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No One Told Me What Being an Entrepreneur Really Means

blog.fairsoftware.net

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Re: No One Told Me What Being an Entrepreneur Really Means

#21

Post by teaspoon »

edw519 wrote: post #10

it’s just contacting people you don’t know to ask/beg for favors My take on "what being an entrepreneur really means" is 179 degrees from yours: I can't wait to contact people I don't know to share what I'm doing and how it can improve their lives. If you don't feel the same way, maybe you shouldn't be an entrepreneur. I regularly go to Tech Breakfasts, Chamber of Commerce meetings, industry dinners, dev groups, and…

I work with a lot of entrepreneurs, and the ones I try to avoid are those who think they're doing a favor to everyone they grace with their message. Like street preachers, their zeal makes them blind to the general public's disinterest in their noise, but they're sure their excitement about their social gifting platform will spread like wildfire if they can just. Tell. More. People.

If your heart doesn't cry a little bit every time you ask for a favor from a stranger, or email someone who you know only has a 1 in 10 chance of being interested, then you're probably the guy people avoid sitting next to at Tech Breakfasts.

Re: No One Told Me What Being an Entrepreneur Really Means

#22

Post by ahoyhere »

teaspoon wrote: post #21
edw519 wrote: post #10

it’s just contacting people you don’t know to ask/beg for favors My take on "what being an entrepreneur really means" is 179 degrees from yours: I can't wait to contact people I don't know to share what I'm doing and how it can improve their lives. If you don't feel the same way, maybe you shouldn't be an entrepreneur. I regularly go to Tech Breakfasts, Chamber of Commerce meetings, industry dinners, dev groups, and…

I work with a lot of entrepreneurs, and the ones I try to avoid are those who think they're doing a favor to everyone they grace with their message. Like street preachers, their zeal makes them blind to the general public's disinterest in their noise, but they're sure their excitement about their social gifting platform will spread like wildfire if they can just. Tell. More. People. If your heart doesn't cry a little…

Or maybe, just maybe, he's right, and that you WILL want to hear the good news about his product. Customers write love letters to our support department all the time about OUR products.

You're making a classic logical mistake: Just because some men buy their wives flowers after they cheat, doesn't mean that if a man buys his wife flowers, he's cheated.

EDIT: That said, the OP (article not commenter) is not going to get his CEO wings from cold-emailing.

Re: No One Told Me What Being an Entrepreneur Really Means

#23

Post by edw519 »

teaspoon wrote: post #21
edw519 wrote: post #10

it’s just contacting people you don’t know to ask/beg for favors My take on "what being an entrepreneur really means" is 179 degrees from yours: I can't wait to contact people I don't know to share what I'm doing and how it can improve their lives. If you don't feel the same way, maybe you shouldn't be an entrepreneur. I regularly go to Tech Breakfasts, Chamber of Commerce meetings, industry dinners, dev groups, and…

I work with a lot of entrepreneurs, and the ones I try to avoid are those who think they're doing a favor to everyone they grace with their message. Like street preachers, their zeal makes them blind to the general public's disinterest in their noise, but they're sure their excitement about their social gifting platform will spread like wildfire if they can just. Tell. More. People. If your heart doesn't cry a little…

I began to copy and paste some of what you said, teaspoon, but then I just decided to respond to the whole post with, "Where the hell did that come from?"

If you avoid other entrepreneurs, then maybe you're hanging out with the wrong ones.

If you liken anyone promoting their own business to a street preacher, then perhaps you're the one missing the point.

As for me, I don't ask favors from anyone. I just build what they already need and have asked for. I love writing software and I love sharing it with those who are interested, including those next to me at Tech Breakfasts. I've sold lots of software and built lasting relationships and friendships this way.

So I thought I'd share that with OP, who seems to have a problem doing and enjoying it as much as I do. Your attitude and response does nothing to help him (or anyone for that matter).

Re: No One Told Me What Being an Entrepreneur Really Means

#24

Post by AndrewWarner »

eande wrote: post #16
leftnode wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup, if you're a programmer (like most of us), transitioning into that role is very tough. You have to be very extroverted and it can be unsettling sometimes. I'd love to see some interviews with successful programmers turned CEO's/managers (but in smaller companies, not Bill Gates) to see how they managed it. Also, shouldn't you call people instead? Calls are generally more personal and harder to ignore than a rando…

Watch Paul Singh and you know how it is done http://mixergy.com/mailfinch-paul-singh-interview/

Here's a direct link to the mp3: http://mixergy.com/wp-content/audio/Mixergy-MailFinch-Paul-S...

