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My 2 cents on these 6 for what it's worth... Economy: Many successful startups have succeeded in a down economy (Microsoft and Google were started in recession

My 2 cents on these 6 for what it's worth... Economy: Many successful startups have succeeded in a down economy (Microsoft and Google were started in recessions). The truth is a down economy is good for a startup because it weakens larger competitors who need large amounts of money to support their existing infrastructure. Uncertainty: Job security is a myth. Even if you work for a big company that's secure against going out of business there's nothing to say you won't lose your job tomorrow because of some cost cutting initiative. So you really shouldn't let this become a factor. Indecision: If you aren't passionate about what type of business you want to start you shouldn't start it. So if this is a problem you should just stay in your existing job. Debt: If you have good credit you can get a small business loan to ensure you have a consistent salary until you can get customers or VC money. If you have bad credit AND debt you probably shouldn't be starting a business Family: This is legit. If you have a lot of family obligations you shouldn't start a business No Benefits: Private benefits actually aren't that expensive. I just checked ehealthinsurance.com and they quoted $79 a month for me. As for 401(k) and such you're making a bet on your new business that it will pay out big for you so you shouldn't really be worrying about retirement for that 2 year period where you're trying to start-up

kiba 16y ago
Why not just start a side-business that you do for "fun". You could aim for a really small goal like 5 bucks a month. Totally doable.
- Periodic 16y ago
  It seems like this is a course more of the pre-obligated entrepreneurs are taking. With a stable income it is possible to start a company on the side, and hopefully it will become a sole source of income, but you will likely never see anywhere near the explosive growth a dedicated startup would have.
  - Daniel_Newby 16y ago
    But then, explosive growth may very well be unwanted in a side project.
  - kiba 16y ago
    In my opinion, a "Tim Ferris" style business is going to be worth more its weight in gold compared to a business that require constant manning and may not work out in five years. It just require an almost inhuman amount of efficiency and dedication to incremental improvement.
    - jaxn 16y ago
      A "Tim Ferris" style business also might not work out in five years. I love mostly-passive income (it is the bulk of my current income), but that doesn't mean that the income source needs to start out passive. Just have a plan for stepping away since freedom is really the only thing worth buying with money.
- kaib 16y ago
  There are a lot of jurisdictions in the world where this is impossible due to common restrictions in the employment contracts. California, yes. Many other places, no.
mburney 16y ago
I don't think debt and bad credit should hold anyone back either. If you're bootstrapping you just have to include your debt payments as part of your expenses. And bad credit sometimes can take years to fix, so you may miss your opportunities if you wait for your credit to get better before starting.
_delirium 16y ago
On the last one, private benefits are only cheap in certain cases. If you have kids, the cost goes up a lot, and if you or your family has used the health insurance in the past 12 months, the cost skyrockets (and many insurers won't take you). You don't even have to have leukemia or AIDS or anything to be disqualified or get charged really high rates; it could be as simple as, your kid has gotten two antibiotic courses in the past year, or you had a kidney stone. As for the suggestion in the article, pooling among small businesses, it's been floated a number of times, and some states have tried to set up those kinds of pools, but so far it hasn't really worked: http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/26/smallbusiness/healthcare_pools.smb/index.htm http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/26/smallbusiness/healthcare_poo...
ericlavigne 16y ago
"Private benefits actually aren't that expensive. I just checked ehealthinsurance.com and they quoted $79 a month for me." The issue here has less to do with the cost of private health insurance, than with whether private health insurance provides the same protection as employer-sponsored health insurance. I have seen this issue come up several times on Hacker News (unfortunately can't find links to the stories I remember). Someone has private health insurance, develops a chronic illness, and loses their health insurance as a result.
- alain94040 16y ago
  Even healthy people get a coverage offer at $1,400/month (for a family, granted, not an individual). That's quite a bit of change for someone who never needs to see a doctor (granted again, the kids have annual visits).

kiba 16y ago

Why not just start a side-business that you do for "fun". You could aim for a really small goal like 5 bucks a month. Totally doable.

Periodic 16y ago
It seems like this is a course more of the pre-obligated entrepreneurs are taking. With a stable income it is possible to start a company on the side, and hopefully it will become a sole source of income, but you will likely never see anywhere near the explosive growth a dedicated startup would have.
- Daniel_Newby 16y ago
  But then, explosive growth may very well be unwanted in a side project.
- kiba 16y ago
  In my opinion, a "Tim Ferris" style business is going to be worth more its weight in gold compared to a business that require constant manning and may not work out in five years. It just require an almost inhuman amount of efficiency and dedication to incremental improvement.
  - jaxn 16y ago
    A "Tim Ferris" style business also might not work out in five years. I love mostly-passive income (it is the bulk of my current income), but that doesn't mean that the income source needs to start out passive. Just have a plan for stepping away since freedom is really the only thing worth buying with money.
kaib 16y ago
There are a lot of jurisdictions in the world where this is impossible due to common restrictions in the employment contracts. California, yes. Many other places, no.

mburney 16y ago

I don't think debt and bad credit should hold anyone back either. If you're bootstrapping you just have to include your debt payments as part of your expenses. And bad credit sometimes can take years to fix, so you may miss your opportunities if you wait for your credit to get better before starting.

_delirium 16y ago

On the last one, private benefits are only cheap in certain cases. If you have kids, the cost goes up a lot, and if you or your family has used the health insurance in the past 12 months, the cost skyrockets (and many insurers won't take you). You don't even have to have leukemia or AIDS or anything to be disqualified or get charged really high rates; it could be as simple as, your kid has gotten two antibiotic courses in the past year, or you had a kidney stone. As for the suggestion in the article, pooling among small businesses, it's been floated a number of times, and some states have tried to set up those kinds of pools, but so far it hasn't really worked: http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/26/smallbusiness/healthcare_pools.smb/index.htm http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/26/smallbusiness/healthcare_poo...

ericlavigne 16y ago

"Private benefits actually aren't that expensive. I just checked ehealthinsurance.com and they quoted $79 a month for me." The issue here has less to do with the cost of private health insurance, than with whether private health insurance provides the same protection as employer-sponsored health insurance. I have seen this issue come up several times on Hacker News (unfortunately can't find links to the stories I remember). Someone has private health insurance, develops a chronic illness, and loses their health insurance as a result.

alain94040 16y ago
Even healthy people get a coverage offer at $1,400/month (for a family, granted, not an individual). That's quite a bit of change for someone who never needs to see a doctor (granted again, the kids have annual visits).