Confessions of a 20-Something Startup CTO • Hacker News Board

Re: Confessions of a 20-Something Startup CTO

#91

Post by ajdecon » Mon, Jul 30, 2012, 2:33 PM UTC

Xcelerate wrote: post #60

mquander wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't make sense. People emotionally calibrate themselves against the visible skills of the people in their peer group, not a global distribution of IQ.

Yeah, I know they do that, but it doesn't make sense to me why they do that. If everyone expects to be #1 in the world, everyone but one person is going to be disappointed.

It's not a rational thing, but more instinctive. Your immediate surroundings influence you in all sorts of unconscious ways, but all the people in that global distribution are pretty abstract. You can quote statistics all you like, it's difficult for them to change how you "feel" about yourself.

Also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbars_number

Re: Confessions of a 20-Something Startup CTO

#92

Post by larrys » Mon, Jul 30, 2012, 3:10 PM UTC

tlogan wrote: post #74

larrys wrote: post #18

"I began getting depressed about the lack of a life I had outside of work. I’d bring this bad mood to work with me, in turn making it a worse place to be. I’ve since made an asserted effort to dedicate time to my social life: going on trips with friends; going on dates; and, most importantly, getting work completely off my mind occasionally." Serious question (and my thoughts) here I'm not trying to be cute. Regardin…

I 100% agree that you need to focus and work hard to make business succeed however I disagree that 20s is the best time to do that.

What time do you feel it's best to do that then?

Re: Confessions of a 20-Something Startup CTO

#93

Post by tlogan » Mon, Jul 30, 2012, 3:56 PM UTC

larrys wrote: post #92

tlogan wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I 100% agree that you need to focus and work hard to make business succeed however I disagree that 20s is the best time to do that.

What time do you feel it's best to do that then?

After you raised the kids (first things first). So late 40s early 50s.

Re: Confessions of a 20-Something Startup CTO

#94

Post by dinkumthinkum » Mon, Jul 30, 2012, 5:20 PM UTC

heretohelp wrote: post #34

dinkumthinkum wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe pay special attention to the part about humility. :)

Maybe seek to understand the original comment and ask the questions necessary to eliminate the disparity of your perception and the meaning intended to prevent yourself from making a totally pointless comment. Your response is pointless. Just downvote me next time instead of polluting the thread. Or be productive and ask me why I said what I said like the others have.

:) You're projecting.

Re: Confessions of a 20-Something Startup CTO

#95

Post by modarts » Mon, Jul 30, 2012, 7:57 PM UTC

j_col wrote: post #80

modarts wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is there this overwhelmingly anti-bootstrapping sentiment present in the startup community? What's so wrong with taking outside funding?

If you take outside funding, you're not bootstrapping. According to Wikipedia: "Bootstrapping in business means starting a business without external help or capital." Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootstrapping#Business There is nothing wrong with taking outside funding, but then you don't get to call it bootstrapping any more (as per the widely-accepted definition above of what the term means). This is mixing…

I should have clarified that I was trying to ask a more general question as to why bootstrapping is seen as a superior way of starting a company as opposed to taking on funding.

Re: Confessions of a 20-Something Startup CTO

#96

Post by bluesnowmonkey » Mon, Jul 30, 2012, 9:31 PM UTC

lazerwalker wrote: post #23

larrys wrote: post #18

"I began getting depressed about the lack of a life I had outside of work. I’d bring this bad mood to work with me, in turn making it a worse place to be. I’ve since made an asserted effort to dedicate time to my social life: going on trips with friends; going on dates; and, most importantly, getting work completely off my mind occasionally." Serious question (and my thoughts) here I'm not trying to be cute. Regardin…

> The best way to insure that you can live the life you want and have some fun is to put all the effort in that you can now and try to put off having fun until a bit later on. Now is when you have energy and should be able to work non-stop with very little else. (I didn't surface for air for 7 years working 6 to 7 days a week ..) There's a flip side to the coin, though: your opportunities for 'having fun' are very di…

I would add that you gain perspective later in life from the experiences of your youth. Someone who both worked and played will be more rounded than someone who only did one or the other.