

Why Not To Do a Startup - Dave McClure - michaelfairley
http://www.slideshare.net/dmc500hats/why-not-to-do-a-startup

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tptacek
Thank you. This is a convenient caricature of everything the valley stands
for. It should come in handy in pointless HN arguments. Reason #484893 not to
move to San Francisco: people will assume that you think like this guy does.

~~~
il
Which of his points offend you? I found myself agreeing with many of the
slides, and they seem to map pretty well to successful startups.

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tptacek
To put it bluntly: this slide deck is a recipe for being an investor's bitch.

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danhak
This is meaningless. There are no right or wrong reasons to be anything, no
less an entrepreneur. It can be freestyle. Just one of the great things about
it. If McClure is trying to lay out traits he seeks in people he invests in,
that's a different story.

I see way too much conjecture of this sort around here. Starting a business,
especially a software business in this day and age, _does not have to be a
thought experiment_. Getting version 1 out the door should cost almost nothing
but a few weekends. Just friggin' do it or stop talking about it. Your biggest
successes are apt to be those you didn't anticipate.

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elbenshira
I don't care how awesome or successful this guy is; his slides are impossible
to go through.

Great stuff too. Don't do a start up if: (1) you love your kids or (2) you
love your spouse.

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callmeed
What does that mean? I love my wife and 4 kids and have 2 startups (one old
one new). One _is_ doing great, the other _is going to_ do great.

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tptacek
I think that's his point.

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davemc500hats
to clarify: i was speaking up here in Seattle for Startup Day, and i was asked
to do a talk on "Why Do a Startup".

i wasn't feeling in a particularly positive mood, and in fact i hate when
people do the duplicitous inspirational talk about startups &
entrepreneurship... which is usually hard & full of fail.

i thought a more realistic look at the downside of entrepreneurship would be
useful, so i offered some experiences from my own early startup consulting
business in the late 90's, which was a lot of stress & hassle for not much
return (small exit, <$1M).

i think people who realistically look at the downside of entrepreneurship are
more prepared for the journey, and if they still choose the path they at least
know the risks.

(note: there are many lightweight forms of prototyping and startup
entrepreneurship that don't have these risks, but in this case i was
emphasizing the typical experience).

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skmurphy
"Life is pain! Anyone who says different is trying to sell you something."
Wesley to the Princess in "Princess Bride"

"The truth is, start-up-land is littered with mavericks, iconoclasts, drops-
outs and misfits."

Matt Maroon had a good post on this topic at
<http://mattmaroon.com/2008/03/19/why-not-to-do-a-startup/> HN discussion at
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=140602>

I blogged about this at [http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2008/12/04/we-dont-
encourage-in...](http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2008/12/04/we-dont-encourage-
individuals-to-form-a-startup/) and Matt Maroon also offered advice in
<http://mattmaroon.com/2008/12/08/a-little-better-advice/>

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atomical
This is pure entertainment. If you got something out of this you probably
haven't read much of anything else.

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auxbuss
Yup, clearly a self-parody, starting with the self-mocking title. Making a
point, or several, I think.

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tptacek
It's tongue and cheek, but that doesn't make it a parody. Against the notion
that it's satire: the fact that it doesn't make sense as satire (see slides
#1, #3, #5, and #11).

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T-R
Articles with a negative tone seem to be on the rise lately. Maybe it's just
me, but in the past I always got a more positive vibe, more like "If you want
to start a startup, don't procrastinate and work hard", rather than "we try
not to hire wimps" and "if you procrastinate, don't start a startup". Who is
the intended audience? Has there been a recent surge in founders who don't get
things done that might be dissuaded by that kind of thing? Is it a feel-good
"we're not like that" kind of thing?

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pierrefar
Notice the Bin 38 logo at the bottom left corner of the title slide. A Bin 38
meeting is what kicked off "AngelGate": [http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/21/so-
a-blogger-walks-into-a-b...](http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/21/so-a-blogger-
walks-into-a-bar/)

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babeKnuth
the points that were trying to be conveyed are a bit jumbled. i guess you had
to be there.

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pinksoda
I saw the name Dave McClure and put on my sun glasses before clicking play.
Totally necessary.

~~~
dmor
if you turn on Lady Gaga too you'll get the full effect

