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If you're including Ghandi in here then you have a pretty broad definition of "work". In any case: if you're so intent on building a billion dollar company, wh

by untog 11y ago

If you're including Ghandi in here then you have a pretty broad definition of "work". In any case: if you're so intent on building a billion dollar company, what will you do when, as probably states will be the case, that company does not reach a billion dollars and in fact fails entirely?

AndrewKemendo 11y ago
That's right I do have a broad definition. "Work" to me is the thing that you are putting most of your effort to. Maybe you are a stay at home mom, and your work is raising children - you have to be all in for that. Same goes for anything. If one venture fails completely, then you take what you learned and start again when you can. If you are in a position that you can start your own company and raise money for it, the worst that can happen is that you have to go find a job. Lets even assume that you lose your house in the process. Ok, well downsize, keep your head down till the next opportunity arises and keep moving forward. I don't see any other way to live. People have these marginal goals of working 9-5 going to the beach on the weekend, having a couple kids, then retiring at 65/70 and traveling or whatever till they die at 85. That sounds terrible to me - and my guess is that would sound terrible to anyone who worked on something that people gain value from (Salk, Scorsese, Musk etc...).
- untog 11y ago
  People have these marginal goals of working 9-5 going to the beach on the weekend, having a couple kids, then retiring at 65/70 and traveling or whatever till they die at 85. You're drawing lines where there are none. Why, exactly, is striving for but not necessarily achieving a billion dollar company a more worthwhile pursuit than raising children and traveling the world? If you are in a position that you can start your own company and raise money for it, the worst that can happen is that you have to go find a job. No, the worst that can happen is that you waste years of your life, and look back as an old man and only see a series of failed ventures to your name.
  - AndrewKemendo 11y ago
    I think we're too hung up on the number. It has nothing to do, really, with the dollar amount of the company - that's just a proxy for impact/scale. I could as easily say "Be President" or any other things that are at that scale. It's a more worthwhile pursuit because your individual impact can be much wider.
- Retra 11y ago
  And your work is "trying to run a $10B company?" Just write yourself a $10B check and consider it accomplished. If you're going to conflate living your life with working hard, then you've got no reason to separate spending your money from making your money, and at that point it doesn't matter how much you're making. People also have goals like "achieve something with lasting value" and running a company with a big budget is not intrinsically that. Especially when you're so prone to fail at it.
  - AndrewKemendo 11y ago
    I think we're too hung up on the number. It has nothing to do, really, with the dollar amount of the company - that's just a proxy for impact/scale. I could as easily say "Be President" or any other things that are at that scale.
    - Retra 11y ago
      Like teaching a child to see the world in a novel, productive way?
      - AndrewKemendo 11y ago
        Doesn't scale as an individual. So your impact is basically limited by how much time you put in for each. On the other hand if you are trying to build Khan Academy or Udacity with that purpose, that would match my point of doing great things at scale.

by untog 11y ago

AndrewKemendo 11y ago

That's right I do have a broad definition. "Work" to me is the thing that you are putting most of your effort to. Maybe you are a stay at home mom, and your work is raising children - you have to be all in for that. Same goes for anything. If one venture fails completely, then you take what you learned and start again when you can. If you are in a position that you can start your own company and raise money for it, the worst that can happen is that you have to go find a job. Lets even assume that you lose your house in the process. Ok, well downsize, keep your head down till the next opportunity arises and keep moving forward. I don't see any other way to live. People have these marginal goals of working 9-5 going to the beach on the weekend, having a couple kids, then retiring at 65/70 and traveling or whatever till they die at 85. That sounds terrible to me - and my guess is that would sound terrible to anyone who worked on something that people gain value from (Salk, Scorsese, Musk etc...).

untog 11y ago
People have these marginal goals of working 9-5 going to the beach on the weekend, having a couple kids, then retiring at 65/70 and traveling or whatever till they die at 85. You're drawing lines where there are none. Why, exactly, is striving for but not necessarily achieving a billion dollar company a more worthwhile pursuit than raising children and traveling the world? If you are in a position that you can start your own company and raise money for it, the worst that can happen is that you have to go find a job. No, the worst that can happen is that you waste years of your life, and look back as an old man and only see a series of failed ventures to your name.
- AndrewKemendo 11y ago
  I think we're too hung up on the number. It has nothing to do, really, with the dollar amount of the company - that's just a proxy for impact/scale. I could as easily say "Be President" or any other things that are at that scale. It's a more worthwhile pursuit because your individual impact can be much wider.
Retra 11y ago
And your work is "trying to run a $10B company?" Just write yourself a $10B check and consider it accomplished. If you're going to conflate living your life with working hard, then you've got no reason to separate spending your money from making your money, and at that point it doesn't matter how much you're making. People also have goals like "achieve something with lasting value" and running a company with a big budget is not intrinsically that. Especially when you're so prone to fail at it.
- AndrewKemendo 11y ago
  I think we're too hung up on the number. It has nothing to do, really, with the dollar amount of the company - that's just a proxy for impact/scale. I could as easily say "Be President" or any other things that are at that scale.
  - Retra 11y ago
    Like teaching a child to see the world in a novel, productive way?
    - AndrewKemendo 11y ago
      Doesn't scale as an individual. So your impact is basically limited by how much time you put in for each. On the other hand if you are trying to build Khan Academy or Udacity with that purpose, that would match my point of doing great things at scale.