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I am a pretty successful bootstrapped software engineer by most standards, and I disagree with most of the things you wrote, besides the wife bit (I'm not marri

by akanet 10y ago

I am a pretty successful bootstrapped software engineer by most standards, and I disagree with most of the things you wrote, besides the wife bit (I'm not married). I've had pretty positive experiences pretty much the whole way through. I hope you find people who love and support you, and a project to work on that doesn't make you hate those around you. “Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” ― Abraham Lincoln

madaxe_again 10y ago
Have you ever employed 50+ people? Being self employed and being an employer are entirely different sports. I don't hate anyone, but I am certainly a hate figure. I was the asshole who chased invoices, sat clients down and told them their rates were going up, asked people not to be drunk at their desks, that sort of thing. Someone has to do the dirty work, and it doesn't win you friends or make you happy.
- arethuza 10y ago
  I co-founded a startup that grew to about 180 people before being acquired (the whole multiple rounds of VC investment, going public etc.). Looking back my level of happy memories is pretty much inversely related to the size of the company - when there was 2/3/4 of us it was deeply enjoyable even though we were living hand to mouth. I suspect most of the time we were over 100 I was utterly miserable to the extent of never really wanting to go down that particular route again.
- icebraining 10y ago
  or make you happy I'm not sure. I know a CEO who is an ex-developer and funded a startup, and I think he is happy to do those. It's still a worry, of course, but I don't think he lets it get to him like it would to me. It's all a game he loves to play, not just a necessary chore. In fact, despite having the skills, he was never a developer reluctantly doing business work; he's a CEO through and through, and only picked up technical work when needed, not the other way around.
  - madaxe_again 10y ago
    I never could let go and see it as a game - me, my life, my livelihood - that's mine to play with as I choose - but I never could bring myself to treat things which were damaging to others as a game. You make one little ethical compromise after another, and you become that which you once sought to oppose. It's actually the guy who tried to hit me in s meeting I have to thank - I saw a vision of myself after another decade.
    - icebraining 10y ago
      I don't think it means he takes ethical compromises. The things you described weren't unethical - chasing invoices, raising rates, telling people off for unprofessional behavior - but they are still emotionally draining to some, whereas to him they weren't.

by akanet 10y ago

madaxe_again 10y ago

Have you ever employed 50+ people? Being self employed and being an employer are entirely different sports. I don't hate anyone, but I am certainly a hate figure. I was the asshole who chased invoices, sat clients down and told them their rates were going up, asked people not to be drunk at their desks, that sort of thing. Someone has to do the dirty work, and it doesn't win you friends or make you happy.

arethuza 10y ago
I co-founded a startup that grew to about 180 people before being acquired (the whole multiple rounds of VC investment, going public etc.). Looking back my level of happy memories is pretty much inversely related to the size of the company - when there was 2/3/4 of us it was deeply enjoyable even though we were living hand to mouth. I suspect most of the time we were over 100 I was utterly miserable to the extent of never really wanting to go down that particular route again.
icebraining 10y ago
or make you happy I'm not sure. I know a CEO who is an ex-developer and funded a startup, and I think he is happy to do those. It's still a worry, of course, but I don't think he lets it get to him like it would to me. It's all a game he loves to play, not just a necessary chore. In fact, despite having the skills, he was never a developer reluctantly doing business work; he's a CEO through and through, and only picked up technical work when needed, not the other way around.
- madaxe_again 10y ago
  I never could let go and see it as a game - me, my life, my livelihood - that's mine to play with as I choose - but I never could bring myself to treat things which were damaging to others as a game. You make one little ethical compromise after another, and you become that which you once sought to oppose. It's actually the guy who tried to hit me in s meeting I have to thank - I saw a vision of myself after another decade.
  - icebraining 10y ago
    I don't think it means he takes ethical compromises. The things you described weren't unethical - chasing invoices, raising rates, telling people off for unprofessional behavior - but they are still emotionally draining to some, whereas to him they weren't.