
Are You Really Sure You’re Ready to Start a Startup? - bryanh
http://wadefoster.net/post/51652488298/are-you-really-sure-youre-ready-to-start-a-startup
======
timjahn
Wade, so sorry to hear about your dad and the events affecting the other
members of your team.

But thank you for this post. I think so many people swimming around the
fishbowl forget about the actual life that's happening, both on the inside and
the outside.

And while I agree with MichaelMartin that hunting down the most severe
scenarios that could happen in the coming years isn't the way to go, I think
it's important to understand that shit will happen in the coming years, and
we're fools if we think that because we're working on a startup, everything
else in life will just work out.

~~~
leothekim
It's true, it's easy to not think about this kind of stuff happening to you
until it does. I had similar feelings about running a startup as Wade three
years ago. Then the following happened:

\- I was forced to vacate my apartment twice, once because of building damage
and once because of owner move-in eviction.

\- I was suddenly let go from my job.

\- I suffered from chronic back problems for two years.

\- Five of my family members died, including my brother and my father.

These things completely shook my self-confidence, and they were personal
things that were beyond my control. I also have a wife and two children, and
the wife recently decided to stay home full-time to take care of the kids. It
wouldn't have been fair to my family to take on the risk of running a startup
without guaranteed steady income and health insurance, and at the same time
being a basket case around them from all the shit that was hitting the fan.

I'm not looking for pity or trying to get in some sort of victim contest. I
really consider myself lucky as I'm healthy, I'm working at a fun startup (not
running it), my family has been great and supportive, and I've grown a bit and
learned a lot from my experiences.

In all fairness, I also never realistically had a startup opportunity or idea
to pursue. But I was in no frame of mind to run a startup during those past
few years, and if I did I would not have done so responsibly. You may be able
to do so, in which case you and I are probably cut from a different cloth.

------
michaelmartin
I can see what Wade is saying here, but I don't agree with the conclusion.

"So when you begin a startup, make sure to think long term. Will you still
want to do this if a family member gets sick? Will you want to do this if you
have kids? Will you want to do this when _____ happens?

If the answer is “no”, then you’ve saved yourself a lot of unnecessary
heartache."

I think it's fine for the answer to be no to some of these, but still want to
do a startup.

If your partner was hit by a bus, then in that instant almost everyone would
prefer to be at some large company where you can hand off your responsibility
in no time and the company will support your time off etc.

That just makes it easier to be a good person in those times. Everyone could
do with a break in times like that, if it was an option.

I don't think hunting down the most severe scenarios that could happen to you
in the next x years and trying to find one where you'd rather not be running a
startup is a valid reason not to start one.

~~~
WadeF
This is a good point. There's no sense in thinking yourself out of a startup,
but at the same time it's likely something crappy will happen while running a
startup.

You may want to go to a cushy job at that point in time, but you need to be
able to at least be comfortable enough to say "No, I'm going to do this."

If you're terrified of a crappy situation it's a good gut call for yourself to
figure out if you're cut out for being a founder or not.

------
trustfundbaby
I have no interest in doing a startup the way the article describes. It just
seems way to stressful.

But I think too much attention is given to these go-for-broke-all-or-nothing
kind of startup endeavors when, as software developers you're in a unique
position to concentrate more on micropreneurship and/or bootstrapping ... a
less taxing way of starting and running a business that focuses more on
increasing your passive income while maintaining a job and living a healthier
lifestyle.

~~~
shadowcats
Exactly. I think what many people here want is a _lifestyle business_ that
would allow them to pay the bills, hack on cool stuff, and wear the label of
entrepreneur/self-employed.

I'm thinking of writing a small book on how to do just that. I haven't done it
(become successfully self-employed) yet myself (not completely, anyway) but I
could interview others who have and glean learnings from them. Would that be
of interest to y'all? :)

~~~
kcorbitt
Yes. Preferably with contribution from people who have been doing this long
enough that they really <i>can</i> call it a lifestyle business, not just
something they tried for six months between jobs.

I'd also be interested in the converse -- people who tried it and decided to
go back to a "real" job, and their reasoning.

