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Why I abandoned my startup

westonmcbride.com

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Re: Why I abandoned my startup

#61

Post by unclebucknasty »

7Figures2Commas wrote: post #23
guylhem wrote: post #17

It is both funny and sad to read. So you decided to shed away your chances of success and the financial capacity to back up the projects you believe in +5 years, +10 years, +15 years from now (etc.) for the time preference of working right now on a project - because there is a water problem in this world. Tell me, what are you going to do about hunger? If you really cared about the water problem, couldn't you have do…

> If you really cared about the water problem, couldn't you have donated part of your (steady) income for that? This. There are tons of great organizations (non-profits, etc.) that are already doing wonderful things in a variety of areas. Even the ones with considerable human resources, knowledge, relationships, infrastructure and donor bases usually typically have a need for more support. What these organizations ne…

This is akin to advising would-be entrepreneurs to instead invest their time and money into existing companies because it's more efficient.

Re: Why I abandoned my startup

#62

Post by lmm »

nmridul wrote: post #44
guylhem wrote: post #17

It is both funny and sad to read. So you decided to shed away your chances of success and the financial capacity to back up the projects you believe in +5 years, +10 years, +15 years from now (etc.) for the time preference of working right now on a project - because there is a water problem in this world. Tell me, what are you going to do about hunger? If you really cared about the water problem, couldn't you have do…

>> Tell me, what are you going to do about hunger? >> If you really cared about the water problem, couldn't you have donated part of your (steady) income for that? Lets look at this way - Regarding donating (or paying some one to do what you wanted to do) - Just look around and you will see serial entrepreneurs building their next company bootstrapping from their previous savings. They could well have paid some one t…

>Lets look at this way - Regarding donating (or paying some one to do what you wanted to do) - Just look around and you will see serial entrepreneurs building their next company bootstrapping from their previous savings. They could well have paid some one to do it (coding, managing etc). Still you will see then right in the middle of the action. The simple reason is, most people love it.

Sure. If you want to do this yourself because you love it, great. But don't pretend it's because you can't stand the thought of some people being without water - if that was really the issue, you'd care about the most efficient way to solve this rather than doing it yourself.

Re: Why I abandoned my startup

#63

Post by 6d0debc071 »

apalmer wrote: post #6

'Doing work for money, especially when you have passions and interests in something bigger, is the most soul-sucking and demoralizing thing you can do.' You have lived a very sheltered life.

I'm not sure people's sense of unhappiness is particularly finely grained. Plenty of people kill themselves in situations that most people in history would probably have found enviable.

It may well be that working for money is the most miserable he can be, that any further stimuli would fail to make him any more so.

Re: Why I abandoned my startup

#64

Post by mgkimsal »

epynonymous wrote: post #50

this reminds me of a quote from the opening for "this week in startups" hosted by jason calacanis http://thisweekinstartups.com , he quotes ruby on rails founder, david heinemeier hansson, "if you're not working on your best idea right now, you're doing it wrong." ideas are a dime a dozen, but think about the one idea that you'd be willing to lose sleep, money, time, life, over. the fact that you're passionate about…

For people who come up with ideas all the time, "work on your best idea right now", taken literally, is paralyzing. And determining what "best" is is, at best, difficult to do.

Re: Why I abandoned my startup

#65

Post by nhangen »

My guess is that you're in your low to mid 20's, a time when most have achieved some modicum of independence, feel they have the world at their fingertips, and usually, that they deserve said world.

I remember it well, not with fondness, but regret, because decisions like these cost me the better part of 7-10 years of my life.

Perhaps this is a great decision, only time will tell, but there's something to be said for patience and persistance that leads me to believe this could be a dangerous decision. Here's why...

Your chances of a 200m exit are the same as most, and I don't think it's something you could or should have banked on. On the surface, this looks like a lateral move, and my guess is that the occupational differences won't matter in the long run.

What will matter is the behavior you have exhibited in making this choice.

We gain what we grant ourselves, and in this case, you've granted yourself a rush of impulse, which can lead to addiction and a selfish nature that can become toxic. I don't know you and I can't judge you for it, but from the outside, it seems to me like you are used to always getting what you want, and haven't had to struggle for much.

It's OK to want more, and to believe that you should have it. What isn't OK, is being selfish in your path to get there.

It's strange because we live in this society that celebrates impulse and selfishness as if it were our birthright. I'm talking to you, lifestyle gurus. On the other hand, we also celebrate steadfast determination and 'grinding it out.' In my experience, success comes as a result both in concert together, but because 'grinding it out' takes long-term effort, most throw it out the window.

