
Ask HN: As a single bootstrapper, how do you deal with the pressure? - throw9322
A few years ago, I wanted to make a product, but I wasn&#x27;t very technical. So I decided to change that--I got technical. My problem is that I&#x27;m embarrassed of what I make. Intellectually, I know that I shouldn&#x27;t be bothered by this. I don&#x27;t have a huge team of VC-backed employees burning money to make a perfect thing. It&#x27;s just me. But I&#x27;m tired of being shit on by my friends and family. According to my family, programmers are just &quot;coder monkeys,&quot; people you hire to make your grand idea and <i>that&#x27;s how it&#x27;s done</i>. Friends look at me like I&#x27;m a lesser person because I&#x27;m not out to work for the most prestigious company like they are. I want to make a tool for small businesses, I want to do it profitably, and I want to be proud of it.<p>How do you deal with people saying, &quot;That&#x27;s it? Anybody could have done that in a couple weeks!&quot; Maybe that&#x27;s true! Maybe I&#x27;m not a very good product maker! But I want to be, and you&#x27;ve gotta start somewhere, right? Combine all of the above with a case of worsening depression and it&#x27;s hard for me to stay motivated and it&#x27;s hard to keep defending myself. I also worry about what I&#x27;ll do if this doesn&#x27;t work. Does anyone have any advice? How do you do it?
======
ThomPete
When I was practicing scales to become a guitarist in my youth, my mom always
came in and said "can't you play something we we know". My guitar teacher on
the other hand said great and gave me another to practice.

You are making the mistake of "playing scales" in front of an audience who
expect a performance of a final composition rather than a teacher who can
provide feedback on your work in progress.

Change the audience.

~~~
shostack
As someone learning to play guitar this is the hardest part for me. The scales
are boring and I want to jump to the fun stuff or learning a song. But then
learning that song is a similar process. I have coworkers who are skilled
guitarists and it is frustrating to watch them because I know they've put in
the hours of doing scales.

It is hard to stay motivated when the "wrong audience" is yourself.

~~~
ThomPete
Then don't.

There are many ways to learn to play music. If you just want to learn to play
songs then do that. Don't worry about the scales.

Instead of learning scales start jamming with some background music. Start to
transcribe some solo you like (don't use tabs) and learn to play that way.

If you aren't motivated by playing scales then you shouldn't do it.

Make sure that it's always about enjoying music first, then about learning
theory or technique.

One of my favorite ways to learn scales was to do patterns in the scales over
some chord progression. That ways I was playing little patterned melodies
while learning to play the scales.

Also don't confuse learning scales with learning to pick. Most of the times
when you hear someone learning scales just going up and down the strings they
are really practicing picking technique which is many times harder than to
learn the actual scales.

~~~
shostack
That's pretty much how I've been doing it TBH. My mother passed down her old
Martin classical guitar and so I've been learning some basic folk fingerstyle
patterns which is fun because it gets the finger work in while sounding nice
(or will sound nice once I get my speed up).

The most frustrating part is I used to be a section leader when I played
clarinet in HS and could borderline sight read at that point. I've forgotten
pretty much all my musical knowledge since then (including how to read sheet
music), so it has been horribly frustrating to have shadows of memories for
how fluent I used to be in this stuff and to have to start from scratch again.
That probably makes me much less patient than I normally would be.

------
codegeek
It is simple. Stop defending yourself.

Don't talk to people about what you do unless you really think that there is a
need or you know for a fact that they are the right audience. Family and
friends are usually not the right audience for this. Tell them something vague
like "Trying to do a few things of my own" and keep it to that.

Overall, don't sweat it. 99% of people don't get this whole bootstrapper
thing. They are happy to be miserable slaves in their fancy brand name 9-5 job
with zero job security (there is no such thing as a job security). Ok I should
not go there. Some people actually like their jobs so I should not judge :)

You just smile, move on and keep doing what YOU want to do. You are not the
one to do the usual 9-5 job working for someone else.

Join bootstrapped forums [0]. You will meet plenty of people like you who will
not only listen but give you the advice, support and even mentorship that you
may want.

[0] [http://discuss.bootstrapped.fm](http://discuss.bootstrapped.fm)

~~~
fillskills
I don't have direct advice, but this is what worked for me. Most of my family
and friends all were very disappointed when I wanted to work on my idea. Some
were unsupportive, some didn't understand why I didn't want a high paying job
with security. But my mind was pretty set that I wanted to do it and I had
enough buffer monetarily for a while so I was able to ignore their sentiments.
Plus my explanations were not helping.

After about 1 year into it, I finally was able to explain my thinking to the
close ones as :"I am risking that if I work on this for a while, there is a
chance that I might become rich enough for us to not worry about money for a
decade. If it doesn't work, we will go back to where we already are". That
clicked for almost everyone in my close relations.

~~~
enos_feedler
Did you have a timeline when explaining this to close relations? I feel that
the people around me were more anxious about _when_ I would decide to back to
making money at some big company. When someone says, how long is "for a
while?" what do you say?