Re: No One Told Me What Being an Entrepreneur Really Means

#25

Post by teaspoon »

edw519 wrote: post #23
teaspoon wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work with a lot of entrepreneurs, and the ones I try to avoid are those who think they're doing a favor to everyone they grace with their message. Like street preachers, their zeal makes them blind to the general public's disinterest in their noise, but they're sure their excitement about their social gifting platform will spread like wildfire if they can just. Tell. More. People. If your heart doesn't cry a little…

I began to copy and paste some of what you said, teaspoon, but then I just decided to respond to the whole post with, "Where the hell did that come from?" If you avoid other entrepreneurs, then maybe you're hanging out with the wrong ones. If you liken anyone promoting their own business to a street preacher, then perhaps you're the one missing the point. As for me, I don't ask favors from anyone. I just build what t…

On a second reading, my comment was needlessly inflammatory. Sorry for that.

Perhaps we're talking about kinds of "sharing". I'm talking about cold-emailing strangers and asking for writeups which, to be fair, is what the the article is about. Those may be necessary evils for one's venture, but recognize when you're doing a favor and when you're asking for one. That understanding is the foundation of any business relationship.

The world could do with more entrepreneurs who hesitate before asking the favor of time and attention, and HN could do with less of the "maybe you shouldn't be an entrepreneur" attitude from everyone else.

Re: No One Told Me What Being an Entrepreneur Really Means

#26

Post by mattmanser »

mattmanser wrote: post #17
edw519 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it has anything to do with sales or selling. Are you passionate about your work? Obviously most of us are. We talk to each other here about it all the time. Do to any dev group or hacker hangout and it's hard to hear yourself think with all the chatter we share with each other about our work. Emailing, calling, or talking to civilians is the same thing. As soon as we think it's "selling", we set up a me…

Now you're describing the difference between an extrovert and an introvert. Appreciate everyone is not the same!

Though I do actually think your advice is a great way of looking at the process and for introverts consciously motivating yourself with that mantra.

Re: No One Told Me What Being an Entrepreneur Really Means

#27

Post by nl »

charlesju wrote: post #2

Why wouldn't you hire someone to do this for you? Seems like a waste of your time.

Quoting Steve Blank:

Customer Development is the process of how you get out of the building and search for the model. Customer Development is designed so that you the founder(s) gather first hand experience about customer and market needs. It can’t be delegated. Let me say it again: Getting customer feedback can not be delegated.

http://steveblank.com/2010/05/13/consultants-don%E2%80%99t-p...

Re: No One Told Me What Being an Entrepreneur Really Means

#28

Post by zackattack »

mattmanser wrote: post #26
mattmanser wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now you're describing the difference between an extrovert and an introvert. Appreciate everyone is not the same!

Though I do actually think your advice is a great way of looking at the process and for introverts consciously motivating yourself with that mantra.

I think you're setting up a false dichotomy.

Imagine that someone had a really annoying mosquito bite. Imagine you had a tube of anti-itch spray you could sell to that person. It would be lose-lose of you to not at least inform the person of the option to buy.

edw519 is implying that the product he is building solves a pain and he feels ethically compelled to share it. That's good, that's smart. That doesn't mean that you can't ALSO make tons of money building trinkets and selling them aggressively, 'cuz many people like to be sold things, but it seems that edw belongs to category 1.

Re: No One Told Me What Being an Entrepreneur Really Means

#29

Post by billswift »

There seem to be a lot of people here that apparently missed the point, so I am going to repeat the comment I added to the OP blog:

He didn't say that 'sending lots of emails' makes you an entrepreneur - he said that is one thing that he has to do as an entrepreneur that he wasn't expecting. There was another post, I think about a year ago on HN, where a founder pointed out that he ended up cleaning the company's toilets until they could afford to hire a janitor. There are all kinds of jobs that need to be done for a business to function that many people don't realize beforehand.

Re: No One Told Me What Being an Entrepreneur Really Means

#30

Post by charlesju »

NEPatriot wrote: post #7
charlesju wrote: post #2

Why wouldn't you hire someone to do this for you? Seems like a waste of your time.

"Getting out of the building" is not a task you want to outsource. Speaking to initial potential customers is critical to the start up and must involve the founders. Once you establish product/market fit outsiders can come into play.

The process of sending messages and setting up the initial contact is pretty mechanical, should be easy to outsource if you're smart about it.

Of course, the CEO should close the leads himself.

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