------
johnrob
It's easy to underestimate how many years you need to be willing to put into
the startup. A fraction of startups succeed, and a fraction of that fraction
succeed quickly. If you're only willing to put in a year or two your odds of
success are astronomically low. Plan for the long term, it's not a sprint.

~~~
lquist
My startup is by (most) accounts "succeeding", but it still is not something
that I would eagerly do again. It's quite hard.

That is to say, don't think it's all peaches and cream when you're making
millions in profit and growing like a weed.

------
auctiontheory
No one is ever ready to have kids. Yet they do.

No one is ever ready to go to war. Yet they do.

This post perpetuates and glorifies the myth of startups as extreme sport. If
we look at businesses (let's not call them "startups") around the world that
have succeeded through the ages, I don't think most of them began with the
all-or-nothing insanity that is implied here.

Stay focused. Work hard. Life goes on.

~~~
WadeF
I don't think I mentioned any all-or-nothing bits in the article. I merely
suggested that major life events can and likely will happen that will throw
you off your goals for a business.

I'll repeat what I said in another comment though:

> Agreed that not all startups need to be a go-for-it-all startup. But any
> business is going to a lot of work to get running. And then once you have
> customers it's going to be a lot of work to keep them happy. Even if it is
> micro business or a bootstrapped company.

> The four hour work week is a bit of a myth. Everything is going to be hard
> work.

Your quote "Stay focused. Work hard. Life goes on." is a good way to think
about it.

------
goodmachine
You'll never be ready. Begin.

~~~
ImprovedSilence
This is possibly the best startup advice I've ever seen on HN.

------
larrys
"I’m Not Unique - This Will Likely Happen to You"

"So if you don’t think any of this will happen to you, then you’re probably
wrong. After all, a successful startup is likely going to be 7 to 10 years of
your life minimum. And a lot of life happens in 7 to 10 years."

Don't agree with this at all. Total hyperbole (the "this will happen to
you"[1]) I've been observing small business and entrepreneurship for probably
longer than Wade has been around. There are countless people that are
operating all sorts of businesses (say the local restaurant) that also have
life events and you figure it out. I've had them all through my business
years. I started young as well. My father got sick, employees had problems
everything. Life goes on. You can't not do something because you might have a
bunch of circumstances that might come together over the course of 10 years
(or longer).

That said of course it's a bit safer to work for the government with a
guaranteed job if that's what you want out of life. But the reasons that Wade
is giving, at least the ones which he details are simply not reasons to be
fearful of starting a business.

[1] Things happen of course but the question is will they happen to a degree
that creates a situation that you can't handle.

~~~
WadeF
I don't think you caught quite what I meant.

In any seven to ten year period you likely will have a major life event. If
you can handle it, then you can probably run a startup. If you can't, then
don't.

The people you've worked with clearly can handle it.

~~~
larrys
If I can find the time I could probably come up with a list of questions that
I would ask someone that would be a predictor of what they would do in a
particular circumstance, that, when taken as a whole would indicate whether
they are cut out for "the life".

Examples:

"Your aunt dies on Thursday, she will be buried on Sunday but you have a major
trade show to go to and play an important role that could determine the future
of your company. What will you do?"

"Your father has a heart attack and is in the hospital. You go to visit him
but you have an important sales apointment that afternoon that took months to
arrange. What do you do?" (with a bit more detail obviously).

"Your best friend from college (who you haven't seen in two years) wants to
come and stay at your place for a few weeks because he was kicked out of his
apartment and says he has no place to go. You know this will be disruptive and
a pain but feel a sense of obligation because he helped you a few times over
the years and let you stay at his place."

There are no right or wrong answers but the degree of dedication to ones
family, existing values, commitments etc are good indicators of whether
someone is willing to put their business life first. Which is, in short, what
it takes.

Not the best example but I'm sure that Steve Jobs wouldn't miss a product
launch when his Aunt died. Nor would Brian Williams (NBC) blow off a major
story happening which he had to cover because a parent was in the hospital
unless they were literally on their deathbed.

~~~
WadeF
Exactly. Steve Jobs and Brian Williams are clearly two people born to do what
they do/did.

Some people just aren't cut out for that.

------
ianstallings
The only thing I'm really sure of is that I am tired of building other
people's dreams. It's time to build my dream. Failure is possible, but I can't
sit here any longer and not try. The only reason I work for others these days
is to fund my own ventures. I'll do whatever it takes.

------
beachstartup
that poster would be way better if it said "keep calm and start up"

------
LemonadeBoy
Startup is the fuel for the idea economy, although you know most won’t make it
but you jump init anyways. It has a rush, which normally is at all time high
when you first come up with the idea but when you find out it is not a
100-meter race but a marathon, that’s when the reality starts to appear. When
you lose contacts with your friends, don’t show up to family functions and
talk to yourself in public, that’s when the reality sits in.

Will you want to do this when _____ happens? No doubt Yes, twice on Sundays.

