

ASK PG: What were your first thoughts knowing for sure Viaweb would be acquired? - eprogrrrr11

Just finished reading Founders At Work. Amazing book!
I am curious, Paul, what were the first feelings you had when you knew for sure the Yahoo acquisition was for real? What did it feel like? Was it a big relief? Becoming rich? What were you first immediate thoughts?<p>Thank you for sharing with us.
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pg
The main thing I felt at first was relief. For the whole three years we'd
endured one disaster after another. There was literally some new mortal threat
every few months. When the deal finally closed, the feeling of finally being
able to relax was so strong (and so unfamiliar) that I was practically high
for several months on it.

When I was in grad school I once had a kidney stone so bad that I ended up in
an emergency room on Thanksgiving Day. They gave me some fairly strong opiate
intravenously. If you've ever had something like this, you understand the
appeal of heroin. Especially coming after a week of being curled up into a
ball with pain. The feeling when we sold was a less intense but longer lasting
version of this.

In retrospect, we could have made Viaweb a lot less painful by
spending/raising less money. That was what made it so stressful. But startups
were more expensive then. Or at least, everyone thought they had to be.

~~~
9oliYQjP
One day I would love to hear about these disasters. In my own experience I
have literally faced utter failure in the face only to somehow manage to
bounce back stronger than before.

I've told people that running your own business is a lot like playing one of
those racing games where you get 30 seconds to get to the next checkpoint at
which point you'll earn yourself more time. On several occasions it has felt
like I have literally ran out of time only to coast through a checkpoint and
be gifted more time.

~~~
ryanwaggoner
My favorite description of entrepreneurship is jumping out of a plane and
trying to build a parachute before you hit the ground.

Note: I know it's not a perfect analogy. I'm comfortable with that.

~~~
staunch
I think that's a better analogy for launching a new startup. The racing one
more closely matches the on-going experience of running one.

------
critic
Hamburger... I hate Ramen.

~~~
kwamenum86
Is this an allusion to the Ramen-profitable thread or just non-sense? I want
to be in on the joke :)

~~~
anatoli
As in, "No more Ramen, I can now afford a Hamburger." (Which totally makes it
not funny... oh well.)

~~~
pg
Our ramen was rice and beans. In fact the rice and beans I used to make during
Viaweb became the basis of the dishes we make for founders at YC dinners. (I
say we because we now have a cook make the dinners, but I made them for the
first 7 cycles.)

Rice & Beans For 2n

    
    
       olive oil or butter
       n yellow onions
       3n cloves garlic
       n 12-oz cans Goya white beans
       n cubes Knorr beef bouillon
       n teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
       3n teaspoons cumin
       n cups rice, preferably sushi rice
    

Put rice in rice cooker. Add water as specified on rice package. (Default: 2
cups water per cup of rice.) Turn on rice cooker and forget about it.

Chop onions and fry in oil, over fairly low heat, till glassy. Put in chopped
garlic, pepper, cumin, and a little more fat, and stir. Keep heat low. Cook
another 2 or 3 minutes, then add beans (don't drain the beans), and stir.
Throw in the bouillon cube(s), cover, and cook on lowish heat for at least 10
minutes more. Stir vigilantly to avoid sticking.

~~~
aaronblohowiak
While not only delicious, one reason Rice & beans is preferable to Ramen is
that it is a complete protein[1], "a source of protein that contains an
adequate proportion of all of the essential amino acids for the dietary needs
of humans" [2].

[1] - <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_protein> [2] -
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_and_beans>

~~~
defen
You probably want a little more fat than this diet provides alone. Also be
sure to watch out for Vitamin B12 deficiency :-)

~~~
gcheong
That's where the donuts come in:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=511085>

