Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Thanks HN: You helped save a company that now helps thousands make a living

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 194 posts

Re: Thanks HN: You helped save a company that now helps thousands make a living

#91

Post by quickthrower2 »

dvt wrote: post #78
quickthrower2 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can also get to millions by investing while working a regular job

Again, the upside is significantly higher if you start a company (financial independence is just one piece). It can be risky (see OP), but it's pretty rational to be a founder, especially if you can weather the adversity. I'm not even sure how my claims are controversial (especially here on HN, of all places).

Oh sure the upside is higher because you might start the next Uber or Facebook or Dropbox. However the utility of money diminishes IMO for most people past the point you no longer need to work. It depends on what you goals are and the probability distribution you are after. Also many founders end up burned and in poor physical health so there is that risk too.

Re: Thanks HN: You helped save a company that now helps thousands make a living

#92

Post by munificent »

dumbfounder wrote: post #41

I have mixed feelings about this story. I applaud your resolve, and you have certainly had a tremendous amount of success that should be celebrated! But I can't help but think about the 9 founders of other companies that had the same resolve in the same situation, but things did not work out so well. All you other people thinking about going for broke need to be ready to hit bottom and build yourself back up afterwar…

I agree with your point that we shouldn't idolize people who make very risky personal sacrifices without framing it in the truth that most who do fail.

At the same time, I read this particular post as much less about "look how hard I hustled and because of that I'm a winner" and much more about gratitude towards the HN community and the appreciating the luck that enabled them to be one of the rare winners. It's more "even though we hustled we were still on track to lose until we got lucky and supported from others." I think that's an excellent sentiment to share.

Re: Thanks HN: You helped save a company that now helps thousands make a living

#93

Post by scrozier »

dvt wrote: post #64
solidasparagus wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> still one of the most reliable ways of [...] becoming financially independent (if not outright wealthy) There's just no way this is true. For people with the skills needed by SV startups, working at one of the startups is almost certainly financially worse than using those skills at a large company.

I was specifically talking about founders (but even early stage engineers can do extremely well if the startup takes off). The upside is much higher doing your own thing rather than working at BigCorp (the two aren't even remotely comparable, but neither is the risk). Not to mention the end goals/QOL of working on what you want, commanding your own ship, being financially independent, etc. Virtually all self-made mil…

You're making a giant logic error. It may well be true that most self-made millionaires started a company. It is certainly not true that most people who start companies become self-made millionaires, which was the premise of your original post.

Re: Thanks HN: You helped save a company that now helps thousands make a living

#94

Post by baby »

dumbfounder wrote: post #41

I have mixed feelings about this story. I applaud your resolve, and you have certainly had a tremendous amount of success that should be celebrated! But I can't help but think about the 9 founders of other companies that had the same resolve in the same situation, but things did not work out so well. All you other people thinking about going for broke need to be ready to hit bottom and build yourself back up afterwar…

There’s actually no “going back up” or digging yourself of your own grave once you hit a large medical expense. Lots of people become homeless and bankrupt for life due to these issues.

Personally, my plan is to go back to Europe if I want to launch an American startup because there is no way I would do this without a good health insurance and good social safety nets.

Interestingly, we see much more startups in the US even though the downsides of creating your startup in the US are insane. I guess we are really optimistic individuals (or start up founders tend to be crazy individuals).

Re: Thanks HN: You helped save a company that now helps thousands make a living

#96

Post by wussboy »

blizkreeg wrote: post #73
dumbfounder wrote: post #41

I have mixed feelings about this story. I applaud your resolve, and you have certainly had a tremendous amount of success that should be celebrated! But I can't help but think about the 9 founders of other companies that had the same resolve in the same situation, but things did not work out so well. All you other people thinking about going for broke need to be ready to hit bottom and build yourself back up afterwar…

What is it with every post on HN having an almost 50/50 split along the cynical line. Of course 9/10 founders are going to fail, some people have more privilege to take risks, and people with families have to take measured risks. What's the point? Should people not try, keep crying about it, keep complaining that it's easy to say this when you have privilege, keep looking at the negative side? We all recognize life's…

Research shows that people view negative evaluations as being more intelligent. It’s extraordinarily difficult to be intelligently positive, and very easy to seem intelligently negative.

Re: Thanks HN: You helped save a company that now helps thousands make a living

#97

Post by baby »

dvt wrote: post #44
dumbfounder wrote: post #41

I have mixed feelings about this story. I applaud your resolve, and you have certainly had a tremendous amount of success that should be celebrated! But I can't help but think about the 9 founders of other companies that had the same resolve in the same situation, but things did not work out so well. All you other people thinking about going for broke need to be ready to hit bottom and build yourself back up afterwar…

> But I can't help but think about the 9 founders of other companies that had the same resolve in the same situation, but things did not work out so well. Everyone on HN knows that the startup life is, in many ways, a lottery. But that doesn't mean it's not still one of the most reliable ways of exercising self-determination, working on something you're truly passionate about, taking full responsibility for your fate…

Point of GP is that failing while hitting unexpected medical issues in the US will destroy your life with high probability. There is no prize for those who lost, just a feel-good stories for those like OP who “survived”.

Re: Thanks HN: You helped save a company that now helps thousands make a living

#98

Post by baby »

blizkreeg wrote: post #73
dumbfounder wrote: post #41

I have mixed feelings about this story. I applaud your resolve, and you have certainly had a tremendous amount of success that should be celebrated! But I can't help but think about the 9 founders of other companies that had the same resolve in the same situation, but things did not work out so well. All you other people thinking about going for broke need to be ready to hit bottom and build yourself back up afterwar…

What is it with every post on HN having an almost 50/50 split along the cynical line. Of course 9/10 founders are going to fail, some people have more privilege to take risks, and people with families have to take measured risks. What's the point? Should people not try, keep crying about it, keep complaining that it's easy to say this when you have privilege, keep looking at the negative side? We all recognize life's…

The point is that people should avoid that path until universal healthcare is a thing, and we need to showcase more stories of life destroyed not feel-good stories that give you hope that the system is “fine”.

Re: Thanks HN: You helped save a company that now helps thousands make a living

#99

Post by blizkreeg »

baby wrote: post #98
blizkreeg wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is it with every post on HN having an almost 50/50 split along the cynical line. Of course 9/10 founders are going to fail, some people have more privilege to take risks, and people with families have to take measured risks. What's the point? Should people not try, keep crying about it, keep complaining that it's easy to say this when you have privilege, keep looking at the negative side? We all recognize life's…

The point is that people should avoid that path until universal healthcare is a thing, and we need to showcase more stories of life destroyed not feel-good stories that give you hope that the system is “fine”.

So I suppose most people should not start a company for the next 50 years?

Re: Thanks HN: You helped save a company that now helps thousands make a living

#100

Post by Retric »

dvt wrote: post #78
quickthrower2 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can also get to millions by investing while working a regular job

Again, the upside is significantly higher if you start a company (financial independence is just one piece). It can be risky (see OP), but it's pretty rational to be a founder, especially if you can weather the adversity. I'm not even sure how my claims are controversial (especially here on HN, of all places).

Looking at upsides on their own is meaningless. The mega millions jackpot is currently at $550 Million dollars in cash. That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to spend 2$ on a ticket.

So sure, it’s possible to become a billionaire by writing books just look at J.K. Rawling. Hell someone got 10,000 bitcoins for the price of 2 pizza, which in theory are worth 366,790,000$ today. In the end the upside of being the founder isn’t worth much on day one. It might be worth something down the line, but it’s critical to have a fallback option.

Post reply on HN