
Things I will tell my kids if they become entrepreneurs [slides] - mweibel
http://www.slideshare.net/laurenthaug/things-i-will-tell-my-kids-if-they-become-entrepreneurs
======
wiz21c
Been trying to start a small ERP (freelance) business. Basically several years
of work, then the partner goes nuts and starts : claiming intellectual
property, threatening with lawyer stuff, etc. All of that is super stressful
(and I'm not even in the 25-employees-in-my-company league).

Lessons learned : you must be tough to the point where you disgust yourself;
humans are even worse than you thought; contracts are a must (like in
"whatever you do, even if you're saving the world for free, selling your
mother")

Meta lesson : managing humans implies stopping being human. If you don't, then
you expose yourself to a lot of disappointment and stress... It doesn't mean
treating people like shit, it means you break all the bridges between you and
them; bye bye empathy, love, etc. The question is : do you want to be that ?

And in case you don't know, stress means : perpetually exhausted (that is, you
don't have a life beside your job, that is 0 quality time with your wife or
children and then you end up wondering "they've grown so much and I don't know
them"); pain in every part of the body (that is, even when doing your super
job, you aches; blood pressure go up, which means you'll be dead at 40; you
get sick much quicker; bad sleep which implies bad health). So stress does
hurt.

But somehow, I still want to do it : the need for freedom is so big I can't
give up :-)

~~~
chrisdotcode
> But somehow, I still want to do it : the need for freedom is so big I can't
> give up :-)

Perhaps there is an alternative freedom? Instead of accumulating so much
wealth you don't have to work (as per The American Dream), how about cutting
consumption so low (and freeing ourselves from a lot of our first world
"needs" like 24/7 entertainment) and trying something self-sustaining like
subsistence farming?

I feel as if true "freedom" is closer to not relying on "the man" at all, as
opposed to attempting to make him your slave.

~~~
UK-AL
subsistence farming is HARD. Much harder than sitting in a chair and writing
code. It's not really freedom because all you time is spent simply surviving.

~~~
generj
Also, it is not freedom because you are subject to the tyranny of the universe
ruining your plans.

Your crops can fail because of any number of reasons. With true subsistence
farming you could die through no fault of your own. You assume all risks for
your own survival.

------
kowdermeister
The equation is not bad, however I have an improved version of

    
    
        Startup = idea + execution + product + team + luck
    

I'd rather say:

    
    
        Startup = idea * execution * product * team * connections * money
    

Each multiplier should be limited to 0 .. 1 range and thus the closest the
left hand is to 1, the better the chances are you'll succeed.

~~~
fnbr
Sam Altman has given a speech a few times (I heard it most recently in "How to
Start a Startup") where he uses the same equation, but adds luck, where luck
is a random variable going from 0-1000:

    
    
        Startup = idea * execution * product * team * connections * money * luck 
    

I think that's a very accurate assessment of the situation. You need to work
hard, have a good team, etc., etc., but without luck, you won't be successful.

~~~
kowdermeister
I think luck has two meanings. One is the traditional sense, when you buy a
lottery ticket and you end up $1M richer. That's luck by pure chance. Luck on
the other hand can be more deterministic and people still call it that. For
example you start a chain of events that end up hugely in your favor. If you
don't know what caused it, you might call it luck, but in fact you put
yourself on the course to make that happen.

For me the other meaning of luck is when opportunity meets
potential/preparedness. If you are 100% capable of going live next day and you
bump into a reporter it's much more likely that they will feature you. And you
can put yourself into situations when it's more likely to meet reporters if
that's what you think need next. From the outside it will still look like "oh
Zifffify was so lucky that they got featured on XY".

~~~
warbiscuit
One phrase I really liked was "success is preparedness plus opportunity". In
that case, the equation would be...

prepareness = idea * execution * product * team * money

opportunity = connections * random-chance

success = preparedness * opportunity

~~~
kowdermeister
I like this breakdown too. If we want to add luck, random-chance as * ( 1 +
random-chance ) where it can be anything between -1 and 1. It can be both
negative or positive or no effect at all.

------
murukesh_s
Ask what they want out of it. They should be honest. Like really really
honest.

If it's for money, then my advice is - don't do it. Especially if you have an
option to get a 5 figure salary comfortably in a successful company.
Successful entrepreneurship is like a lottery. News covers only the
successes(lottery wins). No one covers the losses which is way larger. You can
easily get lured by seeing the news of successes. And if they are still don't
get convinced, it's their destiny to experience it :). If they do not have an
option for getting a comfortable salary, it's fine. The hunger will eventually
get you money.

If it's for passion, ask them to do it as side hobby/business. After all they
are not in it for money. And if they are really lucky they will reach a point
where they can make it a full time work.

p.s. I am into my third startup. This is exactly what I would tell my kids,
that is if they care to ask.

