

Ask HN: Does having a family makes you less of a startup material? - k7d

There have been a lot of advices that you should do startups while you are young and single. I've been single for quite some time. Now that I have a year old kid, I noticed a strange thing - it feels like I'm getting done more than before.<p>Not quite sure why, maybe it's because having a family makes your life more organized?
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justinchen
I recently had a daughter and I've found that there's 2 things going on:

1) I'm generally more focused and efficient when I work since time is more
scarce.

2) I'm more motivated now since I've got the little one depending on me. The
instinct to provide for another is a powerful one.

~~~
happyrichpinoy
My first baby is on the way...it scary to think that another life depends on
me now but it also drives me to optimize my work so that I will have more time
to spend on things/persons/events that really matter.

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kls
With a family, freelancing and consulting is your friend. It allows you the
flexibility in schedule to pursue ideas and to work with other individuals
that are in the start-up arena. You meet a lot of young companies in that line
of work and you see a variety of problems. If you find a group who has an idea
that you like but they cant provide a paying gig yet, you can scale your
freelancing to provide the necessities while allowing you the free time to
commit to a project. I freelance and consult for 3-4 days of my week, take
weeks off at a time and still do well over 150k a year this gives me time to
peruse the back log of ideas that me and two of my close friends have. I have
4 kids, a wife and grandparents that I take care of and I can say without a
doubt that I have never felt more secure in my life than when I started
freelancing. Well technically that is not true, I had a moderately sizable
exit from the sale of a travel company that it gave me a nest egg, but even if
that was not there, I would feel more secure than someone else making
decisions about my future.

Point being, get out of your day job and into freelancing first. Get to where
you are working your 40hr week and another 40hr steady freelancing, this will
allow you to build a nest egg while you are making the transition, then when
you are getting 40hr a week freelancing and it is steady dump the day job,
then start scaling your hours back freelancing until you meet an equilibrium
of money to free-time to pursue projects.

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LeBlanc
I'll point you to some articles written by people more experienced than I at
this:

anti-family: - Jason Friedman [http://www.humbledmba.com/the-drag-coefficient-
scoring-syste...](http://www.humbledmba.com/the-drag-coefficient-scoring-
system-how-to-de)

Pro-family: - Vivek Wadhwa
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1431263>
[http://techcrunch.com/2009/09/07/when-it-comes-to-
founding-s...](http://techcrunch.com/2009/09/07/when-it-comes-to-founding-
successful-startups-old-guys-rule/)

Hope you find these helpful. Good luck!

~~~
kls
_1 point: For every 5 years after the age of 20 - Jason Friedman_

The mortgage, loans, and kids I agree with. But there are many wives who not
only support their husbands ambition but actively encourage it. If a wife is
willing to endure the Ramen years then it is of no concern.

As for the quote that I referenced from Jason Friedman above, well he just
entered ass clown status in my book.

Not only is that blatant age discrimination, but there are a lot of 30
somethings and 40 somethings that have a wealth of experience that a younger
person has not experienced. I have had three successful exits through my 20's
now 30's and I would say without a doubt my current me is 10:1 a better
individual to have on a start-up team over the 23yr old me that had his first
exit (that guy was scared shitless the whole time) or the 28hr old who had his
second (that guy was too cocky). The 32yr old me played it just right and the
X yr old me assumes he will have it down to a blueprint after the next one.

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exline
I think it is a risk factor. I was almost not hired at a startup specifically
because the owner was worried about the level of risk I was taking with
wife/kids/house etc. That's a good boss to have, one looking out for me.
Things turned out fine.

Personally, it does alter the level of risk I'm willing to take. Pre kids, I'd
be willing to risk a lot more. Having kids makes me value my time which does
force me to be focused. I'm willing to work long hours, but I split the time
up. I work until 4-5 and spend time with the family. If there is work to be
done, I'm back on after the kids are in bed. This could present a problem at
some startups.

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dryicerx
It doesn't make you any less of startup material at all, it just puts you in a
different environment.

The original advice comes because when you're young and single, you are
without obligations, nothing to lose, able to take more risks, being naive
(which can be good and bad), and being agile both location wise and time wise.

Said that, if you do have a family, I think that has a set of it's own
advantages such forcing you to manage time better, likely to go after ventures
that are more likely to succeed, and having a family behind you for support.

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Charuru
Maybe it's because you're older and is able to manage your time more maturely.

Maybe having people that depends on you makes you more responsible.