What I'm getting at is that regardless of what you want, and how quickly you believe you should have it, each and every one of your decisions affects other people. In this case, your decision affects friends, family, founders, investors, and customers. Perhaps there was minimal collateral damage, and it sounds like you were mature in the way you handled this decision, but do remember that it's not just 'your life' at stake. It's everyone's.

I'm sure this was a difficult decision, and I applaud you for having the guts to make it and follow through. Just make sure you don't spend the next portion of your life repeating the same behavior because it suits the selfish gene. Now that you've acted on impulse, it's time to stick to it and make that decision count. It's time to do the work.

Re: Why I abandoned my startup

#66

Post by nhangen »

Mz wrote: post #34
ChuckMcM wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the things I try to do is learn from my experience, even when its a crappy experience I try to take something away that gives me a bit of meaning to that time I'll never get back. But that is not the way with everyone. Some people believe very strongly that collecting the most revenue in the time you have available on the earth is the best possible pursuit a person can have. They do not understand anyone who d…

Money can come or go. But you only live once. Congrats.

I suppose that depends on what you believe ;)

Re: Why I abandoned my startup

#67

Post by Mz »

kamaal wrote: post #47
Mz wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Money can come or go. But you only live once. Congrats.

>>Money can come or go Except that money doesn't just magically come and go. >>But you only live once. Try living in poverty. Trust me you will see all happiness in money.

I am currently homeless, which is certainly annoying as hell. But I have been through far worse things. You are barking up the wrong tree. I know firsthand that money problems are not the worst thing in the world, though poverty is also not as simple as lack of money.

Re: Why I abandoned my startup

#68

Post by akrymski »

I've felt like this many times in my career, especially when work gets hard. One thing I realized though is that one has to do what he does best. If it's selling a web-app - that's fine. Look at Elon Musk - he sold PayPal and then went on to use the money to fund world-changing initiatives. You shouldn't underestimate how many smart people there are working on world changing initiates, even in places like university labs. Unfortunately world-changing research doesn't pay well. Elon Musk on the other hand is a great example of hacking the system - making money the capitalist way, and then fund initiatives you want to be remembered for. It's a risk-reward trade-off of course, but something tells me if you'd think you could walk away with 100M in 2 years from your startup and use the money to solve the world's water problem - you'd probably do that. As usual it just comes down to your estimate in the gains in your startup over the next several years, versus what you think your time is worth.

Re: Why I abandoned my startup

#69

Post by Uchikoma »

arethuza wrote: post #53
Uchikoma wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I might totally misunderstand you as English is not my native tongue, but in Germany - and I assume in many other parts of Europe - there are large trucks that go around streets and smaller ones in parks that have vacuums and suck up the trash. Not sure if your idea was the invention or starting a service business to offer street cleaning services.

"small forests and unclaimed land from trash" Sounds like a slightly different approach - rather than having a vacuum cleaner of wheels (which can't go off-road). Have an "industrial" version of a standard canister/cylinder cleaner with a very long hose that can be used to clean grass/bushes. Sounds like a pretty good idea to me!

Yes, this is used here too, looks like a truck with a vacuum cleaner for offroad, forrest or side of the road. Don't know about cleaning bushed though :-)

Re: Why I abandoned my startup

#70

Post by bandy »

Uchikoma wrote: post #42
ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #19

Oh Weston, I'm in your shoes. I'm dreaming for a day when I can start a business that installs high powered vacuum suction motors and large hoses into 20 foot utility box trucks so I can help clean the billions of tons of trash that plague our cities. When I had time I created a hobby of cleaning up small forests and unclaimed land from trash. I'd show up in a green construction vest so people thought I was official…

I might totally misunderstand you as English is not my native tongue, but in Germany - and I assume in many other parts of Europe - there are large trucks that go around streets and smaller ones in parks that have vacuums and suck up the trash. Not sure if your idea was the invention or starting a service business to offer street cleaning services.

Even in St. Louis (Missouri, USA) there are street sweepers that basically look like this http://cityofgrandterrace.org/images/pages/N278/image002.jpg with brushes that move dirt and small items around and a (weak?) vacuum cleaner, as well as little trucks that are used to vacuum-clean things like parking lots like this http://bestservices1.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/7684... (from the name, I'd guess that it's of German manufacture). Therefore, I'm guessing that our young friend here has something else in mind.
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