7 ms·
How Not to Die (2007)
- maaku 11y agoWith the title I was expecting Paul Graham to have written an article on Cryonics and the need for donations to SENS :\
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- michaelochurch 11y agoI'd love to hear Giles Bowkett do another dramatic reading, for this essay. The first one was an instant classic: http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2015/06/let-other-95-of-reality-in.html http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2015/06/let-other-95-of-rea...
- jebblue 11y agoIn addition to not doing other things, I'd like to suggest adding the idea that one also does not have to burn out or be burned out doing a startup.
- paul 11y agoIndeed. In fact, I think burnout is often one of the causes of failure, either directly, or indirectly through the bad decision making it causes. Building a successful company takes many years. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
- ak39 11y agoStopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening A poem by Robert Frost Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. -------------- End ---------- Oh how I love Robert Frost! This deeply existential and powerfully personal poem is exactly what NOT to do when you are in the throes of startup life. Sleep! I say sleep. Get that rest and damn that horse. :-) Edit: I took me 4 years to learn HN carriage returns! :-(
- nxb 11y ago- Burnout - Founder <-> founder resentment - Founder <-> investor resentment Those 3 causes are far above everything else, in cases I've seen. Even higher than running out of money.
- mkagenius 11y agoWhere does product market fit fits?
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- joslin01 11y agoI pretty much wake up every morning and watch motivational videos on YouTube to keep me going. I'm onto my fourth start-up, third as CTO, and let me tell you start-ups are no walk in the park. The idea that there's even walking involved is so far off what it's really like. It's non-stop sprinting and if it's not, then you're not doing it right and moving too slow. I like the idea of a work/life balance, but when you have to build every little part of a business, it's just not reasonable to get obstinate about it. When and if I make it, I'll be thanking my perseverance.
- Retric 11y agoI would suggest this 'constant' sprint idea is often a sign of doing something wrong. Working long weeks cause fatigue which results in a lot of terrible choices which creates more work which 'forces' long hours. Most startups work ridiculously hard, and then fail. Some successful companies had the 24/7 mindset, but fewer than you might think.
- jacquesm 11y agoDepending on how successful you are it really can be like that. Managing a period of exponential growth is a nightmare on all fronts and I can really relate to the 'constant sprint' feeling. The good news is that usually at some point it tapers off and normality resumes but if you're hip deep in investor money they will see that as a reason to start a push to get back into another phase of hyper growth.
- yesimahuman 11y agoThe further I get into my startup, the more diligent I get about keeping balance. Perseverance requires actually being at your best day in and day out for years. You can't do that when you're burnt out and unhappy (newsflash: these things take time!). Also, the whole founder/success mythos is perpetuated by people actually not running startups. These days, I just do what I think is best and work hard, and try to ignore the bullshit.
- joslin01 11y ago
- optimusclimb 11y ago> "If you can just avoid dying, you get rich." Where "you" == "the founders." Certainly hard as an employee to hang in there for all the ups and downs and near death experiences after years when "avoiding dying" might look like watching the investors get their pref back and the founders getting a nice new post somewhere else.
- cynicalkane 11y agoYup. If you have funding and employees, "not dying" is an irresponsible attitude to have. If you can't pay people what they deserve, I think you should accept death--and given that good developers have more self-respect than they used to, you might have to accept death anyway.
- moistgorilla 11y ago> If you can't pay people what they deserve, I think you should accept death Sorry but if they "deserve" more money they should find a job where they would be payed that. As an employee it's your own responsibility not to get screwed by your employer. If they decide not to pay you, leave. The same goes for the employer. It's their responsibility to not "accept death". Accepting death is the mindset that will almost always lead to failure.
- cynicalkane 11y agoLife is not an idealized free market where developer hours are a resource to exploit in the short run. This is true both ethically and professionally. If you screw people, word gets around, and you just alienated all the talent you built a relationship with. It also makes you a bad person. If you ask loyal employees to stay on for the sake of their equity or the sake of making something great, that's fine, but if you're funded and not delusional about your chances it's unlikely you will be in a position to do this in a fair way.
- brlewis 11y agoYes, the opening paragraph in italics and parentheses explains that "you" == "YC founders". "Founders getting a nice new post somewhere else" does not sound like "avoiding dying" to me. It sounds like the opposite. Could you clarify your point?
- Htsthbjig 11y agoVery true what Paul says here. I have created two companies on my own(backed companied from others). The first one was Hell, nobody believed in us or the idea, everyone believed I was crazy, and after fighting and loosing battles a lot I also(my subconscious mind) started believing it!!(I had trained it in failure) But then it turns out it was a brilliant idea after all. We were the first surprised to see that in the end it worked even better that what we devised at the start. Everybody loved our product and people that had down played us in the past were telling us how much they "always knew" our idea was going to succeed. The second time everything was objectively very similar to the first company, but it felt completely different. The experience of success gives you confidence and makes things very easy and even fun.