> I know I'm being a little cynical here, but you should be working on your startup, not attending parties.
to all readers: this grumpy cat judgemental attitude is not mandatory and i don't think it should be encouraged. please get a grip on reality, this world you live in filled with other people. you're allowed to go to parties and enjoy the company of other people if you are running a startup. a startup is a lot of things, but it's not a prison sentence. if it feels that way, you're doing it wrong. maybe you just suck at business.
i run a successful, profitable 7-figure revenue startup with no external funding and all of my cofounders and critical employees have always gone out to parties, both work-related and not. that doesn't mean i'm rich. that means i have a business that is expanding, which is what entrepreneurs all trying to achieve.
"partying" is not blowing 10k on a weekend in vegas or getting expensive bottle service at nightclubs, although you can certainly do that if you want to, because who am i to judge you? partying is hanging out with your coworkers at the bar, going to a birthday bbq, or celebrating someone's engagement.
i also never had to do stuff like sell my belongings and rack up credit card debt or cut my income to 1/6th of what it was. all this says to me is that you refused to get better at sales. which isn't exactly a shocker if you are on the internet extolling the virtues of shunning social interaction.
Logic fail: arguing by anecdote, ad hominem, and straw man.
The advice not to be judgmental, then in the same comment being judgmental makes you a hypocrite.
You're allowed to do whatever you want, it's your life, and your time to spend however you wish. But if you're running a company and trying to get it off the ground, I believe that every minute should be spent getting it off the ground until it is.
It means making the tough decision to miss a friend's wedding because you have an important customer demo on Monday that you have to build. It means backing on a romantic getaway with your girlfriend because an investor wants to meet you that Saturday.
Do you need down time, sure, but startups are hard work, and are going to fail, and unless you're willing to do whatever it takes to make it succeed, then what business do you have running a company.
Not all founders have the benefit of keeping a good salary, a sizable savings account, or other means of maintaining their current life style.
At $24k, it didn't make sense to keep a $3k a month mortgage, so I sold my house, and was committed to extending my personal runway for as long as possible.
Living off of limited resources has nothing to do with "sucking" at sales. In our first year, we got damn close to being revenue neutral with large fortune 50 companies as customers, part of TechStars, raised a sizable seed round, and had some other very good success indicators (given that all three of us were first time founders, and this we were only 1-year old).
Since you want to "get a grip on reality"--most startups require some amount of sacrifice. That you didn't have to, is great, but certainly not the status quo.
Perhaps you've found the true path to startup success, and as such you should write a book, create a startup accelerator and make more than 7-figures in revenue.
to all readers: this grumpy cat judgemental attitude is not mandatory and i don't think it should be encouraged. please get a grip on reality, this world you live in filled with other people. you're allowed to go to parties and enjoy the company of other people if you are running a startup. a startup is a lot of things, but it's not a prison sentence. if it feels that way, you're doing it wrong. maybe you just suck at business.
i run a successful, profitable 7-figure revenue startup with no external funding and all of my cofounders and critical employees have always gone out to parties, both work-related and not. that doesn't mean i'm rich. that means i have a business that is expanding, which is what entrepreneurs all trying to achieve.
"partying" is not blowing 10k on a weekend in vegas or getting expensive bottle service at nightclubs, although you can certainly do that if you want to, because who am i to judge you? partying is hanging out with your coworkers at the bar, going to a birthday bbq, or celebrating someone's engagement.
i also never had to do stuff like sell my belongings and rack up credit card debt or cut my income to 1/6th of what it was. all this says to me is that you refused to get better at sales. which isn't exactly a shocker if you are on the internet extolling the virtues of shunning social interaction.