

Ask HN: How many of you grew up with entrepreneurial parents? - elai

Something I often wonder, how many HNers grew up with a parent who founded their own company or were founding their own while they were growing up. Or better yet, grew up with SV founders from back in the 80s or 70s.  How was the experience growing up and what long term lessons did you learn from the effects of the lifestyle from your unique perspective as a child of one?
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jdg
My father owned a real estate company, an ISP and a CLEC while growing up. All
turned into lifestyle businesses, even though they were meant to be big exits
in their respective industries.

* I learned that you're up some years and down others. The trick is to just keep pushing forward.

* Some people have it, others don't.

* You won't be able to recognize whether you have it or not, until you're actually doing it.

* Marry the right person (and make sure they have health insurance that covers you and your family).

* Keep your personal expenses low and maintain the ability to live off of your partners salary while you're bootstrapping, if that's the path you take.

Bonuses:

* You get to have great discussions around the business every time you're together.

* You're able to lean on your dad (or mom) and ask for advice about what they would do in particular situations. Basically a built in mentor.

* You have a #1 fan that in some ways are living their own dreams through you. And they actually "get" what you're doing.

You have to be careful though that you don't fall into some of the same traps
that they may have. As a great example: the typical small business mindset is
to never, ever give up equity. For what we do here, it's silly to think that
way. Equity is another tool in your toolbox, and should be used when
appropriate.

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olalonde
Quite the opposite. My parents are both professors in social sciences and are
mostly disgusted with capitalism. Sometimes I wish I was born in an
entrepreneurial friendly background but I guess I have the benefit of having
seen both sides of the table. Plus, I have some interesting debates with them
once in a while :)

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tzm
My mother and father were successful musicians in their early life. Since
then, my mother inherited a jewelry store from her father (who built it from
scratch in 1945). My father owns a restaurant and motorcycle store. His father
owned a very large elevator company, who sold it and retired. My mother's
father's father was a self taught dentist. (I still have his study books from
his early years). My father's father's father was a musician who was tough as
nails on his kids. They played the Grand Ol' Opry back in the day.

I have to say, my entire family tree is filled with entrepreneurs. That is all
I know.

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mindcrime
My dad was definitely entrepreneurial, but he wasn't a technology guy at all.
The businesses he ran when I was a kid included: running a pulpwood truck,
cutting down trees and hauling logs to the mills; building docks and bulkheads
for people with houses on the water; building a selling crab traps; running a
dump truck, hauling fill dirt and doing ground grading / leveling / etc;
running a small-time shrimping operation, and uh, probably a couple more I'm
forgetting. He never made it "big time" doing any of the above, although he
would sometimes go years at a time making it OK doing one of those things, but
he always wound up going back to a "day job." Then, after hurting his back on
the job and being forced to more or less retire, he started a business doing
cement pouring / finishing, and that's the one where he kinda "made it." He is
very well established now doing that and makes pretty good living at it.

So yeah, watching my dad as a kid definitely taught me something about
persistence and the value of hard-work; and certainly contributed to my desire
to do my own thing.

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mbenjaminsmith
My father had an aircraft building/rebuilding business for most of my
childhood. One of the earliest photos of me was me sitting on the nose cone of
a BD-5 with a screwdriver in my hand. One of my brothers started his own
business when he was 16 (I was 5 - 6) and was very successful for his age. My
mother ran an upholstery business for many years and most of her family were
entrepreneurs.

I guess what I learned from that is a business is a series of ups and downs
but at the end of the day it's always more satisfying to do your own thing. I
started my first business in college and founded my first 'real' one at 25.
While I don't think there's anything wrong with working for other people, I
can say I'm hardwired to start new things and I'm sure my childhood had a lot
to do with that.

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avkumar2
I grew up watching my dad work his ass off day after day in a corporate
setting. I always admired how passionate he was about his work. Hes 52 now and
the CTO and supply-chain head for one of the large pharma giants.

He is gona quit the next month to launch his own venture because he doesn't
feel a sense of satisfaction with what he has done.

I just graduated from college and this just reaffirms my thinking - I want to
do more than walk the path other people have laid out for you. Just not
satisfying enough!

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neworbit
Sorry - parents were both in exceedingly regulated industries (medical and
telecommunications)

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Mz
My dad started a sewing machine repair store when I was a kid. I don't know
too much. I think he worked for someone else for a time and/or worked from
home and decided to open a shop. Once he opened a shop, then my mom, who sews,
got involved as well and it became a place where they also sold patterns and
material and sewing supplies. I don't think they ever did very well and I
think they really couldn't get on the same page. There also weren't the
resources there are today for assisting small businesses. The store eventually
folded. My mom brought home leftover material, thread, patterns, etc and
stocked her sewing room with them and spent years using up some of that stuff.

My mom also took in sewing at home for years and years and later became self-
employed as a cleaning lady. Her skills were in high enough demand that when
my dad went through chemo about 16 years ago and she had to mostly be home to
care for him, she could make one phone call and have work on her terms for the
hour or two she had available on some afternoon when he was doing well enough
to be left alone briefly. This helped them enormously. I think my mom
fundamentally has better business sense than my dad. She also sometimes sews
stuff (or did a few years back) for my cousin's gift shop, to help support
their success.

