7 ms·

Make kids. It's the best startup you'll ever have.

by TotlolRon 16y ago

Janteh 16y ago
But get a great co-founder first!
- jurjenh 16y ago
  And generally not more than one. Chances for being acquired aren't that good either. And you probably shouldn't focus too much on an early exit strategy...
  - Sukotto 16y ago
    One wife: you are happy Two wives: you are tired Three wives: they hate each other Four wives: they hate you! (This is a half-remembered quote but I don't recall where I heard it and my googlefu has failed me)
    - tseabrooks 16y ago
      I recently read a similar (exact same?) quote in the book "The Name of The Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss. Almost certainly not the genesis of this quote but it's the only instance I know of.
nandemo 16y ago
Hours are long, you're on-call 24/7. Your co-founder might want out and take almost all the equity. Even so you still must keep helping with funding. Even if everything goes well with your co-founder, you put a lot of money into it but your shares gradually and inevitably unvest, till 18 years later you've got 0% equity. Even so you might be expected to shell out a couple of rounds of funding ("we're getting traction and in 4 years we'll be getting revenue"). Then, although you aren't liable for your "startup"'s actions anymore, your reputation is forever linked to it. What's the upside?
- msg 16y ago
  Golden handcuffs. /ducks
- loewenskind 16y ago
  >What's the upside? Have a child and you'll see, unless you really are as sterile as you sound. :)
  - nandemo 16y ago
    Ouch, sterile? Come on, I was kidding. :)
    - loewenskind 16y ago
      I put the smiley! :) The post sounded like it could have been written by a robot evaluating the value of human reproduction. :)
      - ComputerGuru 16y ago
        First time I upvote all sides of an argument. Thank you HN for such great people and quality posts :)
  - Sukotto 16y ago
    Beware the opportunity cost of having kids. I love my kids... but I've never had the rosy "they make my life complete" vibe that a lot of other people talk about. Maybe there's something wrong with me? Kids are a tremendous time and money sink. Nightly storytime, getting down on the floor to play with them, encouraging them as they experiment with art/music/dancing/etc, taking them to the playground/pool/skating/etc every weekend... those hours used to be for programming, learning, video games, dating, movies, friends, "alone time", and everything else I gave up on or cut WAY back on in order to make space in my life for my kids. Looking back on my life, I think I would do it again... so I guess there's some benefit to it all. But damn if I can see it or articulate it. (They're 5, 3, and 1month)
oliveoil 16y ago
And you get to improve the economy too!

Make kids. It's the best startup you'll ever have.

Janteh 16y ago

But get a great co-founder first!

jurjenh 16y ago
And generally not more than one. Chances for being acquired aren't that good either. And you probably shouldn't focus too much on an early exit strategy...
- Sukotto 16y ago
  One wife: you are happy Two wives: you are tired Three wives: they hate each other Four wives: they hate you! (This is a half-remembered quote but I don't recall where I heard it and my googlefu has failed me)
  - tseabrooks 16y ago
    I recently read a similar (exact same?) quote in the book "The Name of The Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss. Almost certainly not the genesis of this quote but it's the only instance I know of.

nandemo 16y ago

Hours are long, you're on-call 24/7. Your co-founder might want out and take almost all the equity. Even so you still must keep helping with funding. Even if everything goes well with your co-founder, you put a lot of money into it but your shares gradually and inevitably unvest, till 18 years later you've got 0% equity. Even so you might be expected to shell out a couple of rounds of funding ("we're getting traction and in 4 years we'll be getting revenue"). Then, although you aren't liable for your "startup"'s actions anymore, your reputation is forever linked to it. What's the upside?

msg 16y ago
Golden handcuffs. /ducks
loewenskind 16y ago
>What's the upside? Have a child and you'll see, unless you really are as sterile as you sound. :)
- nandemo 16y ago
  Ouch, sterile? Come on, I was kidding. :)
  - loewenskind 16y ago
    I put the smiley! :) The post sounded like it could have been written by a robot evaluating the value of human reproduction. :)
    - ComputerGuru 16y ago
      First time I upvote all sides of an argument. Thank you HN for such great people and quality posts :)
- Sukotto 16y ago
  Beware the opportunity cost of having kids. I love my kids... but I've never had the rosy "they make my life complete" vibe that a lot of other people talk about. Maybe there's something wrong with me? Kids are a tremendous time and money sink. Nightly storytime, getting down on the floor to play with them, encouraging them as they experiment with art/music/dancing/etc, taking them to the playground/pool/skating/etc every weekend... those hours used to be for programming, learning, video games, dating, movies, friends, "alone time", and everything else I gave up on or cut WAY back on in order to make space in my life for my kids. Looking back on my life, I think I would do it again... so I guess there's some benefit to it all. But damn if I can see it or articulate it. (They're 5, 3, and 1month)

oliveoil 16y ago

And you get to improve the economy too!