standard for a very modest 1-bedroom apartment with maybe heat paid. $800/month can also pay the mortgage and utilities on a small 3-bedroom rambler.

Rent tends to increase exponentially at around 2-3% per year. The difference is that generally homes are a store of money in relation to inflation and rent is not. On a fixed 30-year mortgage, that $800/month will only fluctuate with the cost of utilities and taxes.

The obvious tradeoff is that it's easier for a renter to become mobile to follow jobs and presumably increased pay, but really it's a lifestyle choice.

Here, the NY Times made this all into a graphic awhile back.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calcula...

Re: Now is the time to do a startup

#37

Post by seiji »

This post seems to be targeted to our favorite NTWTFK archetypes. No ability? No problem. No knowledge about computers? No problem. No experience? No problem. After all, we have cloud social viral app store now. School? Worthless. Learn rails in two days and sell your company for $50 million dollars. (That gets a qualifier added in a footnote of "just kidding, everything I said above isn't true, you'll actually need to know things. I'm practicing being a motivational speaker. How am I doing? Vote on HN.")

The "just quit and do imaginary things" equation changes rapidly when you have a talented engineer giving up $250k/year at google to play fantasy startup land.

As much as we read about up and to the right success, happy luck after moving to The Bay Area, and becoming multi-millionaires after two years (or just six months if you're great at tricking people), it doesn't happen so magically.

At least you're keeping the dream alive?

Re: Now is the time to do a startup

#38

Post by niuzeta »

md224 wrote: post #33
niuzeta wrote: post #26

I've felt this way for some time here in HN. It feels as though the culture is that you're expected to have ambition to create your own startup, thrive to do better, if not the best, and make yourself matter , except in this case, there's always an unmentioned postscript "in startup world" I don't even want to discuss the Red Queen Effect , but hear me out. I am a recently graduated developer, with little ambition in…

Here's a basic fact: what matters in life is that you're happy. It's a simple idea (figuring out what makes you happy is the actual hard part). If you're happy, then you're already thriving; it doesn't make sense to say "I'm happy, but I'm not thriving." What's the point of thriving, after all, if not life satisfaction? I think your friends have a narrow-minded view of what makes life worth living. I'm not saying the…

I do have something that I have in mind that I think will appear in my obituary. I've known it since late teenager, and I knew it won't earn me bread. That was why I came into CS, because I knew it would earn me bread, and, well, I was good at it and enjoyed it.

Some of my peers in university never liked that I acknowledged blatantly that I've come to CS for better job prospects. Sure, I do find CS very neat and enjoying. I love solving problems, making things from the scratch, but the problem that I will dedicate my life into has already been found, in early stages of my life.

What I don't understand is why my existence in the field with impure intentions infuriate them.

I plan to keep myself educated and learned to keep coding until my retirement. I actually enjoy developing. I don't consider development as boring day job. It's my passion, just not the passion of my life. I'm sick and tired of perspective that views my attitude as impure in the tech world.

Re: Now is the time to do a startup

#39

Post by niuzeta »

rza wrote: post #31
niuzeta wrote: post #26

I've felt this way for some time here in HN. It feels as though the culture is that you're expected to have ambition to create your own startup, thrive to do better, if not the best, and make yourself matter , except in this case, there's always an unmentioned postscript "in startup world" I don't even want to discuss the Red Queen Effect , but hear me out. I am a recently graduated developer, with little ambition in…

It's fine if you don't want to create a startup, I'm pretty sure this is article is directed toward people who have a startup idea, but are too afraid to commit to it. As for what arguments against 'You should be more productive' or 'You have to contribute something to be a worthwhile human being', that is pretty much trying to answer the meaning of life, and is sure beyond the scope of this article.

I know, I know... I just snapped a little and ranted, perhaps out of the place.

As for the added piece, I think I've responded it on the other comment in this thread: (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6354885)

Re: Now is the time to do a startup

#40

Post by quaffapint »

onion2k wrote: post #21

"Social media has created the potential for viral distribution." In theory, certainly. In reality, not very likely. The 'network effect' is one of those things that is devastatingly obvious when it happens, and so powerful that it can carry something like Facebook, Twitter or Foursquare to amazing heights very quickly, that everyone thinks they can copy it. But, as is so often the case, it's very, very rare. If you t…

Oh boy are you right. I read and read about marketing and promotion for startups and they all seem to say how simple it is to just use your connections and social influence to get lots of initial signups. When you don't have that card to play, you are just another piece of sand in the ocean trying to get noticed. It's been a frustrating experience trying to get people to my startup to even check it out. I commend all those that were able to do so.
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