5 ms·

Every time I see an article like this on hacker news it reminds me of how disconnected and out of touch the userbase on this site is. I know so many people my a

by tedks 11y ago

Every time I see an article like this on hacker news it reminds me of how disconnected and out of touch the userbase on this site is. I know so many people my age who claim to use hacker news, but I almost never see comments that seem to be from anyone under 30 or even 40. It really hammers home how startups and entrepreneurship is rapidly becoming a game only the mega-rich can play, and which virtually all millenials are excluded from.

JoeAltmaier 11y ago
You can participate in startups by joining one. Certainly no requirement to be 'mega-rich'. I'm not understanding this notion at all.
- tedks 11y ago
  There are opportunity costs to even joining a startup (the possibility for your job not to exist in a few months, the need to relocate to SF as opposed to a more affordable place or even taking a job near you) that dissuade people who aren't already independently wealthy or otherwise financially privileged (for example, being a Harvard alum with rich parents who can bail you out if necessary). Starting a startup as a working-class person with the requisite technology skills? Good fucking luck.
  - JoeAltmaier 11y ago
    Huh. I've done nothing else but join startups my entire career. Not been without a job for more than a month or two in 20 years. The first time I ever got laid off was after Dell bought our startup. So no safety in huge corporations either! I think the risks are overstated. A startup job is... a job. Like any other.
omegaham 11y ago
24-year-old here. I don't have much expertise in the vast majority of HN topics, so I mostly lurk. Every once in a while, something will pop up that I can somewhat contribute to, (semiconductor manufacture, fitness, dating, etc) but the vast majority of things? Nooope.
cableshaft 11y ago
I worked at my first startup at the age of 26 and was the third employee, got to know quite a bit about the business side of things. I was far from mega-rich. I barely had a positive balance in my checkbook.
- tedks 11y ago
  Did your parents?
  - cableshaft 11y ago
    Hahahahahahah....hahahahah! Wasn't expecting that question. No, we were barely middle class. There were months that we went without cable tv. I was already moved out and living on my own at that point, too.

by tedks 11y ago

JoeAltmaier 11y ago

You can participate in startups by joining one. Certainly no requirement to be 'mega-rich'. I'm not understanding this notion at all.

tedks 11y ago
There are opportunity costs to even joining a startup (the possibility for your job not to exist in a few months, the need to relocate to SF as opposed to a more affordable place or even taking a job near you) that dissuade people who aren't already independently wealthy or otherwise financially privileged (for example, being a Harvard alum with rich parents who can bail you out if necessary). Starting a startup as a working-class person with the requisite technology skills? Good fucking luck.
- JoeAltmaier 11y ago
  Huh. I've done nothing else but join startups my entire career. Not been without a job for more than a month or two in 20 years. The first time I ever got laid off was after Dell bought our startup. So no safety in huge corporations either! I think the risks are overstated. A startup job is... a job. Like any other.

omegaham 11y ago

24-year-old here. I don't have much expertise in the vast majority of HN topics, so I mostly lurk. Every once in a while, something will pop up that I can somewhat contribute to, (semiconductor manufacture, fitness, dating, etc) but the vast majority of things? Nooope.

cableshaft 11y ago

I worked at my first startup at the age of 26 and was the third employee, got to know quite a bit about the business side of things. I was far from mega-rich. I barely had a positive balance in my checkbook.

tedks 11y ago
Did your parents?
- cableshaft 11y ago
  Hahahahahahah....hahahahah! Wasn't expecting that question. No, we were barely middle class. There were months that we went without cable tv. I was already moved out and living on my own at that point, too.