Female Founder Secrets: Fertility • Hacker News Board

Re: Female Founder Secrets: Fertility

#101

Post by koolba » Thu, Mar 04, 2021, 6:21 PM UTC

sbierwagen wrote: post #91

Miner49er wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This advice is likely economically bad though. Capital now is better than capital later. I would think money made early and saved by not having children and invested will end up being much more then what will be spent on a fertility clinic later.

If your only goal is to accumulate capital over your lifespan, then you won't have children at all, since they're tremendously expensive and have no dollar return.

They're a great way to add some diversity to your retirement portfolio. Young able bodies that can get a job and provide you with food and shelter in your old age are the original inflation proof investment. Also, kids are awesome.

Re: Female Founder Secrets: Fertility

#102

Post by darrylb42 » Thu, Mar 04, 2021, 6:21 PM UTC

mberning wrote: post #8

I just recently had my first at an age closer to 40 than 30. I think freezing your eggs and having kids later is not such a great idea. Sure, you can have the kid well outside your prime or even use a surrogate. But that is just the beginning. Your child is not going to get the experience of being raised by a more youthful and energetic version of yourself . I think there is a lot to be said for that. I wish I had st…

I had kids in my mid-late 40s Certainly motivation to be healthy and get energy levels up. For women and the men who have kids with them the chances of twins goes up with age. Or at least that is what my wife found when search for a reason to blame me. :)

Re: Female Founder Secrets: Fertility

#103

Post by bulek » Thu, Mar 04, 2021, 6:21 PM UTC

harperlee wrote: post #93

shaneprrlt wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The antinatalist point of view is incredibly damaging to the long term progress of our species.

Seeing as a big chuck of what someone believes is culturally inherited from their parents, and thus hypothesizing that meme* survival partially follows parent-child relationships, I'd say that that's a problem that will end up self-correcting :) * In the original Richard Dawkins sense, not in the funny gif sense.

Amusingly we have a case study for this: the Shakers.

"They practice a celibate and communal lifestyle, pacifism, uniform charismatic worship, and their model of equality of the sexes, which they institutionalized in their society in the 1780s."

Needless to say there's only 2 left.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakers

Re: Female Founder Secrets: Fertility

#104

Post by devmunchies » Thu, Mar 04, 2021, 6:23 PM UTC

abellerose wrote: post #41

austincheney wrote: post #7

The only logical answer here is youth. The younger you are the more fertile you are. This is true for both men and women, but more true for women. If you want children at some point in life then prioritize children first and early. I know, this puts your ambitious career on hold for a while and start ups require huge ambition. Still, start up opportunities will not be hyper critically different in the future than the…

It's completely unethical to have kids and like another commenter has said brings a great disadvantage economically. I would suggest to anyone to not follow your advice. edit: I won't be further commenting on the topic because the same people asking everyone "when are you going to have kids like me?" are just going to downvote. Yes, I rather see an end to humankind because that ends suffering. Less suffering in a uni…

> brings a great disadvantage economically

yeah but you forgot about my platinum, enterprise-grade DNA. really good for the economy as a whole.

Other people are going to have kids, their kids will encounter hardships and need problem solvers among the pack. Its unethical to deprive their posterity of my web-scale® DNA.

Re: Female Founder Secrets: Fertility

#105

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Mar 04, 2021, 6:23 PM UTC

drakonka wrote: post #77

lainga wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What impact do you foresee any economic gains from childlessness having in 100 years, if your advice is followed universally? Who will inherit those gains?

I think of this as a non-issue; either my partner, or a friend, or a charity of choice will inherit my gains if I don't spend them all enjoying life first.

[deleted]

Re: Female Founder Secrets: Fertility

#106

Post by asdfasgasdgasdg » Thu, Mar 04, 2021, 6:24 PM UTC

dheera wrote: post #94

asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure if you've got the details right, but it is definitely true that if you are taking part in any elite competition, you are probably going to be competing against people who are working very hard. I don't think that this is specific to male cofounders. Even in the counterfactual world where all founders are women, some will work harder than others, and if there is a perception that the harder workers are mo…

> specific to male cofounders I guess what I was trying to say is, male founders have a few biological choices that female founders don't, and I'm suggesting that it should be considered unethical to set industry work-hour standards to a level that only males can achieve because males are able to de-prioritize biology. An article about one of the most widely acclaimed male founders today: "As an Apple employee in the…

I personally don't believe, at least at the founder/executive level, that this is a standard that has been set. Rather, there is a degree of self-organization here. Individuals are making decisions that they believe will help them compete better. I doubt there is a practical route toward lessening this effect, short of detonating the whole concept of the startup and possibly the entire economic system. There is zero chance that you're going to convince individual founders to take steps that they believe will make them less competitive in the name of "ethics."

Personally I don't find it romantic at all, and therefore I am not a startup founder. I love my 9-5.

Re: Female Founder Secrets: Fertility

#107

Post by alfiedotwtf » Thu, Mar 04, 2021, 6:24 PM UTC

> It might seem weird or somehow frivolous to freeze your eggs

Maybe it’s a cultural thing, but I’d see this as good time management and life planning which should be celebrated and encouraged.

Re: Female Founder Secrets: Fertility

#108

Post by wwww4alll » Thu, Mar 04, 2021, 6:24 PM UTC

abellerose wrote: post #73

austincheney wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's unethical to have kids? I don't follow.

You might find the following interesting: https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/choosing-children-ethical... I, for one, would never bring another life into this world and while so much suffering occurs. It's ethical to adopt contrary to conceive children.

I am certain your parents had same ideas. Until they decided to have babies. Having kids is powerful natural drive after finding suitable enough mates.

Statistically, you will have children in future, if you’re under 30 right now.

Re: Female Founder Secrets: Fertility

#109

Post by itronitron » Thu, Mar 04, 2021, 6:24 PM UTC

dheera wrote: post #32

rantwasp wrote: post #3

I empathize with how hard it is for a female founder in particular and for a woman in general when it comes to mixing children with a career. That said the advice to freeze your eggs (ie work now, live later) rubs me the wrong way. I wish we could live in a society where people would not have to work themselves to death and were able to... you know... enjoy life

Potentially controversial thought here, but I'd like to bring it up for discussion. I feel like the work ethic I see throughout the industry is extremely toxic to society, and leads to some of this. In China for example there's a so-called "996" work schedule (9am-9pm, 6 days a week) which is basically expected of everyone in tech, unfortunately, and it seems Silicon Valley is heading that direction as well with all…

My personal experience has been that women are just as likely to resort to toxic work practices as men. Though a lot depends on how you define toxic.

Re: Female Founder Secrets: Fertility

#110

Post by nyghtly » Thu, Mar 04, 2021, 6:26 PM UTC

What a horribly dystopic conclusion. You can't bio-hack your way out of the consequences of hustle culture. Every working adult should have sufficient personal time to support their family (or start one). The fertility industry is a symptom of a corrupt culture in which childbearing is punished.