5 ms·

Random thoughts on being an entrepreneur

67 points by gokhan 17y ago

morisy 17y ago
"Smart, young, artistic people are always asking me which is a better career path, “Creativity” or “Money”. I always answer that it doesn’t matter. What matters is “Effective” and/or “Ineffective”." Perfectly said. Every time I've ever tried to express the sentiment, people look at me like I'm an asshole alien who just slazered on their parade, particularly and most heart breakingly in the world of non-profits. Again and again, I've seen good people do projects by the book that'd been written years earlier, wasting time, money and energy and ultimately hurting the communities they wanted to see served.
scorciapino 17y ago
A lot of these thoughts ultimately come down to selling and dealing with clients, which I find the hardest part of the thing. Can someone share some advice on it, or maybe suggest a couple of books on the matter?
- Enra2 17y ago
  Paul Graham has suggested "how to get friends and influence people" (the earlier editions, from before the author died). Good luck!
  - snitko 17y ago
    I really enjoyed reading Carnegie and he really makes you think about changing your behavior. Though his book is more like a story telling with a bit of advice. If you're looking for a more "scientific" book, you should probably try "Crucial Conversations" and "Influencer" (both on amazon) - those are great books with a lot of useful information, which, by the way, support all of Carnegie points and extend them to a certain level.
markbao 17y ago
cache: http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:http://gapingvoid.com/2010/02/28/random-thoughts-on-being-an-entrepreneur-2/ http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:http://gapingvoid.com/20...
- philjackson 17y ago
  I thought "gapingvoid" was an ironic name.
derefr 17y ago
The thought on #25 is correct, but I find the last line amusing in a speculative-fiction sense: > Bill Gates [won't] sire a million times more children than me. Theoretically, with current in-vitro fertilization technology, Bill Gates could take about sixty sperm samples and use them to sire a million or more children (presumably with a million women he would pay for the opportunity.) He would have to dedicate an entire hospital to the task, but it could be done within his remaining lifetime.
mattew 17y ago
Most of this makes sense to me with the exception of #13 "13. If you’re happy in your career before the age of thirty, you’re probably doing something wrong. Heck, if you’re happy in your career before the age of seventy, you’re probably doing something wrong." Can someone shed some light on why I am doing something wrong if I am happy with my career?
- larrykubin 17y ago
  This was the exact comment I was going to leave. I liked most of the post except for this point.
- akshat 17y ago
  I think the author really means "comfortable". He is intending to say that entrepreneurship and "comfort zone" are contradictory.
todd3834 17y ago
This link appears to have died.
spokey 17y ago
> 24. MBAs are conditioned to use their brains in much the same way as sex workers are conditioned to use their genitals. Nice work if you can get it. Can someone explain that to me? I have no idea what Hugh is trying to say there.

67 points by gokhan 17y ago

"Smart, young, artistic people are always asking me which is a better career path, “Creativity” or “Money”. I always answer that it doesn’t matter. What matters is “Effective” and/or “Ineffective”." Perfectly said. Every time I've ever tried to express the sentiment, people look at me like I'm an asshole alien who just slazered on their parade, particularly and most heart breakingly in the world of non-profits. Again and again, I've seen good people do projects by the book that'd been written years earlier, wasting time, money and energy and ultimately hurting the communities they wanted to see served.

scorciapino 17y ago

A lot of these thoughts ultimately come down to selling and dealing with clients, which I find the hardest part of the thing. Can someone share some advice on it, or maybe suggest a couple of books on the matter?

Enra2 17y ago
Paul Graham has suggested "how to get friends and influence people" (the earlier editions, from before the author died). Good luck!
- snitko 17y ago
  I really enjoyed reading Carnegie and he really makes you think about changing your behavior. Though his book is more like a story telling with a bit of advice. If you're looking for a more "scientific" book, you should probably try "Crucial Conversations" and "Influencer" (both on amazon) - those are great books with a lot of useful information, which, by the way, support all of Carnegie points and extend them to a certain level.

markbao 17y ago

cache: http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:http://gapingvoid.com/2010/02/28/random-thoughts-on-being-an-entrepreneur-2/ http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:http://gapingvoid.com/20...

philjackson 17y ago
I thought "gapingvoid" was an ironic name.

derefr 17y ago

The thought on #25 is correct, but I find the last line amusing in a speculative-fiction sense: > Bill Gates [won't] sire a million times more children than me. Theoretically, with current in-vitro fertilization technology, Bill Gates could take about sixty sperm samples and use them to sire a million or more children (presumably with a million women he would pay for the opportunity.) He would have to dedicate an entire hospital to the task, but it could be done within his remaining lifetime.

mattew 17y ago

Most of this makes sense to me with the exception of #13 "13. If you’re happy in your career before the age of thirty, you’re probably doing something wrong. Heck, if you’re happy in your career before the age of seventy, you’re probably doing something wrong." Can someone shed some light on why I am doing something wrong if I am happy with my career?

larrykubin 17y ago
This was the exact comment I was going to leave. I liked most of the post except for this point.
akshat 17y ago
I think the author really means "comfortable". He is intending to say that entrepreneurship and "comfort zone" are contradictory.

todd3834 17y ago

This link appears to have died.

spokey 17y ago

> 24. MBAs are conditioned to use their brains in much the same way as sex workers are conditioned to use their genitals. Nice work if you can get it. Can someone explain that to me? I have no idea what Hugh is trying to say there.