~~~
fillskills
Absolutely. I set up a 3 month recurring re-evaluation. Every 3 months I do a
reality check and tell my closed ones the result of whether I want to stay in
my startup or leave. This gives them the confidence that I am thinking about
my life rather than having no clue at all.

------
GFischer
It sounds more like a problem with your family and THEIR expectations than
with yourself.

If you're able to make a product, you'll be ahead of 99% of people.

Don't be afraid to put yourself and your product out there. If you wait until
you're not embarrassed, you've waited too much :) .

If you're solving people's problems, they won't mind if your product is not
polished. Really.

Also, you'll learn A LOT from building your product, and especially from
working with customers and feedback.

If it fails, you have learned some VERY valuable skills. I use what I learned
building my side project a lot more than what I "learned" at my former day
job.

To be fair, my own project is languishing (because I have a day job). I'd say
go for it :) .

Look for support groups, I used to go to a coworking space which was very
cheap and it was great because it had an amazing support between coworkers.
Universities also have such spaces, and sometimes governments too.

------
kohanz
That doesn't sound like pressure as much as it sounds like unsupportive
friends and family. If they don't bring other things to the table (other than
negativity), i would reevaluate some relationships. That said, honest feedback
is important. You should have a small group of trusted advisors/mentors that
you can trust to tell you how you are really doing, but in a constructive way.

~~~
throw9322
I totally agree about the importance of honest feedback! Truthfully, it's
something I'm not getting now and should work on.

~~~
kohanz
Do a Show HN or share some of your work on Ask HN!

------
brilliantcode
I was you only a few years ago. I spent a year building a really complex SaaS
in my bedroom. Then I tried to sell it the next year and a half with dismal
results.

1) Validate first by talking with potential customers _before_ building.

2) If the MVP takes longer than 3 month to build, you are barking up the wrong
tree.

    
    
      a) problem/product fit is too high for a lone developer.
    
      b) your lack of experience & skill may be a bottleneck.
    

3) If people are going around saying it can be done in a couple of weeks,
ignore them, unless they have done a similar project before in which I'd
listen very carefully _why_ it shouldn't take long.

4) If people are telling you've been at it for too long, it's time to
reevaluate your self, skills & business.

5) Don't go at it alone. Partner up with a coder. Share the pain.

~~~
Cafey
>If the MVP takes longer than 3 month to build, you are barking up the wrong
tree.

It doesn't necessarily mean the product isn't fit or you lack skills. It may
just mean that you need to split the product into smaller releases/sprints.

Say your idea can ultimately lead to a really big software. You should sit
down and spend some time planning which features are _required_ and which ones
can be released at a later time. Doing this will help take some of the
pressure off if the product is not "perfect" or doesn't do everything you had
planned for it.

~~~
brilliantcode
I'm factoring in those agile/lean/scrum/4letterword frameworks.

What I mean is to be wary of minimum number of features that you need to sell.
Obviously if you were building a database to rival MySQL or OrientDB, the bar
is that much higher.

Likewise, I think that if the MVP takes longer than 3 month for OP, it's wise
to say that more resources are going to be required for that niche which OP
may not have.

An MVP will signal whether the pain your customers is experiencing is urgent
enough. If they start complaining why X doesn't work when Y has it then you've
essentially created a vitamin solution, nice to have but nothing close to
solving real pain points.

------
dongslol
I always found the "coder monkey" idea amusing. Programmers _are the ones who
have the ideas._ Your intuition has to be fed data, and the best source of
data about what programming can accomplish is _having programmed._ When I meet
people who suggest that programmers are monkeys for hire, I always wonder, am
I to understand that being a programmer is somehow a setback in having ideas
about what kinds of things programming can accomplish?

Anyway, you're building something through your own initiative, and every day
you wake up and think to yourself, "what do I build next?" Perhaps you
continue thinking hard about this as you pour yourself a coffee or whatever.
Then you go and build it, and if you picked the wrong thing, your customers
will as a direct consequence get mad at you. I personally think that kind of
responsibility is much more exciting than being managed.

There's a pretty good chance all this will fail, simply because most things
fail. That doesn't mean it was a waste of time. It just means your time wasn't
here yet, and in the meantime you face life with a bit more data than you had
before. Maybe next time around.

As for the people who tell you your project could've been built in a couple
weeks, ask them if they routinely say the same thing to students doing problem
sets, or anyone who's just starting to learn something. I mean, it's just
nonsensical.

Also, mean-spirited negativity is really bad. You basically just have to cut
people who radiate it out of your life, or at least be disciplined about what
you talk about with them.

