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Ask YC: What would you tell your younger self?

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31–40 of 156 posts

Re: Ask YC: What would you tell your younger self?

#32
I like Mark Twain's take:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Re: Ask YC: What would you tell your younger self?

#34
post #3

Don't worry about trying to impress people. Just work hard on things you like. Don't get into debt.

I hear ya about the debt. Though my dad told me that and I didn't listen as well as I should have, so it might be a waste even coming from myself. I've just now returned to the good credit category.

Re: Ask YC: What would you tell your younger self?

#35
post #11

don't waste your college years. That was 4 years of not needing to worry about food or paying rent that could have been used to launch and grow a startup to profitability.

"don't waste your college years" precisely...two chicks at the same time. don't blow it. College is the absolute best time to achieve this with just a bottle of vodka instead of needing to become a millionaire.

Please don't.

Re: Ask YC: What would you tell your younger self?

#36
post #11

don't waste your college years. That was 4 years of not needing to worry about food or paying rent that could have been used to launch and grow a startup to profitability.

"don't waste your college years" precisely...two chicks at the same time. don't blow it. College is the absolute best time to achieve this with just a bottle of vodka instead of needing to become a millionaire.

Am I allowed to disagree and say that I'm one of the rare males who doesn't find the prospect of sex remotely interesting unless I really care about the girl? I've tried getting shitfaced and hooking up, and even at my drunkest I find the prospect entirely repulsive.

As a freshman: I'm not really into the whole "college experience" thing. I've been in better situations before. A friend and I are making our start-up, and I'm looking forward to leaving college early and finally talking with people who care about things like making a living and going through life. I can't stand the immaturity of the average college student.

Re: Ask YC: What would you tell your younger self?

#37
post #3

Don't worry about trying to impress people. Just work hard on things you like. Don't get into debt.

Out of curiosity (I think that's sound advice through-and-through): would you say the same thing to the dramatic socialite?

Most of my friends are part of the theatre circle: for a lot of us, impressing people and seeming really cool doesn't come from a desire to be liked, but from the thrill of getting reactions from crowds. It's more the act of people who specialize in trying to handle crowd emotions. Is that a separate thing, or would you bundle that sort of community attitude as attempted impressing?

Re: Ask YC: What would you tell your younger self?

#39

Avoid debt (for me, it was the IRS when I started being self-employed). Travel a LOT (it gets harder as you get older). Get jobs in interesting places (I went to school too near home and really didn't get adventurous 'till later). Being entrepreneurial is good, but don't get into services (I had a web dev agency-- crappy way to build equity)... Build products instead. Get to a tech hub sooner. Avoid the following 4 w…

Fortunately, that last one is getting corrected right now...

Re: Ask YC: What would you tell your younger self?

#40
I have actually thought very deeply about this question and would often ponder about it in my spare time. Hypothetically speaking if I could go back in time and tell my younger self one thing it would be:

DO NOT FORGET February 13, 2002: 1,4,19,28,46 M4

If I could say a little more on top of that it would be: invest in google stock.

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