3 ms·

Oh, btw. Guess who pays the sins of the spenders. That's right. People on this board, who watch as their hard work is eaten up by inflation and taxes. Becau

Oh, btw. Guess who pays the sins of the spenders. That's right. People on this board, who watch as their hard work is eaten up by inflation and taxes. Because banks will get paid no matter what.

tptacek 17y ago
Guess who benefits from the generosity of the US bankruptcy system? That's right. People on this board, who survive the demise of startup after startup until they manage to start one that lasts and creates hundreds of jobs. Most startups are on a trajectory towards bankruptcy. That's the point. It's why you can "work very very hard for a couple years and then not work anymore", to paraphrase Graham. Extreme risk.
- startuprules 17y ago
  "Most startups are on a trajectory towards bankruptcy. That's the point" Spoken like an irresponsible gambler. You could utilize: 1.) Savings - Money saved up, maybe used to purchase things, fund companies 2.) Lean startup method - one should bootstrap until a market/user fit is found, while working full time 3.) Scale up when you have the revenue/demand, not until then. Otherwise, you're just gambling with other people's money. We have enough gambling in this economy as it is. (Goldman Sachs is leveraged 100 to 1)
- byrneseyeview 17y ago
  How common are debt-financed startups? I was under the impression that they were funded by equity, unless they were starting to show profits or had some assets. In fact, a loan to a startup would behave like equity with a ceiling on appreciation, not like consumer debt. For whatever reason, I can't recall hearing about a single successful startup founder who previously declared bankruptcy. The closest I can think of was Bill Bartmann (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm?chan=search http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066....).

3 ms·

Oh, btw. Guess who pays the sins of the spenders. That's right. People on this board, who watch as their hard work is eaten up by inflation and taxes. Becau

by startuprules 17y ago

Oh, btw. Guess who pays the sins of the spenders. That's right. People on this board, who watch as their hard work is eaten up by inflation and taxes. Because banks will get paid no matter what.

tptacek 17y ago
Guess who benefits from the generosity of the US bankruptcy system? That's right. People on this board, who survive the demise of startup after startup until they manage to start one that lasts and creates hundreds of jobs. Most startups are on a trajectory towards bankruptcy. That's the point. It's why you can "work very very hard for a couple years and then not work anymore", to paraphrase Graham. Extreme risk.
- startuprules 17y ago
  "Most startups are on a trajectory towards bankruptcy. That's the point" Spoken like an irresponsible gambler. You could utilize: 1.) Savings - Money saved up, maybe used to purchase things, fund companies 2.) Lean startup method - one should bootstrap until a market/user fit is found, while working full time 3.) Scale up when you have the revenue/demand, not until then. Otherwise, you're just gambling with other people's money. We have enough gambling in this economy as it is. (Goldman Sachs is leveraged 100 to 1)
- byrneseyeview 17y ago
  How common are debt-financed startups? I was under the impression that they were funded by equity, unless they were starting to show profits or had some assets. In fact, a loan to a startup would behave like equity with a ceiling on appreciation, not like consumer debt. For whatever reason, I can't recall hearing about a single successful startup founder who previously declared bankruptcy. The closest I can think of was Bill Bartmann (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm?chan=search http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066....).