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Thanks HN: Goodbye, Golden Handcuffs

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Re: Thanks HN: Goodbye, Golden Handcuffs

#91

Post by seejay »

Dear fellow HNer,

This is to help you when you visit this page again in a difficult time...

Shit happens... thats completely normal. Awesome things will definitely come your way. You only gotta do one simple thing...

Keep swinging!.. Don't ever give up!

Tattoo this on the back of your hand if you want... it's totally worth the trouble.

With the very best of luck,

SeeJay

PS: And thank me on that day when you read this post again with joy... Oh just for the record, No! I don't have it tattooed on the back of my hand... I make sure I have it on my mind instead. ;-)

Re: Thanks HN: Goodbye, Golden Handcuffs

#92

Post by jriley »

nerd_in_rage wrote: post #47

how much cash do you have in savings? i'm thinking of doing the same thing.

Living Fat = 3 months, Living Lean = 12+ months. I'll use my 401k but not Roth IRA. Also have some equity/cashflow from a duplex that helps. FWIW, I woke up this morning feeling great on 4 hrs sleep and not worried about money at all - the prior six months mornings were filled with worry and dread.

Re: Thanks HN: Goodbye, Golden Handcuffs

#95

Post by jasonkester »

stavros wrote: post #54
patio11 wrote: post #28

Congratulations on making the most important decision of your life and, secondarily, on opening the business. Words cannot express how much better self-employment is than what I used to do for a living.

Well, it's only good if it's making you money...

Not necessarily. Neither of the sites that have done the most for my quality of life have ever brought in much in the way of direct income. They have, however, put me out there as a guy who's capable of building products like that, which have led to some really good consulting gigs, thus allowing me to keep traveling the world and doing my thing from a laptop.

So even though it was years before I hit on the first product that generated significant income on its own, there was still a net benefit from having put out my shingle right from the start.

Re: Thanks HN: Goodbye, Golden Handcuffs

#97

Post by gawker »

csomar wrote: post #75
StavrosK wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you afford food/rent if you made no money?

Family. You can live with your parents, actually nothing wrong about it in many countries. If you eat with them and they have Internet, your living costs are around 0.

Yep.. it's all about being filial in Asia.

Re: Thanks HN: Goodbye, Golden Handcuffs

#98

Post by cicero »

StavrosK wrote: post #65
thenbrent wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's only sustainable if it's making you money. It's always good, even when it's bad.

It depends on your definition of good, then... It's certainly enjoyable, but if you lost years of your life and have nothing to show for it, I wouldn't consider it a tremendous success. That said, there's nothing I'd want to do more than having a startup.

There are things that are far more valuable than money that a person can gain from an experience.

Re: Thanks HN: Goodbye, Golden Handcuffs

#99

Post by marcamillion »

Firstly...let me say...Congrats.

Secondly, brilliant that you made sure to lock in the girlfriend at the beginning of the journey, not after you started when she realizes what a crazy person you are - and how crappy the emotional roller coaster will be. :)

Thirdly, I wish you all the best. I would recommend that you quickly setup a landing page to ride the support you are getting from the community - collecting emails from people interested in what you are doing. You have to take advantage of all of these opportunities right now, because you officially have a clock strapped to your back (i.e. before you run out of money). So leverage every opportunity to the most you can. On the landing page, put something about the project that people can figure out if they would be interested or not.

Fourthly, definitely keep us posted - even those that might not be interested in your product, will be inspired by your story.

Re: Thanks HN: Goodbye, Golden Handcuffs

#100

Post by roel_v »

scorpioxy wrote: post #88
roel_v wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Succeed or fail, you'll come out of it better off than you started." About half of the comments I read so far have said something to this effect so far, there's only so much a man can take before he needs to speak up ;) : this is bullshit. I know many (as in, 10+) people who started a company and got utterly fucked for the next decade, maybe two, because of its failure; and all they have to show for it is a period o…

Part of being an entrepreneur is knowing when to change directions or abandon an idea all together. Spending a decade on an idea that is not working and won't possibly work is not all that smart. This type of life is definitely not for everybody. The fact that you know people who have failed also doesn't mean anything. I know a lot of people who haven't even tried and that, to me, is a lot worse.

Spending 10 years chasing one pipe dream after the next isn't smart, either. My point is that 'doing it' or 'not doing it' are not inherently smart, brave or whatever. "It Depends"(TM) on the circumstances. The sweeping generalizations about how great the entrepreneurial life is that are made here are unwarranted.

"The fact that you know people who have failed also doesn't mean anything."

Of course not, it's just anecdotal. But it does disprove the notion (your notion even, maybe) that no matter what happens, if you start your own business you're always going to be better off.

"I know a lot of people who haven't even tried and that, to me, is a lot worse."

Depends. If whatever they'd like to try (assuming they'd even like to) is not going to work, they're better off not doing it. Obviously there's no way to knowing up front if something is going to work or not. Still, being realistic about your prospects and deciding that objectively and realistically you're better off not trying, then that's a valid and honorable decision.

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