I don't know, that's my $0.02.

~~~
wingerlang
> Programmers are the ones who have the ideas.

Other people can have ideas too, and they can hire programmers to code it for
them. Not sure why you put emphasis on programmers having the ideas.

~~~
nailer
Because they're aware of what tech can and can't do. Not the grandparent, but
it's right there in the post you're replying to.

~~~
wingerlang
I read the "ideas" as having the business ideas, not the implementation detail
ideas.

~~~
nailer
The implementation possibilities limit or expand the product idea.

Also the implementation is the product, and the product is most of the
business. They are not separate things.

------
milge
None of my projects went anywhere, and eventually, I gave up. I used to have
the rosy view that with enough work you'll get there. That's largely untrue.
You also need to know the right people (connections) and be very lucky. I hate
to be a downer, but you don't often hear this side of the opinion.

~~~
sean_patel
> You also need to know the right people (connections) and be very lucky

Not sure about 'being lucky' but 'knowing the right people' is very true.

After Marissa Mayers took over the reins of Yahoo, she went on a 'buying
spree'. Several of her acquisition were questionable, including an app called
'Summly' \- a seemingly simple app that "summarized news" that she purchased
for Yahoo, by paying 30 MILLION in ALL CASH deal.

Even the algorithm that it used to summarize wasn't his own. He outsourced
that work (the core functionality) to
[http://www.sri.com/](http://www.sri.com/)

It was later revealed in a Forbes or BI article that this '15 year old teen
hacker genius''s family (either mom or dad) and Mayer's husband were buddies
at Goldman Sachs or something of that nature.

Related reading:

Yahoo Paid $30 Million in Cash for 18 Months of Young Summly Entrepreneur’s
Time => [http://allthingsd.com/20130325/yahoo-paid-30-million-in-
cash...](http://allthingsd.com/20130325/yahoo-paid-30-million-in-cash-
for-18-months-of-young-summly-entrepreneurs-time/)

Here's What Happened To All 53 of Marissa Mayer's Yahoo Acquisitions =>
[http://gizmodo.com/heres-what-happened-to-all-of-marissa-
may...](http://gizmodo.com/heres-what-happened-to-all-of-marissa-mayers-yahoo-
acqu-1781980352)

~~~
raarts
Luck has a lot to do with it. Marissa knew the people who started Google and
that was luck. She may be talented but there are many others just as talented,
who weren't at the right place at the right time. The founders who succeed may
attribute their success to their hard work and persistence, but many forget
they were actually very lucky as well.

------
adocracy
Intellectually, you're on the entrepreneurial path, with a purpose. How you
emotionally defend yourself is also part of the entrepreneurial path - we work
more hours for less money (on average) because we "control our own destiny"
which implies of sense of ownership over one's life that you can't get
elsewhere working towards someone else's bottom line. That's probably a myth,
but it's an important one for maintaining our psychological health while under
the stress of under-delivering. Don't be confused here - as an entrepreneur,
you will ALWAYS feel like you're under-delivering, whether on time, or on
traction, or on product, or on revenues, or on team, or on awareness... That's
an unfortunate part of the path. But it's also an important part of the drive
to improve the product, improve the team, etc. Entrepreneurs unfortunately
also have a high rate of depression - I'm not adequately versed in those
personality types to make any assessments as to why. But as an entrepreneur, I
can tell you that, personally, I face that stress every day and yet carry on
because I feel like my work is important. I'm not building follow-on products
- I'm trying to build first-to-market products, also with a purpose. So either
that purpose has to carry you through these tough defensive discussions and
resulting stress, or that purpose isn't sufficient, and you'll drop the
product and/or the title entrepreneur. If you're going to own your own path,
you either do it wholly, or you don't. Trying to figure out a middle path will
kill the average person. Don't be average.

------
brianmurphy
It sounds like you have two issues, your social group and your product.

I can't help you with your social group. It's up to you to associate with the
dream killers or not.

The product market is very interesting and counter-intuitive. There are
countless cases of where the best product is not the most successful. Spend
some time studying sales and you'll find product quality is secondary to how
you position it.

This may not make you feel good about it, but that's the cold truth behind
success. The way I personally deal with the quality vs sales issue is to focus
only on product quality and have my partners focus on what's needed on the
sales side. Finding a partner with good salesmanship might be your way over
the slump that you're in.

------
kayman
1\. Ignore the critics. Unless they have something useful to say, don't listen
to them. We live in an age of critiquing. Only listen to critics who are also
producers themselves. Consumers - either they consume your product or not.
Just measure it and try to get better at the metric each time.

2\. Focus on creating things. Be a maker. Find joy in it. Regardless of how it
comes out, if you enjoy the process, you'll repeat and get better at it.

3\. Get in the habit of sharing. Accept that 90% of your work will be average
and that's okay.

Finally, what you're feeling is normal. It's all part of the journey. Both
professionals and amateurs face this fear in their own way.

