Working for someone vs. doing your own thing • Hacker News Board

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#11

Post by Tade0 » Tue, Jan 14, 2020, 9:13 PM UTC

dvt wrote: post #3

Not to be dismissive, but this post feels a bit like rambling without a clear thesis or main argument. It's also rife with dubious claims: > I’ve been working remotely for four years now, and I know that working alone can make you lonely.. I also work full-time remotely. I built a community around myself, made new friends and regularly hang out with people I met at coffee shops, at startup meetups, old classmates, ex…

I hear it a lot, but this argument honestly falls flat on its face as long as you're not a weird hermit that only works from your house.

Having worked remotely for close to five years now those who worked in coffee shops and not from the comfort of their own homes were usually the weirdos.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#12

Post by Insanity » Tue, Jan 14, 2020, 9:18 PM UTC

dvt wrote: post #3

Not to be dismissive, but this post feels a bit like rambling without a clear thesis or main argument. It's also rife with dubious claims: > I’ve been working remotely for four years now, and I know that working alone can make you lonely.. I also work full-time remotely. I built a community around myself, made new friends and regularly hang out with people I met at coffee shops, at startup meetups, old classmates, ex…

When I told people I took a full-time remote job at my previous company, they all asked me if I was going to miss seeing people.

And that just confused me - I do sports so I hang out with people, I take language classes outside of work, and on top of that I am married and we have a pretty active social life.

If you only see people at work - I think that's a red flag. Get a hobby where you see people, it's good for you. :P

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#13

Post by bobobooey » Tue, Jan 14, 2020, 9:21 PM UTC

dvt wrote: post #3

Not to be dismissive, but this post feels a bit like rambling without a clear thesis or main argument. It's also rife with dubious claims: > I’ve been working remotely for four years now, and I know that working alone can make you lonely.. I also work full-time remotely. I built a community around myself, made new friends and regularly hang out with people I met at coffee shops, at startup meetups, old classmates, ex…

Yeah bro go pick up a girl while you working. Totally rad bro

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#14

Post by daxfohl » Tue, Jan 14, 2020, 9:27 PM UTC

neonate wrote: post #10

daxfohl wrote: post #4

There's a pretty high correlation between parental wealth and success as a startup founder. I assume it's because of the safety net. My friends who have been successful (and who had blue-collar upbringings like me, and all in mid-40's now) all worked full time jobs until their side projects were self-sustaining. None of them hit unicorn status, but I think all of them have lived healthy, fruitful lives. Also note by…

Given the research on adverse childhood experiences, there's likely a subtler advantage too, for founders who were raised in more stable and secure environments. Growing up under greater pressure (violence, abuse, trauma) leaves you less resilient, more risk averse, more at risk. I'm not saying wealthy families don't have this, or that poor families can't be stable and secure. But on average it probably makes a diffe…

Incidentally, I just got back from the annual checkup with my 7yo, and the doctor mentioned that the strongest indicator of kids staying on a good path through adolescence is whether they regularly have dinner together as a family or not. That surprisingly exceeds any other socio-economic demographic indicator.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#15

Post by complianceowl » Tue, Jan 14, 2020, 9:29 PM UTC

neonate wrote: post #10

daxfohl wrote: post #4

There's a pretty high correlation between parental wealth and success as a startup founder. I assume it's because of the safety net. My friends who have been successful (and who had blue-collar upbringings like me, and all in mid-40's now) all worked full time jobs until their side projects were self-sustaining. None of them hit unicorn status, but I think all of them have lived healthy, fruitful lives. Also note by…

Given the research on adverse childhood experiences, there's likely a subtler advantage too, for founders who were raised in more stable and secure environments. Growing up under greater pressure (violence, abuse, trauma) leaves you less resilient, more risk averse, more at risk. I'm not saying wealthy families don't have this, or that poor families can't be stable and secure. But on average it probably makes a diffe…

That's a great point. I can only speak for myself here, but I can 100% confirm that having been raised in a loving, secure, and stable home has probably been the greatest contributing factor to my career success and having a major inclination in life towards optimism.

