

Random thoughts on being an entrepreneur - gokhan
http://gapingvoid.com/2010/02/28/random-thoughts-on-being-an-entrepreneur-2/

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morisy
"Smart, young, artistic people are always asking me which is a better career
path, “Creativity” or “Money”. I always answer that it doesn’t matter. What
matters is “Effective” and/or “Ineffective”."

Perfectly said. Every time I've ever tried to express the sentiment, people
look at me like I'm an asshole alien who just slazered on their parade,
particularly and most heart breakingly in the world of non-profits.

Again and again, I've seen good people do projects by the book that'd been
written years earlier, wasting time, money and energy and ultimately hurting
the communities they wanted to see served.

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derefr
The thought on #25 is correct, but I find the last line amusing in a
speculative-fiction sense:

> Bill Gates [won't] sire a million times more children than me.

Theoretically, with current in-vitro fertilization technology, Bill Gates
could take about sixty sperm samples and use them to sire a million or more
children (presumably with a million women he would pay for the opportunity.)
He would have to dedicate an entire hospital to the task, but it could be done
within his remaining lifetime.

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mattew
Most of this makes sense to me with the exception of #13

"13. If you’re happy in your career before the age of thirty, you’re probably
doing something wrong. Heck, if you’re happy in your career before the age of
seventy, you’re probably doing something wrong."

Can someone shed some light on why I am doing something wrong if I am happy
with my career?

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akshat
I think the author really means "comfortable". He is intending to say that
entrepreneurship and "comfort zone" are contradictory.

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markbao
cache:
[http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:http://gapingvoid.com/20...](http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:http://gapingvoid.com/2010/02/28/random-
thoughts-on-being-an-entrepreneur-2/)

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philjackson
I thought "gapingvoid" was an ironic name.

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spokey
> 24\. MBAs are conditioned to use their brains in much the same way as sex
> workers are conditioned to use their genitals. Nice work if you can get it.

Can someone explain that to me? I have no idea what Hugh is trying to say
there.

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todd3834
This link appears to have died.

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scorciapino
A lot of these thoughts ultimately come down to selling and dealing with
clients, which I find the hardest part of the thing. Can someone share some
advice on it, or maybe suggest a couple of books on the matter?

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Enra2
Paul Graham has suggested "how to get friends and influence people" (the
earlier editions, from before the author died). Good luck!

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snitko
I really enjoyed reading Carnegie and he really makes you think about changing
your behavior. Though his book is more like a story telling with a bit of
advice. If you're looking for a more "scientific" book, you should probably
try "Crucial Conversations" and "Influencer" (both on amazon) - those are
great books with a lot of useful information, which, by the way, support all
of Carnegie points and extend them to a certain level.

