

Working at a startup sucks - bjonathan
http://laurentk.posterous.com/working-at-a-startups-sucks

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patio11
The more I think about this the more I think that the startup community has
evolved a peculiar brand of hazing, in which small groups of diverse young men
attempt to forge powerful emotional connections for pursuing mutual goals by
subjecting themselves to absolutely unnecessary and artificial torment and
humiliation. The hazing is then paraded around as a badge of perverse pride --
a mix of "we're tougher than anyone else" and "nobody else really understands
us, because no one else has gone through it."

~~~
mechanical_fish
I agree, but I don't think that this pattern is peculiar, nor is it restricted
to the startup community. It's a very common pattern in tech, in big companies
and academia as well as startups. I assume that this attitude is a big part of
the culture that keeps game developers going, for example.

And it extends to other fields. The finance guys on Wall Street and the
Chicago Board of Trade do it. Lawyers do it. Medical interns do it.

~~~
pmjordan
Yep, I've experienced it first-hand in the game industry - it's bizarre when
it feels like you're the only one who notices what's really going on. But
especially in the startup world it seems like you're pretty free _not_ to go
down that route. But maybe once you've had your fair share of failure it's the
only thing left you feel you can be somewhat proud of, so you cling to it.

~~~
Psyonic
I imagine startups (especially when you're watching your money shrinking every
day) can induce desperation, and when you're desperate, working crazy hours
seems logical. You feel like the world is closing in around you... you have to
do something

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proee
Sensational link-bait title.

A better title would be "Working at a startup is hard"

~~~
redrobot5050
Here's an idea: Start a website where _you_ suggest to bloggers a better title
for _their_ blog posts.

Seriously, I think the whole blogosphere could better counter one another's
hype through your solid, middle of the road editorializing.

~~~
amackera
This might be a fun weekend project, heh.

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aminuit
In summary, hard work is hard.

I know HN is targeted towards the startup crowd, but do we constantly have to
vote up these self-aggrandizing, self-congratulating posts about how it takes
some kind of special breed of human to work hard for a year or two?

~~~
laurentk
Hey aminuit The post isn't especially self-congratulating. Actually it's
almost the contrary... Hard work is hard, whether you're a pin pusher, an
agile railer or biz guy trying to make it. The idea behind the post is
especially this: we are ordinary man facing ordinary (hard) challenges, and
it's meant as a reminder for aspiring entrepreneurs who only see the bright
techcrunch-like side of the coin. Thoughts?

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axod
It sure can suck, but it's all choices. You don't have to get investment,
don't have to hire employees. You can do consulting on the side so you're not
poor. You can even take holidays if you plan for it.

So a lot of it is just down to planning.

It's pretty similar to having a baby I think. It can suck sometimes, but it's
pretty much the best experience you can ever have.

Good luck for the release in Sept :)

~~~
laurentk
Hi Axod, Yes, it's down to planning and foreseeing, true. And there's two
reason I wrote that post like this: 1) to poke the bear, and specifically
address the young aspiring entrepreneurs who only read about the good side of
it. 2) not hiring, doing consulting on the side, not getting investment is a
great way to go, the 37 signals way. we chose the other alternative to get
where we wanna go faster. future will tell if we were right :))

Anyway thx for the comment, and finger crossed for the sept release :)

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edw519
_Working at a startup sucks_

So does pushing a cart, to a horse.

The problem is that OP has it backwards. He complains about how hard it is to
do all the things you don't have to do.

You don't have to endure multiple "No's" finding investment; you can bootstrap
or use friends and family.

You don't have to endure multiple "No's" trying to convince clients to accept
your offering. You can find out what they need and build that.

You don't have to hire. If Version 1.0 of what you're building can't be built
by one or two people, you may want to rethink what you're doing.

Starting a business and building software is tough enough when you do first
things first. No need to pile on.

~~~
metachris
The author also mentions that negative things or problems are almost never
blogged about.

I guess thats at least partially because the founders are busy fixing things
and have not enough time / patience to blog about it. Positive blogs can be
seen as marketing efforts and justify taking half a day off for it, but do
negative ones too?

~~~
laurentk
Hey Chris, I'm the author. That was exactly the point, fed up of reading the
"it's fantastic, we rock !!" posts. So just an honest feedback on our first 6
months on my 3rd startup ....

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yayitswei
I think he's focusing on all the hardships instead of why he's doing it in the
first place. Working at a startup is a choice.

~~~
amackera
It's a choice that many people trivialize. The point of the post was, I think,
a bit of a warning to think about startup life seriously before diving in.

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dashr
You're totally right, the daily slog is tough, but the spurts of success or
the rush of failure make it worthwhile. If we wanted safety, we'd get a 9 to
5.

