Ask HN: Why don't wantrepreneurs ever launch?

[zio99]

Would like to see a poll of some sorts on reasons like:

1. Too many ideas, can't pick one

2. Fear of failure

3. Parents want you to be a ____(doctor, lawyer, ...)______

4. No time

5. No endurance

6. No capital (monetary, other resources)

7. Met with too much skepticism

8. Not yet, got to pay bills

I often wonder why a lot of great programmers (see http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3849304) choose to work for someone else rather than for themselves? It boggles my mind.

[Mz]

I am not a programmer, so hesitated to reply. I have a serious medical condition. I have been trying to develop some things for years but just coping with my health took most of my time. Given the number of complaints I read online about difficulties concentrating, organizing, etc, I have to wonder if underlying, unrecognized health issues acounts for a lot more of wantrepreunerism than people realize.

I seemed to have time but spent most of it zoned out in front of a game or piddling on the internet, etc. I looked to other people like I was merely lazy, unfocused, and so on. But I wasn't. I was ill. Getting healthier is gradually paying dividends in terms of productivity. I hope it eventually pays off with an adequate online income as I am currently homeless and deeply in debt and, given my medical condition, I think an online income is probably my only hope of staying healthy enough to keep working full time when I am supposed to be too sick to work at all.

[ggchappell]

How about: because they don't like running a business. For people who do like running businesses, not wanting to run one seems weird. But the same probably goes for people who are into mountain climbing, stamp collecting, or bear wrestling. It's just not something that everyone likes doing.

[zio99 → ggchappell]

who wouldn't want to bear wrestle?!?! smh

[dkb]

I would add the lack of legal knowledge to the list. In my case I have an idea as well as the energy to implement it, but then questions arise: What about the legal part?

What do I have to take care of legally in order to implement this?

What about the responsibility in the case of an online service? (If you take for example the case of craiglist, you find something you want to buy and buy it, then you realize it doesn't work, how do you avoid the person who bought the object to not take legal action against you since you are not responsible for this?).

If someone else is already doing it in a different way, does this bring more legal problems?

If I have no fund at the beginning, can I implement my idea and give away the services I developed for free for a while in order to bring users and then make them pay?

Where to get the answers to those questions?

If I find some answers to those questions, are they the same in every States?

[rprospero]

2) I only have a year worth of safety net at best and I'm completely paranoid about being able to find a job if the start-up wouldn't pan out.

6) Again, I only have a year's worth of safety net. If I start putting that into capital, we're probably down to six months.

8) Fiancée needs ten of thousands of dollars in medical work. There's no way I'd get insurance that would cover all of it.

-1) I don't have too many ideas. I have the opposite problem. I have too few ideas and the ideas I do have are either bad or have already been implemented better by someone else.

[dutchbrit]

I think a lot of entrepreneurs don't want to take VC money, to stay 100% in control of their idea, and try raising funds through saving money while working for others. Not being able to focus on a project is also a killer. And a lot of people keep getting new ideas while building a project which keeps on delaying their project. The latter is silly, determine what you want in your first release and stick to it. Additions can always be added later on.

[zio99 → dutchbrit]

I think your advice's spot on: 1. focus, 2. Avoid feature creep. Regarding control, I wanted to add what Ryan Carson's 2 cents regarding VC funding:

"I was against raising venture capital for a long time. I felt giving away some control of your company would be distracting. Now that we’ve raised $5m, I can say raising money with the right investor will really push you faster and harder as an entrepreneur. It feels like going from university sports to the pros. The pace is faster and everyone is more experienced. I’m so glad we’ve raised money and it’s taken me to the next level as a business owner."

Source: http://ryancarson.com/post/25580650719/7-dos-and-donts-for-f...

[orangethirty]

9. Haven't met a good co-founder candidate.

A business with more than one people to work it is so much easier to do. It doesnt guarantee success, but allows things to flow a bit easier.

[zio99 → orangethirty]

any good tools for this? I tried http://www.matchfounders.com/ to no avail. Someone at a conference once replied to this excuse of mine with "what do you need the founder to find?" have you ever come across this usage of the word "founder"? but I do agree with your comment since I find that even if the co-founders are not as strong a programmer, they're a good launchboard to bounce ideas off of, and keep you in check, be more of a realist while i'm off dreaming.

[orangethirty → zio99]

Tools? I don't know of any website that is good for this. Must say that one of my future projects (about a month away) is a website where people who are looking for co-founders can post messages and interact. Its weird that I must build this tools.

Though I must admit that finding a co-founder is not as easy as posting an ad on a website. A co-founder is akin to a business wife/husband. You just cant go and marry anyone. There has to be a connection between the two people. Maybe not be best friends, but a common understanding of what the big goal is. Skills must also be somewhat complimentary. I, for one, look for people who have business/management experience and will get things done. I'll take care of the software, they will take care of the management, but we will both (or all) have a say in all things. Maybe the other person might not know an SQL Join from a Python variable, but they can do testing, design feedback, Q&A, R&D, etc. I might not be a good business manager, but I can call people on the phone and get appointments, help with a presentation (or do it myself), help with the marketing, etc.

Its not a what you can do versus what I can do, but a what we can do together. Like a marriage.

[caw → orangethirty]

I made a site that sounds somewhat like what you're looking for, though it's entirely inert: http://instantfounder.com/. I didn't bother launching, it was more so just to make something, and I thought at the end that it wasn't very useful and it wouldn't sell without a bunch of work that I didn't want to put in.

I don't own the domain (it was someone else in the group), but short of that I did the rest. I can give you the code if you want.

[orangethirty → caw]

Thank you for the offer. It is very nice of you. I already have all the code written (Python/Flask), and currently working on the UI. I'm not a designer, so things are going slow in that department. Building it for fun and HN cookies. :)

PS. I like how you included the input boxes in a paragraph. It is a nice touch.

[tdorrance]

Not too many ideas but one really good one. I think the biggest obstacle is probably lack of a really good idea. There shouldn't be any excuses for lack of capital or resources. There are just too many options especially for a software based start-up to get the resources they need - assuming it's based on a great idea. You also need the right team to execute on it.

[helen842000]

I think it's a skills thing.

I tend to take my ideas to the farthest point I'm capable of. Once it needs something that I'm not able to do, it stalls. To test this I now only pick projects that I can complete myself and every single one has been launched.

The trick is to either pick a project you can do from start to finish or save up to outsource those parts that are out of your reach.

[reeznordin]

At least for me, it is fear of failure...growing up in an Asian country, failure is never an option. Am about to take a leap of faith now...

-reez

[serge2k]

For me right now it's mostly 1, 4, 5, and 8.

Though it's also a lack of ideas that really capture my attention.

[anujkk]

1. Too many ideas, can't pick one(or lack of focus).

[nitinthewiz]

4,8,5 in that order...

[zio99 → nitinthewiz]

I think Isaac Lewis hit the nail on the head on the this one. http://i.saac.me/post/two-paths-to-greatness/ I guess it comes down to - are you a worker? or are you a leader?

[yashchandra]

1,8 in that order for me.