~~~
chinese_dan
"Successful entrepreneurship is like a lottery"

I disagree with this statement. If you want a company that makes a billion
dollars, your chances are very slim. I'm on my fifth company and my current
one makes over six figures (a few million in revenue).

All of my friends have gone through many hardships over the last 5 years
because they worked at other companies that downsized and they were let go. My
career has been pretty stable with my own company.

"If it's for passion, ask them to do it as side hobby/business."

This will ensure that it stays a side-business. Most people don't really have
the time to work 9-5 (and many times longer than this) and then run a company
full-time. Especially if they have a significant other.

I tried many times to start a company and inevitably failed. Mostly because I
couldn't really focus on it with a full-time job. If you really want to start
a business, I would recommend saving 6 months to a year of your current salary
and quitting. But make sure you actually have a real plan to make money.
Market testing is a must.

What I've noticed is that there just aren't that many people out there that
are willing to sacrifice their time or are passionate enough to stick with a
business long enough for it to succeed.

Before my successful company, I tried multiple times to partner with friends
that I thought would be a good fit for a business partner. They all failed
within the first year. I would end up doing 99% of the work and my business
partner would either do the least-possible amount of work or it would devolve
into me being the manager/boss where I had to assign them work (which I really
don't want to do). One person just didn't want to give up his
drinking/partying time with his other friends.

There is this myth on HN that running a business/startup is glamorous and fun.
Many people want to start a company because they like this glamorized idea of
running a startup and think it's cool. They usually are slapped in the face
with reality pretty quickly.

I never started a company for the money, it was always for the freedom. But
what I've come to realize is that money is freedom. The more you have, the
less control others have over your path in life.

~~~
pif
> "Successful entrepreneurship is like a lottery" > > I disagree with this
> statement. [...] I'm on my fifth company and my current one makes over six
> figures

So what? You winning the lottery doesn't make it any less of a lottery!

~~~
hga
I agree 100% that it's a lottery, my father was an entrepreneur nearly his
entire working life, and simply by a) keeping at it, b) never getting in too
far that it bankrupted him or put him in jail like the fathers of some of my
schoolmates, he managed to become a multimillionaire. Of course, he had
intelligence, talent, skill and increasing experience, plus the help of my
mother who's no slouch at any of those, but the key thing was not giving up,
and to a certain extent banking the proceeds of the successful ventures.

Ah, yeah, one other key was his ability to know when to sell out, and an
ability to sell such companies; as a matter of fact, he made more than a
little money on commissions in helping to sell other people's companies,
exiting when you have a small to medium sized company without any unicorn like
characteristics can be quite a trick. Arranging for some steady sources of
income from commercial real estate also helped in terms of riding out the
harder times, as well as paying off the family home as soon as was possible.

------
AndrewKemendo
I'm not going to tell my kids anything if they want to get into the
entrepreneur life. Every company is different, everyone in it has a different
experience and every period of time in history is different for those starting
ventures.

They currently have a front row seat to the show. They see my travel, constant
calls, late nights early mornings, product testing, team dinners at the house
etc...

And that's the only thing that will be the same 20 years from now when they
want to start their own thing.

The same skills needed in a startup are also necessary in corporate or
government work if you want to be a leader. It's just the boss that's
different.

------
phmagic
While I think this is a good summary of tactics for an entrepreneur, I would
encourage my kid to develop a unique worldview (or a true north) through
meaningful experiences.

There is no playbook for success, as the slides state in the beginning. But
the many experiences and failures of a person help them recognize opportunity
when they see it.

Most of the advice out there regarding entrepreneurship will be contradictory
and generalized. Knowing which advice to follow when depends on your true
north.

I'd say to my kid: get out there and get dirty, stay curious and take nothing
for granted.

------
mattmanser
With 127 slides I think the kids will be asleep well before they learn
anything useful.

------
paulus_magnus2
Nice but the hiring part is repeating all the wrong ideas our industry already
has.

If you're a startup you probably cannot hire great people, you're much too
risky and you don't have the money. Most probable it will be the processes and
mismanagement that will block value delivery. Get good enough people that will
fit well in the team and create an environment in which they can be most
effective.