------
ollerac
Take a long walk and put things in perspective. You are on your own with this
and that means you have to stop caring what other people think. Not because
they won't give you good feedback, but because that kind of feedback cannot
matter to you in the same way any more. You don't have that luxury.

As a product developer, you owe it to your product to do your best with it.
That means that your allegiance is not to your family when it comes to your
product. When they give you feedback, bad or good, you need to take a step
back and weigh it evenly with everyone else's feedback, scientifically,
objectively. If you can do this, you can make a good product, or at least get
most of the way there, while avoiding distractions along the way.

The whole thing about making a product is... it's a long, hard road. The
reason for this is not because of the ups and downs or how much you have left
to learn. It's just actually a long road... for anyone. If you start paying
attention to feedback early on, positive or negative, and let it sway you, you
are doing yourself a huge disservice. It's early on, your product _should_
suck. You need to realize this, pack your sentimental feelings away, and get
to work.

Do you know when you've made it? When you've finally hit the nail on the head
and won the game? It's not when your parents or your friends or your sister is
proud of you. It's not when you get your first positive customer review. It's
not when you turn a profit. It's when you allow yourself to be proud of
yourself, knowing that this journey you're on is tough as nails and you're
doing it anyways. When you do that, you won't need anyone else to praise on
you.

------
plainOldText
Unfortunatey, we are highly unpredictable and emotional machines. You're going
to have to deal with ups and downs, moments of euphoria as well as depression,
no matter what.

The key is to stay disciplined, and if you believe strongly that what you're
working on solves a real problem no one else is solving appropriately, then
keep working on it, very hard.

While at it, keep looking for people to join you on your adventure and
hopefully success will come along the way.

Also, a good read: [http://www.wisdomination.com/screw-motivation-what-you-
need-...](http://www.wisdomination.com/screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-
discipline/)

------
idlewords
Managing stress and anxiety is a big part of working solo. If you're not doing
so already, may I suggest you carve time out for yourself that is inviolate
(for example, on Sundays you close the computer).

Remember that your first job is to keep yourself from burning out, or else all
the other stuff you do will not matter. And try to notice patterns in your
anxiety, and anything that is effective at keeping it down. Tend to yourself!

~~~
throw9322
Thanks, Maciej! (Current customer of Pinboard here). BTW, you're one of the
people in tech I look up to most. Not because you're the richest or have the
biggest company (SV dick measuring), but because I think you've figured out
how to live best.

~~~
idlewords
Thank you, and good luck to you!

------
xpose2000
> According to my family, programmers are just "coder monkeys".

You don't have to prove yourself to anyone. I stopped trying a long long time
ago. Anyone who thinks programmers are just "coder monkeys" aren't really
worth even having a conversation with.

No one will understand what you are doing. You should read up on articles
about what it is like to be a boostrapped company and the type of nonsense you
will face. Perhaps others linked to a few helpful and motivational articles to
get you started.

You need to have thick skin and confidence that you are on the right path.
Enjoy the climb, even though it will be insanely difficult.

I started my boostrapped company barely making any money and now I make more
than most people I know. Use that as motivation and realize that being on your
own means you can exceed anyone's salary because you play by different rules.

------
aswerty
Personally I have a lot of anxiety when discussing something when the original
idea was mine. Where as if I discuss something that I made but the original
idea was somebody else's I don't get anxious. I guess that just how I work.

Deep down I know most people don't even make it as far as creating something
bad. So even if my idea is bad I keep going knowing I'm well ahead of the
curve in terms of trying to create something in this world.

I guess my only advice is; learn to live with embarrassment. It just takes
some courage - which from the sound of it, you already have.

As to the "Anybody could have done that in a couple of weeks". They probably
don't know what they're talking about. Because if they did, they wouldn't be
saying that.

------
atlih
I understand what you are going through, went through it myself when I was
younger. The mistake I made regarding this was being defensive, don't lump all
your family and friends into one pot and bark defensively at it. Never be
defensive about this. Be proud of your product, ask them if they see any
obvious errors with it, you might learn something because they are invested in
helping you. They mostly care about you and don't know anything about putting
a product to market. But anyway something might come out of it. And then for
those in the bunch who are trying to make themselves look good on your
account, just ask them if they plan to waste their entire life as their bosses
bitch.

------
bdavisx
>According to my family, programmers are just "coder monkeys," people you hire
to make your grand idea and that's how it's done.

Yes, tell that to the coder monkeys who started Google, Facebook, etc.

I don't know the statistics (and I'm not sure where to find them), but I'm
guessing that the majority of successful tech companies had a "coder monkey"
as one or more of the founders. I used to work for a private company that was
started by 3 COBOL coder monkeys (yes COBOL - not that I'm a fan) that went on
to be a $100+ million dollar a year operation (lrs.com). All bootstrapped,
NEVER took a loan that I'm aware of.

