Entrepreneurs, The Clock Is Ticking On Your Career • Hacker News Board

Re: Entrepreneurs, The Clock Is Ticking On Your Career

#11

Post by [deleted] » Sat, May 12, 2012, 1:37 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Entrepreneurs, The Clock Is Ticking On Your Career

#12

Post by sabat » Sat, May 12, 2012, 1:38 AM UTC

The scary thing is, if you're an entrepreneur, your days of starting companies from scratch are probably over by age 45.

Bullshit, as evidenced by reason and by actual example (google for it).

Re: Entrepreneurs, The Clock Is Ticking On Your Career

#13

Post by sabat » Sat, May 12, 2012, 1:38 AM UTC

cageface wrote: post #2

Unless you've hit a home run with one of your startups (which, incidentally, eliminates the need to worry about money again), you'd better start that VC transition before you turn 50. Starting any major career change after 50 is dicey. I'm not sure there's anything special about VC in this regard.

Says who?

Re: Entrepreneurs, The Clock Is Ticking On Your Career

#14

Post by mmphosis » Sat, May 12, 2012, 1:41 AM UTC

daenz wrote: post #5

If anything, shouldn't entrepreneurs be told to relax? To take a breath and enjoy life? I'm sure this article comes from a good place, but to me, it imparts nothing but a frenzied fear of "not making it in time." No thanks. I imagine most of us already have plenty of that fear in us.

Thank you.

We are creating a one hundred year language -- made out of love, not fear. Our startup phase won't be earlier than 2096. See you then.

Re: Entrepreneurs, The Clock Is Ticking On Your Career

#15

Post by gavanwoolery » Sat, May 12, 2012, 1:41 AM UTC

A lot of people seem to think this article is full of BS. Maybe. But I'm only 30 and felt that I've pissed away a lot of my younger years trying to become successful with 80 hour weeks. Maybe, by some slim chance, I will be successful when I am 40, but at that point I've already lost my youth. Is it worth it? I suppose it depends on your priorities.

Re: Entrepreneurs, The Clock Is Ticking On Your Career

#16

Post by mattvot » Sat, May 12, 2012, 1:42 AM UTC

I hate the sentiment that 45 is too late. Is there any statistics? Any evidence to support the theory? Not as far as I'm aware.

I really wish I could downvote this post.

Re: Entrepreneurs, The Clock Is Ticking On Your Career

#17

Post by marcofloriano » Sat, May 12, 2012, 1:45 AM UTC

reason wrote: post #4

I really don't like the message of this post. I think the arbitrary expectations people in the startup world place on themselves do a great deal of harm. I actually regret being exposed to the startup world at such a young age of 17/18. I became totally obsessed with everything startups, especially the stories of newly christened millionaires at ages not much older than mine. I eventually began setting some ridiculou…

Thanks reason. You made me remind myself.

Re: Entrepreneurs, The Clock Is Ticking On Your Career

#18

Post by chrisyeh » Sat, May 12, 2012, 1:47 AM UTC

daenz wrote: post #5

If anything, shouldn't entrepreneurs be told to relax? To take a breath and enjoy life? I'm sure this article comes from a good place, but to me, it imparts nothing but a frenzied fear of "not making it in time." No thanks. I imagine most of us already have plenty of that fear in us.

I don't want people to feel a frenzied fear, but I also don't want them to realize too late that ageism exists and is powerful.

Re: Entrepreneurs, The Clock Is Ticking On Your Career

#19

Post by chrisyeh » Sat, May 12, 2012, 1:50 AM UTC

reason wrote: post #4

I really don't like the message of this post. I think the arbitrary expectations people in the startup world place on themselves do a great deal of harm. I actually regret being exposed to the startup world at such a young age of 17/18. I became totally obsessed with everything startups, especially the stories of newly christened millionaires at ages not much older than mine. I eventually began setting some ridiculou…

I've written a lot about how one needs to be realistic in the entrepreneurial life. Here's just a few examples:

http://chrisyeh.blogspot.com/2012/05/entrepreneurial-success...

http://chrisyeh.blogspot.com/2010/07/entrepreneurship-is-abo...

If you define success as building a billion-dollar company, you'll almost certainly be disappointed. Billion-dollar startups usually come once every few years.

But I also want people to be aware that their time is shorter than they think.

Re: Entrepreneurs, The Clock Is Ticking On Your Career

#20

Post by chrisyeh » Sat, May 12, 2012, 1:52 AM UTC

planetguy wrote: post #8

reason wrote: post #4

I really don't like the message of this post. I think the arbitrary expectations people in the startup world place on themselves do a great deal of harm. I actually regret being exposed to the startup world at such a young age of 17/18. I became totally obsessed with everything startups, especially the stories of newly christened millionaires at ages not much older than mine. I eventually began setting some ridiculou…

The arbitrary, overly-specific, and gosh-darn unlikeliness of the goals expressed here remind me more of the sort of life plan you'd expect from a ten-year-old girl than from a full-grown man. "OK, I'm going to meet my boyfriend at sixteen so we can be married by nineteen and then I'll have four kids in the next four years so I can be the world's greatest ballerina by the time I'm twenty-four and then I can start tra…

Your time is limited. A was talking with a friend (who incidentally is a VC) over breakfast. He noted that he was 46, and was worried about how old he'd be when his future child (his wife is pregnant) went off to college.

People also don't like hearing that they need to get married before the age of 30 if they want to have kids at a younger age, but that doesn't make it untrue.