

Startup CEOs – The Panhandlers of the Internet - nano81
http://www.geekypeek.com/?p=707

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moxiemk1
The not being in debt is something I've worried about. I'm going to graduate
college in a year and a half, and will have a monstrous pile of student loan
debt. That would mean that I would need to be paid enough to subsistence-live
_and_ pay at least something on my loans.

That probably makes me not the best choice to invest in :(

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noodle
i'd point out the fact that you don't have to follow the "standard tech
startup" checklist if you have a good idea.

get a real job to help pay down your bills, save up, and work on your company
in your free time. or work on your startup most of the time and do
consulting/freelance work to make ends meet.

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moxiemk1
That's pretty much what I'm planning on doing - I had an excellent internship
this summer at a great web company, and I _am_ really looking forward to
continue to work there.

That said, the romance and adventure of eating ramen and working morning,
noon, and night to make something interesting and new is attractive. There's
plenty of the rest of my life, too, though, I suppose :)

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noodle
i really hate pointing it out, but working on a scrappy startup straight out
of school is either for the exceptionally talented or for the people who
have/had the financial support of their parents.

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moxiemk1
Indeed. And as much as I'd like to think that I'm talented and have good
ideas, I'm not going to risk being financially screwed to try them out right
away.

Looking at the founders who dropped out of school, or built an idea into an
empire, a common thread does seem to be a measure of financial stability, if
not complete freedom from debt.

Here's hoping that day comes someday.

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noodle
i think that would be an interesting statistic to look into. how many YC
founders come from well-off families? how many successful tech company
founders come from well-off families?

