You have the technical skills, don't push to startup. I had say things work better when you get a 9-5 job and learn the field you are in, and once you know enough about the domain you are working in, you can startup in the same.
We rarely here of vague startup ideas without domain knowledge succeeding.
Ask HN: I can't do this anymore, I need help
31–40 of 137 posts
Re: Ask HN: I can't do this anymore, I need help
#32Just get a damn job that pays well. Relax, work 9-5 and earn pretty darn good money.
Accept that you will not be the next Mark Zuckerberg because 99.99999% of everyone will not.
Re: Ask HN: I can't do this anymore, I need help
#33Here's the better idea. Get a 9 to 5 six figure job. It will be boring, I know. Life sucks like that sometimes. Most of us have one. Next, live like a pauper, saving 60-70+% of that income. Spend your free time doing exactly 3 things 1. working on a side project 2. spending time with your girlfriend. 3. exercise (never count this out, no matter what your life circumstances otherwise) Then just wait 5 more years. You…
I agree with this, probably because it fits my situation so well. I work a mind numbing pharmacist job, save 85% of my income and am working in side projects. One project is medical software because everything out there is currently very shitty. The savings are invested cash flowing securities. In five years you will have built up decent cash reserves.
Now, you won't necessarily be living like a pauper. Just stop buying stupid shit and buy bare necessities.
Re: Ask HN: I can't do this anymore, I need help
#34* I've lost pretty much all my friends because of the time I've spent trying to make my ideas work. I suspect that work has nothing to do with this, more likely the negativity and the real reason why you're so obsessed with work. I think work is your crutch, not your problem. * And now it's 2:31am on a Sunday evening and my girlfriend is in bed wondering why I won't come give her a cuddle, but I can't. Most people ar…
Hello.
You make a lot of assumptions about me.
I'm not trying to whine, I saw a problem and I'm asking for help fixing that problem in return for my time and money. Also, I have a job.
Me and my girlfriend have a great relationship and I do everything I can to make sure she's happy.
I have a lot more than $5000 to show for it. That's is just what I have for a side project.
I don't fail at everything. I'm only 23, and I think I've achieved quite a lot for my age. I wouldn't say all of my ideas have failed, but I aim high and I feel like I'm failing overall.
Re: Ask HN: I can't do this anymore, I need help
#35It took me many years to find an idea that worked.
I took jobs that didn't require many more hours beyond 9-5 (IE: boring programming jobs) and used my free time to work on business ideas.
Weekends were for friends and family. You need to learn how to balance your life, or it will be very difficult to succeed.
Re: Ask HN: I can't do this anymore, I need help
#36Here's the better idea. Get a 9 to 5 six figure job. It will be boring, I know. Life sucks like that sometimes. Most of us have one. Next, live like a pauper, saving 60-70+% of that income. Spend your free time doing exactly 3 things 1. working on a side project 2. spending time with your girlfriend. 3. exercise (never count this out, no matter what your life circumstances otherwise) Then just wait 5 more years. You…
Exactly this. If you do not have a problem or product you are passionate about, then just work for someone else who is able to generate much better value out of your time.
Read earlyretirementextreme or mrmoneymustache to see how you can get out of the rat race as fast as possible, and get back into doing startups (if that's what is exciting to you)
Re: Ask HN: I can't do this anymore, I need help
#37You're trying to force it. That's not going to work. Stop. Get a job. A job that you like. Then just be good at it. Better yet, be the best at it, and make sure it is something you are passionate about and talented in. It really is that simple. Nobody wants to invest in somebody with a bunch of failed entrepreneurial ventures. But if you sit back, take a check, work on cool shit and build an impressive body of work,…
the wisdom is strong in this post
Re: Ask HN: I can't do this anymore, I need help
#38Alas, and contrary to what others are saying, being from a working class background is an obstacle. If you would have had a legacy admission to Harvard (which you could have then most hip-ly dropped out of) and had a bunch of frat brothers with VC dads, it would have been a different story and everybody here knows it.
Escaping from the working class is a matter of luck, not hard work, and that's a brute fact of reality. So don't beat yourself up about it, its not your fault.
Whether you want to keep rolling the dice is up to you. Eventually, you would figure it out if you keep trying. And eventually you would flip 4 heads in a row if you keep trying. But it might take decades, literally decades.
Re: Ask HN: I can't do this anymore, I need help
#39It would help to know why you're failing.
- Do your project ideas never get finished?
- If not, is it because of technical issues that make it difficult to get your product working?
- If not, is it because you lose interest or the people you work with lose interest?
- If not, is it because there are non-technical factors outside your control that you cannot successfully deal with (e.g. licensing agreements)?
- Do your startups not get traction in the marketplace?
- If so, is it because you're trying to unsuccessfully compete with a larger player in the field?
- If so, is it because you're not waiting long enough, or your expectations are too high?
- If so, is it because you've tried the standard promotional channels and nobody is paying attention?
- If so, is it because the market has shifted in the period between inception and release in such a way your product is now redundant or obsolete?
- Are your projects torpedoed by issues related to the people you are working with, if any?
- Are your projects torpedoed by the fact that you run out of living expense money before they have a chance to catch on?
Although all startups face some similar base set of failure modes, the challenges facing (e.g.) a robotics startup can be very different from those facing a consumer web-services startup trying to build the next Instagram.
Re: Ask HN: I can't do this anymore, I need help
#40First, make a calendar invite for yourself and your girlfriend. Call it "kriptonic career and family budget meeting." Make the event for an hour, next weekend. Send her an invite too.
Then go to bed and cuddle. Immediately.
In the morning, on the way to work, start to think about how you could reframe your plans on a twenty year scale, optimizing for happiness at home.