The gratitude towards my parents alone has driven me to push myself harder in my career.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#16

Post by JoeMayoBot » Tue, Jan 14, 2020, 9:30 PM UTC

Wondering how many other people are beginning to consider their future in this way. It's interesting that he linked to the a16z post on Passion Economy. As opportunities for remote work where each individual charts their own course increases, the future of work could change significantly.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#17

Post by sokoloff » Tue, Jan 14, 2020, 9:34 PM UTC

daxfohl wrote: post #4

There's a pretty high correlation between parental wealth and success as a startup founder. I assume it's because of the safety net. My friends who have been successful (and who had blue-collar upbringings like me, and all in mid-40's now) all worked full time jobs until their side projects were self-sustaining. None of them hit unicorn status, but I think all of them have lived healthy, fruitful lives. Also note by…

I wonder how much of the correlation is dollars, how much is attitude toward wealth and money, and how much is entrepreneurial exposure.

If you come from a “the pie is fixed size; gotta fight for your share” mentality, you might have different propensity to succeed as an entrepreneur. Likewise if you never saw the real good, bad, and ugly under the covers.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#18

Post by daxfohl » Tue, Jan 14, 2020, 9:41 PM UTC

sokoloff wrote: post #17

daxfohl wrote: post #4

There's a pretty high correlation between parental wealth and success as a startup founder. I assume it's because of the safety net. My friends who have been successful (and who had blue-collar upbringings like me, and all in mid-40's now) all worked full time jobs until their side projects were self-sustaining. None of them hit unicorn status, but I think all of them have lived healthy, fruitful lives. Also note by…

I wonder how much of the correlation is dollars, how much is attitude toward wealth and money, and how much is entrepreneurial exposure. If you come from a “the pie is fixed size; gotta fight for your share” mentality, you might have different propensity to succeed as an entrepreneur. Likewise if you never saw the real good, bad, and ugly under the covers.

Yeah, exposure is important too, both to people and concepts. Beyond the tech work, you've got to deal with legal, HR, accounting, etc. Coming from a background where all that is everyday life is a big advantage. And if you can get actual references on who to talk to about these things, even better.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#19

Post by neonate » Tue, Jan 14, 2020, 9:46 PM UTC

complianceowl wrote: post #15

neonate wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given the research on adverse childhood experiences, there's likely a subtler advantage too, for founders who were raised in more stable and secure environments. Growing up under greater pressure (violence, abuse, trauma) leaves you less resilient, more risk averse, more at risk. I'm not saying wealthy families don't have this, or that poor families can't be stable and secure. But on average it probably makes a diffe…

That's a great point. I can only speak for myself here, but I can 100% confirm that having been raised in a loving, secure, and stable home has probably been the greatest contributing factor to my career success and having a major inclination in life towards optimism. The gratitude towards my parents alone has driven me to push myself harder in my career.

Maybe the best way to look at this kind of environment is that it's a different form of wealth. Correlated with money, in the sense that poverty brings stress and often many forms of brutality, but definitely not identical with it.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#20

Post by chrisco255 » Tue, Jan 14, 2020, 9:48 PM UTC

tannerc wrote: post #2

I like Austin Kleon's insights here [1]: "A day job gives you money, a connection to the world, and a routine. Freedom from financial stress also means freedom in your art. As photographer Bill Cunningham says, 'If you don’t take money, they cant tell you what to do.' Because the real truth is, once you start making money doing what you love, it BECOMES A JOB. And with it comes all the hassle of a job." It's why I've…

"It becomes a job" doesn't really satisfy me as a description for what occurs when you strike out on your own. Running your own business is much more intense and engaging than having a job. Now, it's important that you see it as multiple jobs, and not just one job. Whatever your day job is you're going to have to wear multiple hats in a startup and it's going to challenge you in different ways than a corporate job will. In a corporate engineering job, it's likely that you're working on a small subset of features of a broader product and of a broader organization. As a founder of a company, you'll be coding, promoting, designing, innovating, QA, customer service, sales, and more.