------
madaxe_again
I think the most important thing to understand is that Yoo Will be All Alone
and Everybody will Treat you like you have a disease.

That sounds harsh, but it's reality.

Your family will be angry and envious. You are doing something your old man
only ever dreamt of. They will try to convince you not to.

At first, your friends will think you're nuts, but won't say that to your
face. If your business succeeds, you won't have time for friends anyway. Down
the road, they'll envy you, and they'll drift away. Some might ask for jobs.
Others will spread wild rumours for the hell of it. Don't hire friends, ever,
for any reason. You find them stealing petty cash, you're losing an employee
and a friend. And the respect of your existing employees.

Your cofounder, no matter how well you get on, will at some point down the
road he the biggest single source of stress in your life. They'll kick you
when you're down, as support requires effort, and empathy, both of which end
up in short supply.

Your wife will leave you for someone, anyone, she sees more often than you.

Your customers will never thank you, will pay as late as possible, and your
biggest and most lucrative clients will go bust with huge debts outstanding.
Sometimes clients will try to physically assault you.

Again, nobody will want to talk to you about it. Anyone you do talk to tells
you you should be grateful and happy and shut your damn whining hole. You're
wondering what bit about 20 hours a day 7 days a week for the last ten years
you should be grateful for. Certainly not the pay - you pay your staff 3x as
much as yourself.

The technology is the easy bit.

Humans are extremely hard work. Unless you enjoy the full shitty panoply of
human behaviour, do not start a business.

I left mine a month back after a decade. So not worth it.

~~~
rubidium
I know multiple well-adjusted, happily married entrepreneurs.

They went through many-year periods of extreme stress, week-to-week "will I
have to close shop this week" trials, and 0 vacation when starting their
business.

Before starting the business, each one had really good relationships. Solidly
built. Years invested in each other. A good community of friends who actually
cared for each other. They'd weathered other storms of life before. They knew
when focus was needed on the relationships, and trusted that the business
would work out.

They came out with some scars. But are now in a better spot then ever.

Sounds like you may not have had that.

~~~
madaxe_again
The business is doing fine, I just decided to leave. Scarred, yes. Wealthy to
boot, for what little good that does me.

It's hard to build a support network when you've moved every 18 months since
infancy - everywhere and everyone is always new. Started the business when I
was 22, come from a very atomised background - like a lot of entrepreneurs.
People either start businesses because they're very secure and content with
their lives, or the complete opposite.

I had friends when I started the businesss, but when there's no time to be
made, people inevitably drift away. It's also hard for them when they see
their goofy friend who everybody knew was going to fail, succeed. Nobody likes
to admit they were wrong, and envy is a wedge that will drive apart the
closest of friends. At this point I know nobody.

Not everyone comes from a small community they've lived within their entire
lives. Many don't in fact. What I present is the grim reality of starting an
intensive 24/7 business.

------
kornakiewicz
Advice is a form of nostalgia.

------
laurenthaug
Dear all, thanks for the feedback on the presentation, I will work on a new
and improved version including some of your comments. For those who would like
to get in touch I'm laurenthaug at gmail

------
gcav
"What you need to succeed in startups is not an expertise in startups. It's an
expertise in clients"

Love this. Without a customer you do not have a business

------
spitfire
> The only way to last is to be ethical and respectful.

Incorrect. That is ONE method. The method I would prefer more people took.
Another (of possibly several) is to lock your customers in like the telco's
did until they were broken up.

If you have a monopoly - your customers can't go anywhere else, you don't have
to be ethical or respectful.

------
manigandham
Site note: Slideshare is a terrible site and painful to use, please use
speakerdeck or something else to share these.

------
lazyant
#52: "you will attack people that want to help themselves more than they want
to help themselves"

Is any employee over 22 or so wanting to help their companies more than
themselves?

------
endlessvoid94
This is the kind of thing that many experienced founders will nod their heads
at, and has deep meaning.

These are also the things you can (maybe?) only understand deeply via
experience.

------
mixmastamyk
Where might I find a download link not behind a reg-wall?

------
hacker_9
Love this quote:

 _“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster
horses.”_ \- Henry Ford

Very motivational. I really wish people would stop using this one though:

 _" The best way to predict the future is to invent it."_ \- Alan Kay

Just seems to trivialize the problem, very de-motivating in my opinion.

~~~
robbiemitchell
Unfortunately, he didn't actually say that.

~~~
codebeaker
Curious too, the phrase is _very_ widely attributed to him, if it's falsely
attributed, I've been unknowingly contributing to the misattribution!

