

Your startup will be more successful if you have fun & forget about getting rich - dchs
http://startup-marketing.com/figuring-out-your-way-to-startup-success/

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jafl5272
If you're only interested in having fun, you run the risk of building
something really cool that nobody needs.

~~~
seanellis
Good point. Still the critical point of the article is that obsessing on
getting rich is more likely to lead to failure. Staying loose and having fun
is more conducive to creatively solving customer needs. Solve customer needs
and you'll probably make a lot of money. Focus on getting rich and you
probably won't make any money.

~~~
neilc
I still don't see what "having fun" has to do with "solving customer needs":
often customer needs are boring, esoteric, poorly-specified, and technically
uninteresting -- exactly the opposite of the sort of thing you'd do to "have
fun".

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seanellis
Solving customer needs takes creativity. If you are having fun, you are more
creative.

~~~
Aetius
Creativity is often the result of great adversity. But in a roundabout way,
you're right (but probably not in the way you think). See, by having fun,
you're wasting time you _should_ be spending solving the problem. Then just
before the deadline, you miraculously solve the problem. Your fun beget your
laziness,which beget your desperation,which beget your creativity.

~~~
seanellis
Fun might be the wrong word. My key point is that you'll be more productive
and effective if you are loose and enjoying the process.

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rick888
This is actually a problem with most startups. They don't concentrate on
something that's a viable business and fail within a year or two. I don't
necessarily want to become rich. I just want to have a business where I have
enough money for me (and anyone else involved in the company) to live
comfortably and most importantly, not have to go back to a day job.

~~~
pxlpshr
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_business>

~~~
zackattack
You get significantly diminishing margin returns (where utility=happiness)
after 100k/yr income.

~~~
pxlpshr
I disagree. I think that is a very linear view of (money = happiness) and it
doesn't include the 'real life' factor.

Reality = Stay-at-home Wife. Kids. Education. Retirement Goals. et. al.

~~~
zackattack
Am I confused? That's the whole point. (Money, happiness) correlation is only
linear to an extent.

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jman73
Sean is absolutely right on. Too many people think a "fun" culture means
Xboxes, free drinks and fooze-ball or a really "fun" cool market space. That's
a mistake. I don't think that's the fun Sean is talking about. I think that
for creative people - esp. developers and product people - it is intrinsically
fun to simply build something awesome, even in a less than "fun" space. The
main reward is real people loving your awesome creation because you've solved
their problem. I've found that even talking about the money can be de-
motivating because it makes the problem solving feel less pure, more
instrumental, less meaningful. Nothing is more fun or sustaining in the tough
times than a simple email from a user saying "I love your product, thanks!".
When the team lives for that, you've got a great team.

~~~
seanellis
You said it much better than I did. Totally agree.

~~~
jman73
thanks! As an aside, i notice that these types of observations quickly devolve
into a reductio ad absurdum of "but money really counts" or "but you like
money". The answer is: of course. People are complicated and have multiple
motivations - team and individual motivation is not "either/or"... it's
complicated!

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tansey
The article says:

"When breakthrough thinking is needed, a fun, collaborative and supportive
environment will generally yield better/faster results than the pressure of
sticks and carrots. This is especially important in the early days of a
startup while the team is still figuring out a viable formula for the
business."

But it's assuming there is already a startup company that you've founded.

I'm currently going through the agonizing process of filing for an S-Corp and
setting up all the other legal structure to found a startup. Are there really
people who would get a couple friends together and file all that paper work
and pay all those fees then sit down and think "Hmm.. okay. Now what should we
sell?"

Even if you just have an idea for a fun product, if you aren't monetarily
focused, I have no idea how you would get yourself through the whole process
without considering a "viable business formula."

~~~
vaksel
it must be different for your state, here all we do is fill out a form, and
that's it...you get your paperwork a few days later in the mail.

then one day to hit up the bank to open up the account

~~~
tansey
I am in CA, and trying to incorporate in NV. So I need to get a registered
agent in NV. Also, my cofounders are in different states and we're not paying
straight dividends for other reasons. Then there are the pains of having a
lawyer to craft our T&C.

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bartl
By coincidence (though I don't think it is coincidence) Jeff Atwood's latest
blog post at Coding Horror, "The Vast and Endless Sea"
([http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2010/06/the-vast-and-
endles...](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2010/06/the-vast-and-endless-
sea.html)) is about the same thing: how offering lots of money is detrimental
for creativity and motivation.

I agree with his recommendation at the end: watch the 10 minute video "RSA
Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us".

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thepumpkin1979
Yeah, is not about making money at all, it's about have fun and then sell all
that fun for millions :)

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iworkforthem
My thought on any startup to be successful, they must be stay relevant to its
users. Sure it won't hurt to have a bit of fun along the way. I'm sure if it
help users in its course of work, there will be users who are willingly to pay
a bit of $$$.

