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How I'm Bootstrapping a Startup While Raising Three Kids

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Re: How I'm Bootstrapping a Startup While Raising Three Kids

#31

Post by gregpilling »

annajohnson wrote: post #27

My husband and I quit full time jobs to build our second startup, whilst also having two kids to raise (8 and 6 years old). I don't feel like it's hard at all. I'm pretty disciplined, so I guess that helps. Perhaps I also see the world differently. But overall we're happier, we spend more time with our kids than when we were in jobs, and life is great. I would also point out that the 'family business' is nothing new.…

Well said. I wanted to write the same concept, but you are more eloquent. There is an interesting effect when you have a company, the kids seem to pick up the business skills by osmosis. My children constantly surprise me with how much they know about my company.

Re: How I'm Bootstrapping a Startup While Raising Three Kids

#32

Post by jayro »

edw519 wrote: post #5

Very inspiring, OP. The little tips and tricks are always helpful, but what is best is getting us to think, "If he can do it, then so can I." One giant question, though. You describe a life where you often squeeze in a few hours on your start-up here and there. This sounds like it would work rather well for repetitive tasks like stuffing envelopes, folding apparel, or answering emails. But what happens if you have tr…

That's a really interesting question. What I've found is that when I'm obsessed with a project it tends to almost always be on my mind, so that when I sit down to work on it I generally have a very good idea of what I want to accomplish and how to go about it (or at least how to get started on it). And when I know I'm only going to have a limited amount of time to make progress then I really try to do as much mental prep as possible so that when I do sit down I can really do some damage. That said, there are times when I end up getting sucked into reading HN and accomplish very little. ;(

By the way, one quick trick I use to avoid wasting too much time on HN is to use the Instapaper bookmarklet to print out the articles in a condensed format to read later when I'm away from the computer.

Re: How I'm Bootstrapping a Startup While Raising Three Kids

#33

Post by nikster »

edw519 wrote: post #5

Very inspiring, OP. The little tips and tricks are always helpful, but what is best is getting us to think, "If he can do it, then so can I." One giant question, though. You describe a life where you often squeeze in a few hours on your start-up here and there. This sounds like it would work rather well for repetitive tasks like stuffing envelopes, folding apparel, or answering emails. But what happens if you have tr…

I was thinking the same thing. I have two little ones - I've been a freelance programmer for a long time but only recently have I realized that I am actually a creative. Like a musician or writer, I don't get paid for typing away on my keyboard, I get paid for ideas. By and large.

This means I need time in my day where I do "nothing" - where my mind is at ease completely - it's surprising how well it works when you just give it a try. That hard problem you were trying to solve? An elegant solution will suddenly appear in your mind. It's like your mind works best when it can slave away in the background, and not be distracted by thoughts.

I am sure it's different for everyone - but despite the fact that we have to bill hourly, it's important to understand that insights have nothing to do with the number of hours spent staring at the screen.

So the answer to your question is simple - as long as there are periods where we can relax completely, that's where our best work gets done. Whether I stress out and frantically type for 2 hours, or relax my mind completely in whichever way that works best for me, both is work, and I propose the relaxing way is much more efficient.

It's a whole world view. Answer the question of how much can a programmer get done in 8 hours? Well - the answer can be anything from getting close to fixing a bug to writing the next hit web application.

Re: How I'm Bootstrapping a Startup While Raising Three Kids

#34

Post by nikster »

flacon wrote: post #6

I am currently bootstrapping a startup ( http://www.wellhubstudios.com ) while working at another startup and have a 1 year old with another child on the way. Couple tips that I picked up along the way: 1. Patience. Building a company is a time-intensive process that can be frustrating when family is demanding a lot of your time. Just focus on the goal and slowly pick away at your giant todo list for launch. 2. Its G…

I admire your stamina, but I do like the OPs approach better. Time is relative.

I know I can't work 16 hours a day - I can perhaps sit at a desk that long - or in an emergency production server fix meeting, which has happened - but not get good work done. At least not if it's every day. One thing or another is going to suffer - the day job, the family, or the startup.

Re: How I'm Bootstrapping a Startup While Raising Three Kids

#36

Post by wyclif »

bugsy wrote: post #16

Working 5 hours a day on projects for clients, taking 15 minute breaks once an hour, and then working on the startup whenever there is time left after all that isn't really the same as creating a startup in a serious way. It also sounds like the wife is home all day and either a freelancer herself or not working. Having full time child care available from a live in caretaker is not really the same as having to raise…

Having full time child care available from a live in caretaker is not really the same as having to raise 3 kids on your own

I'm puzzled by your comment, because the author doesn't suggest those things are the same. It sounds like you're projecting onto him, since he's writing about what works for him.

Re: How I'm Bootstrapping a Startup While Raising Three Kids

#37

Post by yezooz »

flacon wrote: post #6

I am currently bootstrapping a startup ( http://www.wellhubstudios.com ) while working at another startup and have a 1 year old with another child on the way. Couple tips that I picked up along the way: 1. Patience. Building a company is a time-intensive process that can be frustrating when family is demanding a lot of your time. Just focus on the goal and slowly pick away at your giant todo list for launch. 2. Its G…

Reading this feels like dejavu beside I'm responsible for 3 little kids (1, 2.5, 4). Having three of them instead of one is a bit more demanding, but not that different. My day looks very similar.

I'm bootstrapping a game (http://www.car-battle.com), it made $0 so far which doesn't make it easier, but working in such environment you have to be super-persistent to make it work. This is what I do.

Re: How I'm Bootstrapping a Startup While Raising Three Kids

#38

Post by Mz »

To me, this looks like a very big piece of why he can do this and many people are simply not able to make this kind of money: I charge $100 per hour, which means if I work 4-6 hours per day, five days per week, then we're in decent shape financially and I'll have enough time left over to make significant progress on AppIgnite.

If I could charge $100/hr, I could replace my current job with about 5 or so hours of consulting per week (or scale it up a bit to have a more lavish lifestyle/pay down some debt), and then be free to do whatever the heck I wanted the rest of the time.

Re: How I'm Bootstrapping a Startup While Raising Three Kids

#40

Post by bugsy »

wyclif wrote: post #36
bugsy wrote: post #16

Working 5 hours a day on projects for clients, taking 15 minute breaks once an hour, and then working on the startup whenever there is time left after all that isn't really the same as creating a startup in a serious way. It also sounds like the wife is home all day and either a freelancer herself or not working. Having full time child care available from a live in caretaker is not really the same as having to raise…

Having full time child care available from a live in caretaker is not really the same as having to raise 3 kids on your own I'm puzzled by your comment, because the author doesn't suggest those things are the same. It sounds like you're projecting onto him, since he's writing about what works for him.

The article is one in a series of discussions about whether it is possible, or well advised, to start up a company if one has small children at home. Children need child care, health insurance, time, and money to support them. This is a difficult situation for some one starting up a new company. It is much better if you are single and unmarried to take on the risk of creating a new business from scratch.

This particular gentleman's situation is that he has a full time high paying job and a stay at home wife. The start up is a hobby he does in his spare time. There is not much insight to be gained from this because it is self evident that if you have full time paying work and a stay at home spouse, how to take care of your children and support them is not a problem.

There are many scenarios under which starting up a company with small children at home presents serious challenges and this is what has been discussed much recently. This particular scenario, of being able to comfortably support a spouse to stay at home with the children because one is primarily employed in work that is not the start up, is not one of the scenarios in which children are a particular challenge to overcome.

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