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How to lose time and money

paulgraham.com

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Re: How to lose time and money

#21

Post by jodrellblank »

goldmab wrote: post #18

If Paul Graham realized that people can easily lose lots of money by investing, why did he devote himself to investing large amounts of his own money in high-risk businesses? I'm not being facetious, I just think that seems contradictory. If I had a lot of money and that same knowledge, I would invest very conservatively.

He sold Viaweb for tens of millions, he invests low tens of thousands.

He warns that careless trading may lose money without setting off fear, he invests in companies he also guides them to try and help them succeed. He doesn't invest alone, the risk and decisions have other people he trusts watching or contributing. They turn down most of the applicants

Re: How to lose time and money

#22

Post by orky56 »

This is really a question of short-term gain versus long-term gain as well as tasks versus goals. For short-term fulfillment, we can entertain ourselves or keep ourselves occupied in some manner, regardless of whether it's productive.

The key is figuring out how it fits into our overall strategy or goals. Is that activity or task contributing to that long-term gain? More importantly, am I actively managing it as opposed to going on blind auto-pilot (e.g. for that investment or project)?

There's no substitute for hard work, just as there's no substitute for self-awareness.

Re: How to lose time and money

#24

Post by miles_matthias »

gbog wrote: post #7

This short essay is not pg at his best in my view. Spending time having fun is Plain Good, and necessary, even for the most focused startup founder. But watching TV don't count obviously. Playing cards with friends at a terasse does.

I don't really agree with the rest of your statement, but I don't think this was his best either. It's a keen observation, but I was expecting some advice or some more in-depth analysis. But blogging can be one of those things that keeps getting put off if you wait until you have a perfect essay.

Re: How to lose time and money

#25

Post by orky56 »

goldmab wrote: post #18

If Paul Graham realized that people can easily lose lots of money by investing, why did he devote himself to investing large amounts of his own money in high-risk businesses? I'm not being facetious, I just think that seems contradictory. If I had a lot of money and that same knowledge, I would invest very conservatively.

I bet he does a lot more due diligence on his YC investments than in the investments he references in his essay. He not only scopes talent and recognizes talent but also grooms it with his network and mentorship. He actively manages his "investments" to lower risk and increase chances of success.

Re: How to lose time and money

#27

Post by feralchimp »

goldmab wrote: post #18

If Paul Graham realized that people can easily lose lots of money by investing, why did he devote himself to investing large amounts of his own money in high-risk businesses? I'm not being facetious, I just think that seems contradictory. If I had a lot of money and that same knowledge, I would invest very conservatively.

At a certain level of diligence and diversification, investment is much more like a job than it is like gambling.

Re: How to lose time and money

#28

Post by ebzlo »

Swizec wrote: post #16
fferen wrote: post #5

I think this ties into the idea of MMORPGs. I used to play them a lot until I realized they were not fun, just addictive; they make you feel like you're accomplishing something by leveling and gaining skills, when really it's only your character that's improving - you're not getting better at anything.

Same story for me as far as MMORPG's, Farmville and similar go. I get super addicted for a week and play probably 8 hours a day, then I just get bored. The whole thing is vaguely addicting, but ultimately completely uninteresting. If I'm going to watch a character level up I'd much rather hit the gym. The increasing weights you can lift offer a nice chance for some nerdy analysis while you're also actually doing some…

What you just suggested is exactly what I did and it completely changed my life.

Re: How to lose time and money

#29

Post by JabavuAdams »

_gd3l wrote: post #20

"People fright at the concept of losing their money, yet they slave away their time without a second thought." -Seneca the Younger, from Letters from a Stoic (highly recommended) I think slaving away doing something you hate is far more harmful than "wasting" time having fun. I get more out of playing hacky sack and/or listening to podcasts than any homework or school work. So, in relation to this article, I think we…

> I get more out of playing hacky sack and/or listening to podcasts than any homework or school work.

Maybe you're studying the wrong thing?

Re: How to lose time and money

#30

Post by jseliger »

zipdog wrote: post #9

Sometimes I think the feeling of getting "basically nothing" done by the end of the day is not the right timeframe - there are projects that have gone on for weeks that ultimately were a complete waste of time. But while working through those projects I felt something productive was happening, which made it difficult to think of them as "basically nothing". I'm not talking about failed ventures that could have turned…

Sometimes I think the feeling of getting "basically nothing" done by the end of the day is not the right timeframe - there are projects that have gone on for weeks that ultimately were a complete waste of time.

I suspect pg means that he spent the day checking / responding to e-mails, reading HN, maybe paying some bills, noodling around the Internet, checking e-mail again, and then discovering that it's getting close to bed time, rather than working on long-term projects where the work he's doing hasn't immediately borne fruit.

The Internet is particularly insidious in this respect, because reading HN, looking at the NYT, and so forth can feel work-like without actually accomplishing anything substantial.

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