

Parents: This is What Your Founder of A Son Does - feint
http://feint.me/2010/09/parents-this-is-what-your-founder-of-a-son-does/

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swombat
Fuck, man, learn basic grammar.

I could have, not I could of.

My parents would cry if they saw me write like that.

The rest of the article is also littered with omitted words and little
mistakes. It makes it really hard for me to even begin to consider forwarding
that to _my_ parents, no matter how good or bad the points may be. Get the
final line right at least:

 _I know Parents, that doesn’t really help. Just people I’m a web designer._

-> I know, Parents, that doesn't really help. Just tell people I'm a web designer.

~~~
rewind
Fuck, man, take it down a notch.

~~~
swombat
Sorry, the triple-whammy in the first paragraph got me ruffled up. I care
about grammar.

~~~
rewind
It's not that I disagree with you; I just thought you could of been a bit less
harsh.

~~~
gruseom
I don't think swombat was being mean so much as passionate (about good
English, a worthy subject) and concerned (for the author, who badly needs to
hear this). In other words, tough love!

Edit: it's probably worth pointing out why founders should care about basic
grammar: not knowing it is bad for business. It makes you seem what Russians
call bezgramotny (our closest word is "illiterate" but a better translation in
this case might be "grammarless"). This makes it harder to impress successful
people.

~~~
rewind
Some people get annoyed by bad grammar. Other people get annoyed when every
grammar mistake is pointed out. Ninety-five percent (or more) of the people
who read that saw the mistakes. We could potentially have a grammar
conversation about every post with a grammar error. Discussions can get pretty
meta as it is. These grammar-related observations never having anything to do
with whatever point the article is trying to make, and they're just stating
the obvious. We can all see the grammar is weak.

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fragmede
> Me: Sort of. I build online tools that people use.

> Them: Like what – Google?

> Me: No. For example, one tool I built sends people reminders.

What specific distinction is the author making with "No"?
[http://www.googletutor.com/screencast-how-to-setup-sms-
alert...](http://www.googletutor.com/screencast-how-to-setup-sms-alerts-for-
google-calendar/)

They don't work for Google? That their web-app isn't a search engine? So the
post doesn't apply to epi0Bauqu (DDG)? That a search engine isn't a web-app?

I'd go with "Yes, but..."

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ant5
Am I the only "founder" / "entrepreneur" that doesn't really appreciate these
special labels? They're generally something I only hear from the VC tech
startup crowd, and usually in the context of breathless veneration.

I'm running a business. I'm not special, a new breed of business man, and I
don't need a special startup-glorifying vocabulary for what I do. I'm just
another person running a small business -- something people have _always_
done, and it's something that parents (and everyone else) _understands_.

A neighbor recently started a coffee shop. She puts in long hours, manages the
books, orders food, directed the installation of the sound system and kitchen,
manages the kitchen staff, makes and serves coffee, and works the cash
register.

Nobody is calling her a "founder". She's just a small business owner. She had
to raise capital, her business could expand into a large chain, she could (but
isn't likely to) become the next Starbucks, or even get bought out by
Starbucks. She could also fail miserably. Is it really all that different from
what we do?

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wallflower
> Just [tell] people I’m a web designer.

Just a thought. Maybe you could show your parents how to demonstrate what
task.fm does and how people use it. Could be as simple as giving them a canned
1 min video to play for people who ask.

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jeffepp
Love this. I have drafted a similar post directed not only to my parents but
most of my friends, etc..

Unless they truly understand "startups and/or webapps" they have no clue what
we do with our days (and nights, weekends..)

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aaronbrethorst
Just tell them "I'm building a company." No fuss, no muss.

