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I'm 23, An Entrepreneur, and Fucking Terrified.

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Re: I'm 23, An Entrepreneur, and Fucking Terrified.

#81

Post by mindcrime »

mgkimsal wrote: post #80
mindcrime wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of ways you could be 'free' without owning a company. Oh yeah, no doubt. That's the problem with engaging in too much reductionism in conversations like this. Human motivation is always more complex than just one or two things. I want to build a startup for other reasons than just financial independence, for sure. I guess the way I'd put it is: "Founding a startup and growing a successful, profitable…

BTW, are you ever back in NC?

Oh yeah, I've been back since mid June, modulo a two week trip to Miami that I just returned from. I'm sitting at the Barnes & Noble at New Hope Commons now, writing this. :-)

We should get together again sometime soon, and do lunch or drinks or something. Shoot me an email or give me a call and let's see what we can line up.

Re: I'm 23, An Entrepreneur, and Fucking Terrified.

#82

Post by surfmike »

orionblastar wrote: post #46
surfmike wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"No startups want to hire me, nobody wants to help me" --> why does your profile then say "I am not looking for work, or joining a startup" ?

because I am going through a period of healing. Before I ended up on disability nobody wanted to hire me or let me join a startup. I had just been in a hospital recently and almost had a stroke and heart attack with high blood pressure, and found I have a defective heart valve. I had to take some time off to heal. What I am trying to do is side-projects on my own. If you think I can better do that by joining a startu…

Ah ok. Best of luck. Side projects make great portfolios too, I hope they work out for you, or otherwise they can be a great thing to show future potential employers.

Re: I'm 23, An Entrepreneur, and Fucking Terrified.

#84

Post by epa »

mgkimsal wrote: post #52
fennecfoxen wrote: post #35

"To all of the people who say that the best thing to do is get a good job, buy a nice house, and to put the max into a 401k that the company will match: Fuck you. It’s not what I want. Mediocrity is worse than failure." Hey, man, if that's not what you want, that's cool and all, but I'm just going to defend myself and my buddies with good jobs and stuffed 401(k)s: There are other things besides Business that matter t…

More to the point, most 'wantrepreneurs' rely on customers being in the middle class or higher, and having discretionary incomes from their stuffed 401ks to spend on their product/service/Saas/etc. To call that lifestyle 'mediocrity' and insult the very people that you need to grow your business is beyond the pale. Just wait until he starts hiring people. He'll need those people who are satisfied when their work life…

> Just wait until he starts hiring people. He'll need those people who are satisfied when their work life is 'mediocre' by his terms.

I think this is the best point brought up so far. He doesnt realize that others have different ideas about what success in life is. You cant be at the top looking down on your employees as just people who work for you and who are happy with mediocrity. It's a team effort, some have more responsibility than others.

Re: I'm 23, An Entrepreneur, and Fucking Terrified.

#85

Post by vinceguidry »

BWStearns wrote: post #63
untog wrote: post #17

I don't like judging people based on their age. It seems like a really blunt instrument that unfairly groups people together who do not belong there. But as someone who is only just pushing 30, I can say that you are talking the same kind of nonsense I did in my early 20s. "To all of the people who say that the best thing to do is get a good job, buy a nice house, and to put the max into a 401k that the company will…

>> Take a job as a developer. You'll make good money. Make sure it isn't for a demanding startup. Something that guarantees exiting the office at 5pm every day I have not worked in a developer shop yet, so this may not translate over, but in any of my other jobs (which were stable and not for startups) the idea of leaving the office at 5pm was ridiculous most of the time. Even if I did manage it, nothing stopped a 8p…

A software development job should require 40 hours and no more a week. If it doesn't, then you're either being mismanaged, don't know how to protect your time, or overcompensating for lack of experience. The answer to the first is to find another job. The answer to the second is to learn how to say 'no' diplomatically, and the third is to focus harder on craft and less on production.

Working more than 40 hours as a developer is not doing you or the company any favors, it's perpetuating a myth that overwork is virtuous. It will not make you more productive or make your company any more money. At the end of it all, you'll just be tired.

Re: I'm 23, An Entrepreneur, and Fucking Terrified.

#86

Post by BWStearns »

vinceguidry wrote: post #85
BWStearns wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Take a job as a developer. You'll make good money. Make sure it isn't for a demanding startup. Something that guarantees exiting the office at 5pm every day I have not worked in a developer shop yet, so this may not translate over, but in any of my other jobs (which were stable and not for startups) the idea of leaving the office at 5pm was ridiculous most of the time. Even if I did manage it, nothing stopped a 8p…

A software development job should require 40 hours and no more a week. If it doesn't, then you're either being mismanaged, don't know how to protect your time, or overcompensating for lack of experience. The answer to the first is to find another job. The answer to the second is to learn how to say 'no' diplomatically, and the third is to focus harder on craft and less on production. Working more than 40 hours as a d…

a) Why is 40 hours the magic number and not more or less?

b) Isn't the 40 hour work week pretty much a relic of industrial development? What about 40 means "virtuous"?

Re: I'm 23, An Entrepreneur, and Fucking Terrified.

#88

Post by vinceguidry »

BWStearns wrote: post #86
vinceguidry wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A software development job should require 40 hours and no more a week. If it doesn't, then you're either being mismanaged, don't know how to protect your time, or overcompensating for lack of experience. The answer to the first is to find another job. The answer to the second is to learn how to say 'no' diplomatically, and the third is to focus harder on craft and less on production. Working more than 40 hours as a d…

a) Why is 40 hours the magic number and not more or less? b) Isn't the 40 hour work week pretty much a relic of industrial development? What about 40 means "virtuous"?

Nothing magic about the number. You could probably do the job in much fewer hours if you're very focused. But I find it hard to maintain that level of focus for a significant period of time.

But you definitely don't need more.

Re: I'm 23, An Entrepreneur, and Fucking Terrified.

#89

Post by orionblastar »

surfmike wrote: post #82
orionblastar wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because I am going through a period of healing. Before I ended up on disability nobody wanted to hire me or let me join a startup. I had just been in a hospital recently and almost had a stroke and heart attack with high blood pressure, and found I have a defective heart valve. I had to take some time off to heal. What I am trying to do is side-projects on my own. If you think I can better do that by joining a startu…

Ah ok. Best of luck. Side projects make great portfolios too, I hope they work out for you, or otherwise they can be a great thing to show future potential employers.

Well if I cannot find work, I'll keep working on side projects until I can find work.
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