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Are you sure you want to start a company? (A Letter to Y Combinator Applicants)

jonbeilin.net

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Re: Are you sure you want to start a company? (A Letter to Y Combinator Applicants)

#41

Post by ericd »

michaelochurch wrote: post #40
TheEzEzz wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How do we make a world that harnesses rather than suppresses this enormous amount of creative and industrious energy that is not being utilized? I think this is exactly what we're seeing more of. Sites like reddit really allow for people to tap into their inner creativity and make something that makes other people happy (like rage comics). Of course, no one is making money off rage comics (except reddit). I'd love…

I did a blog post on this sort of thing: http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/those-who-wor... Sadly, I think that there are too many people in power who want the current arrangement to persist. Allowing people to work more creatively is great for society, but it's bad for the people who currently hold power (who care more about their relative position in society than the health of society as a whole). I do…

I'm not convinced that letting everyone do what they want/feel passionate about is a good thing for the economy, and I'm quite sure that it's not the way it is because of a conspiracy of the people in power. Many, many people feel most passionate about things with nearly 0 economic value, and if they all had jobs doing those things, the economies that followed this kind of thinking would probably not be doing so well.

There are many things that need to be done to keep something as complicated as a world economy of specialists running, and many of them are not fun or intellectually stimulating. Maybe when robots have replaced us in all those roles, and programmers can wield the labor of a thousand workers.

Re: Are you sure you want to start a company? (A Letter to Y Combinator Applicants)

#42

Post by mkramlich »

il wrote: post #2

I don't think I want to change the world right now. I really don't. Does that make me a bad person or unfit to be an entrepreneur? All I want to do is solve a real problem for some segment of a large market and make their lives a little easier. I want to build as much value as possible for my customers, so that they are willing to pay good money for my software. And yes, I want to get rich. I agree that optimizing so…

> But questions like "Why is there so much materialism? Why is it so competitive?" strike me as absurd.

Agreed. That kind of question I think only comes from a place where one has not experienced things like having a child or spouse or parent needing $100k+ for a medical problem. (To give just one easy example.) Or at least, not having the foresight to consider such events.

Re: Are you sure you want to start a company? (A Letter to Y Combinator Applicants)

#43

Post by michaelochurch »

ericd wrote: post #41
michaelochurch wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did a blog post on this sort of thing: http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/those-who-wor... Sadly, I think that there are too many people in power who want the current arrangement to persist. Allowing people to work more creatively is great for society, but it's bad for the people who currently hold power (who care more about their relative position in society than the health of society as a whole). I do…

I'm not convinced that letting everyone do what they want/feel passionate about is a good thing for the economy, and I'm quite sure that it's not the way it is because of a conspiracy of the people in power. Many, many people feel most passionate about things with nearly 0 economic value, and if they all had jobs doing those things, the economies that followed this kind of thinking would probably not be doing so well…

I'm advocating basic income, not "everyone does what they feel passionate about". After this one very important socialist reform, we'd still have an essentially free market. In fact, we'd have a freer market because people would be free, not forced by poverty to work. A lot of people don't have much vision or passion and would prefer doing things for money over not doing anything and settling for a lower-middle-class lifestyle. So the toilets would still be scrubbed, because people would pay others to do it.

On the other hand, the people who follow their passions would be merely living on not-very-much, but not at risk of starvation, long-term underemployment, medical bankruptcy, et cetera.

Re: Are you sure you want to start a company? (A Letter to Y Combinator Applicants)

#44

Post by mkramlich »

borism wrote: post #18
ultrasaurus wrote: post #4

>Would you sell it for $20 million? If you answered yes, at this stage, find a new idea. Selling a business for $20M would make it a lot easier to get traction for your next idea.

really? I think if your next idea sucks no amount of money will buy you "traction". $20M will run out pretty quick.

> $20M will run out pretty quick.

my Linode hosting bill and Ramen receipts would beg to differ with you on that point. ;)

Re: Are you sure you want to start a company? (A Letter to Y Combinator Applicants)

#45

Post by seanahrens »

Jonathan, thanks for the great post. I agree with you (unlike a handful of HN commenters) on feeling uneasy about the materialism, doing a startup for the money, etc. I saw (and experienced) a lot of that first hand and never really understood it. Doing a startup to get rich off a startup in my opinion is like playing in a rock band for the fame and money, not for the music.

Re: Are you sure you want to start a company? (A Letter to Y Combinator Applicants)

#46

Post by robryan »

ultrasaurus wrote: post #4

>Would you sell it for $20 million? If you answered yes, at this stage, find a new idea. Selling a business for $20M would make it a lot easier to get traction for your next idea.

I depends the size of your company to and whether you have been able to take any money off the table. If I'm sitting here earning under minimum wage from my startup and someone comes along and offers $20 million, sure I'm going to take it. If you have already been able to take a few million off the table to cover the material side of life then it's a very different proposition.
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