Don't listen to them.

------
senorjazz
>How do you deal with people saying, "That's it? Anybody could have done that
in a couple weeks!"

lol (or at least smile to yourself) and ignore it. You will always get this.
Later on, if the product is a success it will change slightly to "can you just
make it do this, I don't think it will take long, just a couple of hours I
could do it myself if I knew how". When the truth is it is at least 4 days of
solid work (as in 32+ hours)

As for friends and family, be vague, don't tell them. If they are not
technical, just baffle them with big words, throw in lots of buzz words so
they don't want to see :)

Good luck

------
emmanvazz
Watch some Gary Vaynerchuk videos, seems like you need some motivation. There
is one where someone asked him about expectations from others. His advice is
basically give them the middle finger and stop making them an excuses for YOUR
hustle. Also once you start selling your product you will soon see the market
make your current doubter seem soft. In the sense you are trying to convince
people to look at you in a positive light versus conviencing people that you
provide value and they should pay you for it.

I am also a bootstraper, however went to college to be technical. However I
can tell a majority of the top tier programmers don't have an once of hustle
in them. They just want to play it safe. You learning how to be technical
proves just how much you hustle you have in you, just keep at it.

At the end of the day clients don't give a fuck about how much technical
experience you have or anything else other than your product. If the product
is good and provides value for them, their wallets open. There is also vast
evidence that having the best technically sound product doesn't mean a
victory, people can be better at sales and marketing with a subpar product.

Look for hustlers in your life. If they aren't there, surround yourself with
the content hustles post online.

Good luck man, go out there and kill it then just watch people change their
opinion of you without saying anything.

------
koliber
I found that when listening to advice, feedback, and praise, __what __is said
is just as important as __who __says it.

A lot of people say things, both positive and negative. You don't have to
accept it all at face value. It's hard at first, but with time, it's possible
to tune into this. Accept what people are saying with a smile and a nod, and
only take it to heart if it is coming from someone who is qualified to make
that sort of statement.

When someone says "That's it? Anybody could have done that in a couple weeks!"
and they have never built a thing in their life, just ignore them. As harsh as
it sounds, their words are worthless. They may still be good and loving
people, but in this case it does not make sense to listen to them.

I'm going through this, but as an experienced developer learning the ropes of
SaaS marketing a fledgeling product. It sucks! I know what I am doing __right
now __is sub-par. But these are stepping stones. Some of the feedback I get is
harsh, but is easy to dismiss as it is coming from people who do not
understand the present situation or don 't have the experience to offer the
kind of feedback they are trying to offer. On the other hand, a critique
coming from an experienced source is worth its weight in gold, even if it
stings at first.

Keep at it! It sucks now, and it's possible that what you have built right now
is sub-par when compared to everything else out there. But this is just a
start. You've come a long way to get here, and if you have a long road ahead.
Just keep going and little by little you will get to a point you want to be
at.

------
ohstopitu
I totally understand your pain. I'm currently working on my startup and I'm
almost in the same position as you.

While I'm working at a company (because I have bills to pay and I'm just out
of uni), my startup is bootstrapped by myself - and while it's tempting to get
VC money, I feel like before I even consider doing that, I want to get
something that can stand on itself if I don't get that funding.

My family & friends are pretty dismissive of my startup (you need more
experience, you've failed before, you can't do this, you are wasting your
time/money etc.).

So take it from me....

1\. ignore the nay sayers (unless they are your target market in which case
take their opinions on the product and ignore the rest). you know what you
want to do. you have a vision and you know what you want in life - most don't
have that, and you have absolutely no one to answer but yourself.

2\. you are learning and you are improving - that is awesome (because that
means you know where you are lacking and where you can improve).

3.Finally, let's say you do fail (hey, a lot of startups fail), you have
learned valuable skills which would be awesome for you to apply to either your
next venture or at "the next big corp here" \- eitherway, it's a win - win.

4\. Finally, you choose being bootstrapped because you a sustainable business,
you want to own your own business and in a way an adventure. So enjoy every
momement of it. While this might feel terrible now, once your business does
succeed, you'll have a lot more riding on you :) - So full steam ahead!

finally if you wanna get in touch, I'm available sk AT skdev.xyz

------
sean_patel
> programmers are just "coder monkeys"

Wow, how condescending ( the family, not OP). Is this notion isolated or
widespread?

My family thinks I am a Tech Ninja, and almost all my Gym friends, many of who
are in blue collar jobs, really look up to me.

~~~
senorjazz
well they are right, kind of. We are just the descendants of monkeys who code.

Ain't nothing wrong with that :)

~~~
brianwawok
Well if it goes too far you end up like Europe with a salary cap and a very
narrow job range. I am greatful developers in the US are not all seem as code
monkies.

------
campusman
This has helped me greatly over the years in a world full of haters. May it
help you too.

