The Next Generation Bends Over

> it works, at least for me.

It's just easier to say, "it works for me." By saying 'it works, at least for me,' you're claiming that it will always work everywhere 100% of the time... then saying "but I could be wrong." This is just anecdotal evidence. It's possible that none of your friends are the kind of people that would react that way, or that you have a personality that causes people to quickly forgive you for such things.

I don't understand why the sale of Mint is regarded as the end to Aaron & co.'s great adventure. They're now free (and funded) to tackle another interesting problem, and let Intuit handle the inevitably boring business of running an established company.

I don't hear anyone criticize pg for selling Viaweb, and that sale was obviously what opened the door to the Y-Combinator experiment (which is much more interesting than running an established company).

There's a reason founders leave when the company "makes it", and its not the money.

RE All the talk of loaning/giving money to family/friends should one suddenly find themselves rich:

I have a long history of being a bleeding heart. I also come from an environment where "throwing money at the problem" is kind of the default mental model. So I've spent lots of time fantasizing about how I would improve the world/help people around me should I suddenly have money. Over the years, I have concluded that financial problems grow out of real problems, so in most cases just throwing money at the problem actually hurts a person's ability to solve the underlying real problem. If someone is convinced that "The Problem" is how much money they owe and you pay off their debts, it lets them off the hook for wondering if there is something about their lives they should change. (And in many cases, those debts will quickly pile up again because the cause of the debts was not resolved. My recollection is that about 2/3s of people who win the lottery are bankrupt 5 years later.)

For intractable personal problems, the odds are very good that the person with this intractable problem is very resistant to change and/or the problem itself is inherently difficult to overcome. In both cases, an easy way out of a portion of the consequences tends to undermine any hope they will buckle down and do the hard task of making the necessary changes. Also, paying off someone's debts inherently contains a judgement about how the money should be used. I have concluded that it would be better to just give someone money, no strings attached, no questions ask, no expectations, as a gift. And then not roll one's eyes and such when it isn't used the way one thought it ought to be. I have also concluded that if I want to help people address some serious personal problem, throwing money at the problem is not the way to do it. Some day, I might figure out how making money available could grease the wheels of progress towards a solution without causing all kinds of unintended negative side effects. Should I ever work that out in my mind, I might well found a charity. In the mean, I will share info and try to mind my own business.