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Friends and Family Funding and Why I'm Dreading Thanksgiving

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Re: Friends and Family Funding and Why I'm Dreading Thanksgiving

#71

Post by natrius »

amirmc wrote: post #70
natrius wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If merit correlates with the ability to make money and merit is heritable, you'd expect those with merit to come from families with money. Top schools and our industry are probably far from pure meritocracies, but that data doesn't prove (or even strongly suggest) it.

> "If merit correlates with the ability to make money and merit is heritable..." In the UK this was called being of 'good breeding'. It's no more true now than it was back then. Bear in mind that money is also heritable.

Your claim that it isn't true is nice and all, but actual evidence that it isn't true would be better.

Re: Friends and Family Funding and Why I'm Dreading Thanksgiving

#72

Post by aestra »

sbank wrote: post #10

I would never take funding from friends or family. Hard rule. More aspiring entrepreneurs should listen to Ten Crack Commandments by Notorious B.I.G. at least once.

Good advice from the Notorious B.I.G. minus the homophobia.

Seven: this rule is so underrated Keep your family and business completely seperated Money and blood don't mix like two dicks and no bitch Find yourself in serious shit

Re: Friends and Family Funding and Why I'm Dreading Thanksgiving

#73

Post by Brakenshire »

natrius wrote: post #71
amirmc wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "If merit correlates with the ability to make money and merit is heritable..." In the UK this was called being of 'good breeding'. It's no more true now than it was back then. Bear in mind that money is also heritable.

Your claim that it isn't true is nice and all, but actual evidence that it isn't true would be better.

Just to clarify, you're asking him to prove that the rich aren't genetically superior to the poor?

Re: Friends and Family Funding and Why I'm Dreading Thanksgiving

#74

Post by natrius »

Brakenshire wrote: post #73
natrius wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your claim that it isn't true is nice and all, but actual evidence that it isn't true would be better.

Just to clarify, you're asking him to prove that the rich aren't genetically superior to the poor?

To quote myself: "If merit correlates with the ability to make money and merit is heritable, you'd expect those with merit to come from families with money."

Is my logic incorrect? Does merit not correlate with the ability to make money? Is merit not heritable? None of those questions have been answered, but we did get to see some good ad hominem reasoning.

Re: Friends and Family Funding and Why I'm Dreading Thanksgiving

#75

Post by PhasmaFelis »

natrius wrote: post #71
amirmc wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "If merit correlates with the ability to make money and merit is heritable..." In the UK this was called being of 'good breeding'. It's no more true now than it was back then. Bear in mind that money is also heritable.

Your claim that it isn't true is nice and all, but actual evidence that it isn't true would be better.

No, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. If you're asserting that entire family lines are genetically (not just by environment) predisposed to success at business, you're the one who needs to back that up with facts.

Re: Friends and Family Funding and Why I'm Dreading Thanksgiving

#76

Post by Crito »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #27

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea that there's a world out there where you can just casually hit up Grammaw and Uncle Barry for twenty grand apiece. It doesn't really favor the notion that the startup world is an egalitarian meritocracy.

Some families have little money, but are willing to lend what little they have among each other. Some families have plenty of money and are willing to lend to each other. Some families have plenty of money, and think that it is poor form to lend to family.

People in my extended family go out of their way to help family members when they are down; for instance covering a few college loan payments or providing a bed to sleep on for a few weeks, but going to them for a business loan? That is not done, even with comparably small amounts of money. I kind of always assumed that was the common attitude, but I guess not.

Re: Friends and Family Funding and Why I'm Dreading Thanksgiving

#77

Post by kumarski »

My dad came to the states with 8 bucks in his pocket and not speaking English. He was nearly deported twice and went to Mexico and then Canada finding random agricultural work before returning.

When I started my small business, even with customers in the queue, I didn't have the heart to ask him or anyone else in my family for funding.

I remember hearing stories about 'Patels' who came to the USA. The small but robust tribes of Indian(not Native American) families in each community would then each fork over $1000 to the new family for the purpose of starting a business(hotel or convenient store). One of the older families would then coordinate payments and ensure the new family made payments back to the loaners. It was a zero interest loan.

I'd rather eat macaroni and eat canned food for a month than consider asking mom and dad for money.

Re: Friends and Family Funding and Why I'm Dreading Thanksgiving

#78

Post by shubb »

natrius wrote: post #74
Brakenshire wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to clarify, you're asking him to prove that the rich aren't genetically superior to the poor?

To quote myself: "If merit correlates with the ability to make money and merit is heritable, you'd expect those with merit to come from families with money." Is my logic incorrect? Does merit not correlate with the ability to make money? Is merit not heritable? None of those questions have been answered, but we did get to see some good ad hominem reasoning.

You'd have to define merit. For instance, on the one hand 'general intelligence' has been shown to be heritable (via adopted twin studies), but on the other, 'general intelligence' scores have increased massively in Africa as schooling becomes more widespread. So, is general intelligence heritable? Do our tests for intelligence really measure how much like a middle class European you are?

These are interesting academic questions, but I wonder if you'd agree with this - having access to 5MM in no questions asked family funding is more useful than 50 extra IQ points, because you can always hire clever people.

Re: Friends and Family Funding and Why I'm Dreading Thanksgiving

#79

Post by menocchio »

natrius wrote: post #74
Brakenshire wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to clarify, you're asking him to prove that the rich aren't genetically superior to the poor?

To quote myself: "If merit correlates with the ability to make money and merit is heritable, you'd expect those with merit to come from families with money." Is my logic incorrect? Does merit not correlate with the ability to make money? Is merit not heritable? None of those questions have been answered, but we did get to see some good ad hominem reasoning.

Is there any difference between the ability to make money and "merit" in this discussion? There definitely is a difference in the world, but in this discussion, you seem to be conflating them.

Re: Friends and Family Funding and Why I'm Dreading Thanksgiving

#80

Post by clarky07 »

phamilton wrote: post #68
PhasmaFelis wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See, this is kind of what I'm talking about. There's a world out there in which people can say "20 grand isn't that much" with a straight face. I guess it's nice that that world exists, but it really doesn't represent the experiences of most Americans.

I should rephrase. 20 grand isn't much over the course of a few decades. It's a lot for a 20 something year old fresh out of school. For someone in their 40s, having 20 grand available for such an investment isn't always the result of good fortune. It's a low enough sum that can be attributed merely to frugal living and smart financial decisions. It's easily the difference between packing a lunch instead of eating ou…

This is exactly right. The parent is right that it doesn't represent the world of many Americans, but for most of them, it is their own fault. i'm sorry if that that offends anyone, but stop living beyond your means and you can save up 20k. It doesn't really matter how much you make. The key is to simply spend less than that number.

FWIW, 20k is still a big number to me, but not that big and I'm a 20 something that quit my job a few years ago to start my own business. I didn't ask any family or friends for money, instead I saved for 2 years to give myself a > 12 month emergency fund / runway[1]. I can't imagine how people would ask for a loan/gift from family rather than simply live frugally for a year or two.

[1] - my wife and i paid off ~30k in student loans, and saved a ~30k emergency fund in about 22 months making ~80k combined a year. We lived frugally so that I could quit my job and start my own business.

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