[http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7-it-is-not-the-critic-
who-c...](http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7-it-is-not-the-critic-who-counts-
not-the-man)

------
amorphid
Let's break it down:

>> A few years ago, I wanted to make a product, but I wasn't very technical.
So I decided to change that--I got technical.

You are a bad ass. I went from techinical recruiting to software engineering.
In between I built a recruiting business powered by a Rails app that demanded
more than I was prepared to give. That shit was damn hard, and only someone
who has been through the business guy to coder guy transition appreciates how
much of a bad ass you actually are.

>> According to my family, programmers are just "coder monkeys,"

They're being assholes and/or you are taking it too personally. I'm guessing
you are simply stressed, and they don't know to be excited for you. Everything
is taxing when you are exhausted, including putting up with people may simply
be breaking your balls.

>> I want to make a tool for small businesses, I want to do it profitably, and
I want to be proud of it.

Take care of yourself first. Your first paying customer may love you, rely on
you, and wish you the best, but they ain't gonna pay the hospital bill for
your self induced heart attack. They care about you, but not in the way you
care about them, and you can't afford to be altruistic. Also, the majority of
VC backed companies were funded because they had some combination of traction,
relationships, expertise, and reputation you have yet to achieve. And if you
want stress, take a few million now, hire people, and freak out when you
realize you're going to run out of money before your product is worthy of the
next round of investment.

>> "That's it? Anybody could have done that in a couple weeks!"

The Gettysburg address was written in a single train ride, and is only 272
words long. But it was written by a man who worked for years to build up the
skill to create & deliver that speech to an audience that actually wanted to
listen.

>> How do you do it?

Working my ass off, living off money I saved for taxes, and ignoring reality.

Ping me if you wanna vent. My email is in my profile. I'd be happy to listen,
and I won't offer any unsolicited advice :)

P.S. I am a bad ass, too, which basically means nothing to anyone, except
maybe you. Being the king of your own mountain isn't that impressive until
it's tall enough that everyone has to look up to see the top, and even then,
they won't understand what you went through to get there. It's good to be
king, but it's also lonely at the top.

------
rcavezza
"That's it? Anybody could have done that in a couple weeks!" is awesome to
hear. You need to be sure you ask that person what is missing and what you
should build next instead of defending yourself.

All feedback is good feedback- just don't take it personally. The feedback
isn't about you or your ideas, the feedback is about what someone sees in
front of them.

Your ideas will change as time goes forward. People's reactions to what you
build will change. You'll make dumb product mistakes. You'll build the wrong
things. The only way to learn when you do that is to get people to look at
what you're building and let them tell you why it's not good.

You're on the right track and we all go through this. Just calm down a bit and
don't take things personally.

------
akulbe
Does the term “bootstrapping” only apply to a product business? Or does it
apply to a service-based business as well?

If it applies to service businesses as well, I know in my case one of the
biggest stresses is dealing with the actual operations side of the business.
Especially getting new customers.

In my case, one of the most effective things is to learn how to tune out the
noise. And by noise, I mean all of its many forms - social media, comments
from friends/family, anything that distracts you from the real _work_ of your
business.

I'd encourage you to stay independent and go as long as you can without taking
funding. Keep complete control for as long as you can.

Have laser like focus on making a good product, and serve your customers well.

It'd be cool to talk with you further, and hear about your work. Good luck.

------
tixocloud
What's important is what your users and the market says about it. Take the
negative in one ear and let it go on the other side. It's part of the journey
- everyone who has a dream will invite doubters. Use it as fuel to propel you
to success.

------
forgottenacc57
You are the hero. None of your critics are taking action like you. None of
them is stepping up like you. None of them are educating themselves like you.

I admire you and I admire that you are taking action.

Programming is HARD. _Really hard_. It takes years of constant hard work to
get good at it. The more code you write, the better you will get.

Business is HARDER THAN PROGRAMMING, without the guaranteed outcome that you
get from programming. In business you must simply try and try and keep trying
and hope one day the cards fall your way.

And the important thing is that you are trying. Most people don't even try.

------
0x1d
Create an MVP or even just a landing page before dedicating too much time into
any project. Launch the MVP or landing page on places like HN, Product Hunt,
Reddit, etc. to gage traction before before moving forward.

------
arconis987
I appreciate the quote from Epictetus, a key philosopher of stoicism: "Freedom
is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie
beyond our control."

Since you cannot control the reactions of other people, it's not worth your
time to worry about them. If you can succeed at the things you can control
("Am I making consistent progress on the product?"), then you've succeeded,
regardless of the reactions of other people.

------
NumberCruncher
No one owes you anything. [1]

Your friend and familiy do not have to understand your motivation. They do not
have to understand your decision building a product instead of working for a
"prestigious company". They do not have to be your friend.

