51–60 of 118 posts
This is a really common case. When you are alone with your startup idea, you often fail to give the right priority to the tasks you need to complete to get to something of value finished. Advisors are the best solution to me. And I'm working on a solution for all the (would-be) single founders to get help with this issue: http://www.asaclock.com
I wrote and submitted this article to HN about a year ago. I've since moved it from a self-hosted Wordpress site to Posterous, which is probably why the dupe-checker didn't catch it (slightly different URL). A lot has happened since then. I'm still working toward my goal of doing my own thing (ironically, still working for someone else myself). When you're trying to create and market a bootstrapped business, its pret…
People work for others because they need that steady paycheck. Maybe they like it! Not everyone has a terrible job. Not everyone hates their job. Not everyone wants to start a business. This assumes that just anyone has what it takes to start a company and it isn't so. I agree with the guy who said that those who who actually can do this don't need to read this.
The biggest problem with articles like this is that it feeds unrealistic ideas to all those idiots out there with terrible ideas, the ones who want to be the next JobZuckerbergParkerBezos for the sake of being a billionaire because hey, its cool and they think they have what it takes too. They're gonna be the next big thing! Yeah! But not really.
This makes people think that just because they can, they should and glosses over all the harsh realities of getting into business like the enormous personal risk, the high odds of failure, and the fact that, quite frankly, most people aren't competent enough to run a business.
It also does a disservice to those of us who have started a company. It makes it look like we're slave drivers making money off the backs of our poor employees when really our poor employees are getting as much as we can give them without having to deal with the problems we do which are far more than theirs. We take on the stresses they do plus the ones they don't have to. It also makes us look kind of, well... Common.
You know, I used to read articles like these before I started my business and now that I see things from the other perspective, I sometimes wonder if I'm one of those idiots I rail against that have no business being in business. I wonder if I'm delusional and if I'll ever get where I want to be or if I'll have to close up shop and say I was wrong and I'm not one of those people who are cut out for this. I'd tell people don't start a business. It's an ungodly amount of stress, the risks can far outweigh the rewards, and it's incredibly egomaniacal to think you're one of the special ones who will make it. This isn't something where you just open up shop, collect money and live large. You struggle, it can suck, and your personal relationships will suffer. Your ideas aren't special either. Everyone has a website or app idea that they think is the next big thing and it just isn't. I know because my clients are those people. That said while I often think these things of myself, the rewards have been worth it. But I must stress that it's not like that for almost everyone else.
The article lacked a warning to people to tread carefully into entrepreneurship with a supremely grounded attitude. Think realistically. Life isn't like The Social Network. It's ugly as sin and encouraging the masses to take a leap like this is scary.
I wrote and submitted this article to HN about a year ago. I've since moved it from a self-hosted Wordpress site to Posterous, which is probably why the dupe-checker didn't catch it (slightly different URL). A lot has happened since then. I'm still working toward my goal of doing my own thing (ironically, still working for someone else myself). When you're trying to create and market a bootstrapped business, its pret…
I wrote and submitted this article to HN about a year ago. I've since moved it from a self-hosted Wordpress site to Posterous, which is probably why the dupe-checker didn't catch it (slightly different URL). A lot has happened since then. I'm still working toward my goal of doing my own thing (ironically, still working for someone else myself). When you're trying to create and market a bootstrapped business, its pret…
As any software developer knows, projects fail. And 90% of the time they do not fail from technical reasons, as you found out (the hard way). Any developer worth his salt can make a project work from the technical point of view, but only few have a great idea that they can actually market. It's not the programming that matters, it's what you sell with that program. And you have to know how and what to sell more than you know how to program.
I wrote and submitted this article to HN about a year ago. I've since moved it from a self-hosted Wordpress site to Posterous, which is probably why the dupe-checker didn't catch it (slightly different URL). A lot has happened since then. I'm still working toward my goal of doing my own thing (ironically, still working for someone else myself). When you're trying to create and market a bootstrapped business, its pret…
So you actually wrote the article at the same time you started your first side project, and expect people to follow your @#$% goldmine example? As any software developer knows, projects fail. And 90% of the time they do not fail from technical reasons, as you found out (the hard way). Any developer worth his salt can make a project work from the technical point of view, but only few have a great idea that they can ac…
I wrote and submitted this article to HN about a year ago. I've since moved it from a self-hosted Wordpress site to Posterous, which is probably why the dupe-checker didn't catch it (slightly different URL). A lot has happened since then. I'm still working toward my goal of doing my own thing (ironically, still working for someone else myself). When you're trying to create and market a bootstrapped business, its pret…
Seriously? Why don't you make the system generic enough (a service to manage "youth organizations") while still marketing it to Boy Scouts chapters? I'm sure there's more to it, but I can't imagine how you could have a system that is sellable to a client that somehow ceases to be sellable when you remove literal mentions of the client's trademarks.
Perhaps I gave up too soon, but I've moved on. I'm well into my new project, which is certainly not sexy, but I'm excited about it.
I'm getting tired of this crap. You're a developer, so why do you work for someone else? Some people would much rather take a paycheck then try to run a business for obvious reasons. Think about the biggest websites you visit or use on a regular basis: Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Foursquare, or even Google for that matter -- all of them were created by developers who created something from little more than an idea in…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Very true, but there's no need to assign developers as "inspiring experts" and entrepreneurs as "wealthy people." 10/10 of the wealthiest people are not successful because they wanted to be rich, they're successful because they enjoy business and entrepreneurship. These people aren't any different than you; they just have different interests. It ultimately comes down to your personal interests. Like business? Be an e…
I agree completely about money. We all want money but the system is rigged and wealth is something most of us won't get. I'm still very young but I believe it's enough to have enough money to live comfortably, get married, raise some kids, and all that first and foremost. I aspire to be really wealthy but I'm not deluding myself into thinking this is an achievement that anyone can get. It feels like the best we can d…