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ASK HN: I'm lost -- need direction

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Re: ASK HN: I'm lost -- need direction

#11

Post by weaksauce »

selfemploy wrote: post #6
sachinag wrote: post #4

This is the question I always ask: do you want to be an entrepreneur or do you want to work for yourself? Being an entrepreneur is about being so passionate about a product or service that you, and only you, can produce that you're willing to move heaven and earth to get it out there. Working for yourself means freeing yourself from the shackles of pointy haired bosses and stupid corporate policies. Being an entrepre…

It is more of starting a company and doing everything that is needed to make it success. I have few product ideas but I am agile to change in ideas.

I would caution against an over zealous changing of ideas. The reason that a lot of entrepreneurs fail is because they are too agile in changing ideas in search of the perfect one and never follow through with one of the decent ideas. There is not a perfect idea. The path to riches is through hard work and dedication to an idea that you can execute better than most. You do not need to have the best execution or idea to be a successful entrepreneur.

With that said good luck on your journey!

Re: ASK HN: I'm lost -- need direction

#12

Post by rjurney »

Its not too late, you just can't afford to be in Ramen mode unless you save money ahead of time or your wife has enough income to float you on a startup salary.

My advice: get in a startup as early as you can afford to. If that means being employee 10, so be it. You'll still have a good time. If you can afford to be a founder, do it. But with a wife and kids, joining a funded entity is probably more palatable.

As a more mature adult... you're actually really valuable to a startup: you bring wisdom and perspective. And you're still willing, you haven't 'grown out of it.' Use this to your advantage.

I'd suggest this talk from Damien Katz of CouchDB, about taking the leap to work on a project full time, with a wife and kids - http://www.infoq.com/presentations/katz-couchdb-and-me

Re: ASK HN: I'm lost -- need direction

#13

Post by skmurphy »

Save your money, adjust your lifestyle to allow you to live on a lower spending rate. Make sure your wife is supportive of starting something.

Take your time and find at least one partner. If you don't know them well do some smaller projects together first.

Older entrepreneurs bring social capital, commitment, and an ability to focus and persist (See http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2009/10/02/three-advantages-of-... )

Re: ASK HN: I'm lost -- need direction

#14

Post by akkartik »

To everybody quoting the result that most entrepreneurs are in their 40s: that includes entrepreneurs in clean energy, hardware, other kinds of engineering. I'm not sure there's a study out there about just software/web entrepreneurs. Vivek Wadhwa's study (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/07/when-it-comes-to-foundi..., http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=874340 below) doesn't separate industries out.

Re: ASK HN: I'm lost -- need direction

#15

Post by akkartik »

cwan wrote: post #3

Absolutely not - but it'd probably be a good idea to find (hire or partner with) those who are strong where you're weak. Check this out - http://www.scribd.com/doc/17772299/Anatomy-of-an-Entrepreneu... - it gives an outline of what the typical entrepreneur looks like. For starters, a typical entrepreneur isn't just coming out of university (and that includes entrepreneurs of tech startups).

One methodological issue as I reread that paper: "We allowed company executives to tell us if they were a founder. The guidelines we provided for defining a founder was 'an early employee, who typically joined the company in its first year, before the company developed its products and perfected its business model.'"

Companies often give out the co-founder title to early employees, but that's not what we think of when we read that 'most founders are 40' here at HN.

Re: ASK HN: I'm lost -- need direction

#16

Post by callmeed »

Have you found a problem/pain point (at your current job perhaps) that you want to solve and turn into a startup? That's the first thing to consider. The two companies I've started began with "we need to solve this problem" and (in one way or another) then evolved into "hey, this could be a business" ... if you just start with "I want to do a startup", I think there's a higher risk of you making something people don't want/need.

That being said, I don't think it's ever too late.

But being married with kids makes the decision a little harder. Doing a startup on the side (i.e. keeping your job for now) means you sacrifice time with your family. Taking the leap and quitting your job (at some point) may mean a lifestyle change for everyone if you're only ramen profitable or living off savings. Those are decisions you need to make with your spouse. There were some months early on I really put some stress on my wife (financially) ... that's not a discussion where you sugar-coat things or pull a "if only 1% ...".

I'm in my mid thirties, married, and have 4 kids (one is already 15!) so I occasionally feel like an "old founder" when I read about the college kids on HN or TechCrunch. But we do real well now. I think its been 8 years since I had a "real job" ... no regrets.

Re: ASK HN: I'm lost -- need direction

#17

Post by stakent »

From my point of view (a dozen or so years of work wearing many hats, no marketing experience):

Look at your commitments towards you employer, formal and informal ones. If your commitments permit: start on side something noncompeting with your employer. If it works, then its the Decision time.

Do not burn bridges.

To gain some marketing experience, I've started side project which consists of almost no coding and all marketing in very competitive niche. I'm learning every day and, as bonus, have possibility that project will work.

Re: ASK HN: I'm lost -- need direction

#18

Post by MartinCron »

rjurney wrote: post #12

Its not too late, you just can't afford to be in Ramen mode unless you save money ahead of time or your wife has enough income to float you on a startup salary. My advice: get in a startup as early as you can afford to. If that means being employee 10, so be it. You'll still have a good time. If you can afford to be a founder, do it. But with a wife and kids, joining a funded entity is probably more palatable. As a m…

This advice is similar to what I've done, and it has worked well for me. The experience you get in a small growing company is (to me, anyway) more valuable than what you get at a larger, more established company.

Advice addendum: Be patient. There aren't many organizations that will work well for what you need, small and fresh enough to remain interesting yet stable enough to support a real family. The good news is that you only need one.

Re: ASK HN: I'm lost -- need direction

#19

Post by timothychung »

I think it is a matter of financial planning. When you know the cost of doing a startup, you will know whether you want to jump into it.

Just assume things fail and go against you will give you a good bottom line perspective. At least you have enough buffer to expected failures.

All the best to you. Cheers.

Re: ASK HN: I'm lost -- need direction

#20

Post by jerome_etienne »

i dont see it as a too late or not. more about a risk management issue, especially with kids. They cost money and time. Startups require significant time and doesnt provide much money (in early stage).

can you do it on the side of your day job ? can you financially afford not to have a day job ?

About the age thing, a fun way to considere it is not "they are young and im old", but more "they are inexperienced and i am experienced" :)

and another thing, find at least one partner who is business savy. This is a requirement

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