On the orher hand, you do not have to give a fuck about their opinion. The
said truth is that there are 7 billion people on earth and you can not make
all of them happy with your way of life. But you can make happy yourself.

I read once an articel where someone was asked "And what do you do when the
people say you have crazy ideas?". His answer was "I talk to other people!" Do
not worry, there are other people out there who understand you. You only have
to find them and listen to them instead of the naysayers.

[1]
[http://www.harrybrowne.org/articles/GiftDaughter.htm](http://www.harrybrowne.org/articles/GiftDaughter.htm)

------
nitrogen
From my own experience, one of the biggest drains on productivity in a startup
is having zero support and confidence from the people closest to you. They are
probably wrong to doubt, but it's hard to ignore them and keep pressing
forward. I'd suggest trying to do something I never figured out, and surround
yourself with people who believe in what you are doing (without being yes-
men/women).

------
nartz
Maybe you're selling it wrong, or presenting yourself inappropriately. Namely,
if I want to climb everest, and I walked up a local hill - it would seem silly
to say "Look everybody at me I'm on my way to climbing everest!" \- even
though that could be a true statement.

Maybe you need to be more modest about describing it, especially if you can't
handle the feedback.

~~~
throw9322
That's a very good point. I've tried to be as modest as possible when talking
to other people (e.g. "I'm working on a small software project" rather than
"I'm building the biggest, best thing!"). I tend to roll my eyes when other
people say stuff like that. Presentation is very important, though, and I'll
certainly keep that in mind. Thanks.

------
rajacombinator
1) Don't associate with negative people.

2) Tell them Google and Facebook could be built in a few weeks too. (Mostly
accurate!)

3) Consider that you're extremely unlikely to succeed "you against the world"
in these circumstances and how you could get some partners on board.

------
nolite
You're never going to make it as long as you keep giving a f*ck about what
other people think...

~~~
dilemma
Lots of good advice here, but this is #1.

------
unclebucknasty
Are you embarrassed by what you make because people keep putting it down or
because you objectively know it's subpar?

If it's the former, then you should try to filter for constructive feedback
and let the rest go. BTW, the same is true if they claimed to love your
product. Don't get too excited either way. It's just a few opinions and the
market will ultimately decide.

If it's the latter, then you need to focus your time and energy on fixing the
product vs. "defending" yourself. Also, try getting it in front of a wider
audience that's representative of your target market ASAP.

At the end of the day, you should work to be as objective as possible.
Disentagle your emotions--put them on a shelf--and focus on the product
succeeding (not you succeeding, but the product). If you find yourself feeling
some self-reflective emotion, then you know you need to course correct your
thinking.

All of this self-reflection (especially at the behest of detractors) is poison
that amounts to trying to succeed while dragging an anchor. It hurts in two
ways: it diverts your precious time and energy from the product, and it makes
you less productive, creative, objective, and enthusiastic when you actually
are working on the product.

As for the rest of it (thinking "what if it doesn't work, etc"), that's
classic anxiety and it's a close cousin of depression. Ask yourself "what if
it does work?" and keep moving. Truth is, more often than not what we work on
will not meet our expectations. I've "failed" and pivoted multiple times
before finding success and even then, not to the scale I'd hoped. BTW, on the
final pivot before success, I've had people absolutely demolish the pivot. Had
I listened to them, I would never have succeeded.

In sum, when you are thinking about or working on your product, focus
relentlessly on making it better and testing it in front of "real people".
That should leave little room for the counterproductive thinking.

Last but not least, good luck! We all need a healthy dose of that.

------
alexmorenodev
You can ignore them or live by their terms. That's absolutely your choice.

If you can't handle the pressure, do what they say. If you can (and I highly
suggest you learn how to do it), keep doing whatever you're doing and ignore
them. Smile and nod.

------
nom
True friends support you, no matter what, especially during a depressive
episode. If they don't, they are not your friends. It might help to distance
yourself, or to learn to ignore them.

------
cha-cho
The solution to all your problems is to get one customer. One person who says
“I get what you are trying to do and I will pay you for it.”

The longer you put off acquiring a customer the harder your journey becomes.

------
desdiv
If you have unsupportive friends and family, then you should not have told
them about your business.

If they can't say anything nice about it, then it's better that they say
nothing at all about it.

~~~
dvko
> then you should not have told them about your business.

Meh, as if OP is to blame for how unsupportive his friends and family are.

In my opinion, you _should_ tell them. You should also tell them how you hate
it that they're being so unsupportive. If they don't change, I'll echo what
others said and re-evaluate your relationship with them....

------
serg_chernata
I'm also flying solo. Email in profile, hit me up and I'll be very happy to
help. At the very least, with constructive criticism and friendly advice.

------
20andup
Pressure is given by yourself. As long as your are happy with what you learnt,
then it's all fine.

I am in a similar boat, but I have a lot less pressure because I saved enough
and even if it fails, I have gained so much that my salary will increase for
sure. Although the thought of having to work for other people simply keeps me
going no matter what.

Learning is super hard. Appreciate what you have accomplished.

------
jjoe
Ain't that some great motivation material or what? You've got kerosene fuel to
get to success. Is the depression clinical or self perceived?

------
arikfr
1\. The easiest thing is to give commentary from the sidelines. Ignore them.

2\. Making the product, simple or complex is the _easy_ part. The hard part is
making a business out of it.

I'm in a similar situation to yours (creating a company, bootstrapped, solo
founder). It's a hard ride and people who can truly support you mentally is
important.

------
andrewmcwatters
You have to believe in your projects. The market and users will dictate
whether or not your ideas and execution work.

------
andrewdubinsky
This - the Topsy Tail.

[http://www.accessorybrainstorms.com/articles/topsytail.php](http://www.accessorybrainstorms.com/articles/topsytail.php)

TLDR; She sold $100 million worth of product. My understanding is the
prototype was built using a coat hanger with tape on it.

------
SmellyGeekBoy
I deal with it by taking lots of expensive holidays that they can't afford.
They soon shut up. ;)

------
pryelluw
Email me. Ill listen. Fellow entrepreneur here. No strings or BS.
pryelluw@gmail.com

------
saluki
What would your friends and family think if you showed them something that
looks like craigslist?

Just because something isn't owned by Fbook or Google or doesn't look polished
doesn't mean it isn't or couldn't make money. Or if you're not working for
Fbook or Google or working on working there that you're doing it WRONG.

My friends usually gloss over me talking about developing SaaS apps till I
mention ones making $30k/mo or $60k/mo . . . that gets their attention. I love
when they follow up with "wait, wait that's per month?"

Making a product/SaaS that is successful isn't easy, but it's something most
developers can accomplish, it's not s sure thing, but definitely worth the
effort if it's something that interests you. It's worth a shot/putting in the
effort.

So if you're interested in products/SaaS keep at it. Granted most of us have
day jobs or are contractors along the way to pay the bills till we hit
"SaaScess" but don't give up on it because of what unsupportive family and
friends think.

You do need to find a better support network, maybe fellow entrepreneurs/web
developers, connect with other like minded individuals online. (feel free to
connect with me via email HNusername at gmail, I'm always up for bouncing
ideas around, being supportive, reviewing apps/products offering constructive
criticism).

Don't share what you're doing with people who aren't supportive. Just give
them a simple answer like I'm consulting, etc.

Making any web application is hard so making any functional application is an
accomplishment. Sure you could sub it out to a group of coder monkeys and they
could build it in two weeks. But there is more to creating a good web
application that people will pay you money for that just the code.

I think being able to create a web application is amazing and enjoy it. I
would compare being a developer working on your own SaaS to being in a band.
You're creating something, gaining an audience and the sky is the limit. With
hard work and a little luck you can reach $83,333k/mo+. That's amazing and if
you fall short of that, $10k/mo isn't bad either.

Your family just might be concerned you'll have financial problems, your
friends might be jealous or just not understand what you're doing. Hopefully
trying to give you good advice, but either way don't let them dissuade you
from pursuing your dream.

That said SaaS is a long ramp to decent revenue so you need a day
job/consulting/freelancing/supported by parents income till then so plan
accordingly.

You'll probably like this: DHH Startup School Talk
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CDXJ6bMkMY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CDXJ6bMkMY)

Check out startupsfortherestofus.com

[http://www.microconf.com/past-videos/](http://www.microconf.com/past-videos/)

Good luck in 2017.

------
adrianmacneil
Read "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future", and
realize that even the best people overcame enormous struggles to bring
products to market.

------
artur_makly
prayer and porn of course. just kidding.

fear of corp cubicle hell is a miraculous motivator.

also operating from a low pressure 2nd world country helps

------
supernormal
I've felt similar, feel free to email me if you'd like to talk about what
we're working on.

------
dajohnson89
Tell them to suck it.

------
acedinlowball
edit: haters gonna hate

------
allfou
Go get a job you're not an entrepreneur. People will constantly tell you -
what you do sucks. It's rule number one in the wannabe-entrepreneur world. If
you can't handle that part I'd suggest to go get a job. Otherwise, move one to
step #2 - focus.

~~~
dang
I'm sure your remark was well-intentioned, like an overly-hard slap on the
back, but subtleties like that are lost on the public internet and just look
like personal attacks. So please don't comment like that here, or at least add
enough information to disambiguate. Intent doesn't communicate itself, so the
burden is on the commenter to do that.

------
theparanoid
Leave.

------
imjustsaying
Those people are miserable and will never change.

The more success you find the more they will resent you for it. Plato's
allegory of the cave[1] is spot on.

My method of dealing with such people has been to abstract their voices from
my life.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_Cave](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_Cave)

