5 ms·

For comparison: same Amsterdam, about the same timeframe. No drive to start my own business (initially!), because didn't even know that was possible for regular

by raarts 9y ago

For comparison: same Amsterdam, about the same timeframe. No drive to start my own business (initially!), because didn't even know that was possible for regular people. Started out when I was eight, I got into electronics. Read all magazines, learned myself how to design electronic circuits from library books. Kept my own, hand written, library card system describing the specs of all transistors, ICs I could get my hands on. Designed/built and repaired devices for other people who paid me for the materials and for my trouble. I was 15. When I was 18 I went to university, switched majors multiple times. And then the Dutch electronics magazine published the Junior computer, based on the 6502. I spent all my money on it, and learned assembler by inputting hex numbers. After that came the MSX computer (I disassembled the BASIC interpreter to grok how it worked) and I started searching for programmers jobs. Found a job at KLM where I got out top of the class and entered a special called SMART. For special internal projects. All of us programmed in IBM S370 assembler, they tested C but it was too slow. I was 25 by then. The following years went downhill. In IT. I changed jobs multiple times, but the companies kept going out of business. I was flabbergasted at the amount of incompetence I saw in salespeople and at C-level. I had no idea, coming from a blue collar background. Side note: in 4 years I had 9 CEOs, 8 of which left their wife for their secretary in the time I worked there! I had a lot of respect for the 9th until I found out a couple of years later he'd done the same after I left. So I decided why not start my own business i was capable of going bust as well couldn't do worse as those guys. So I started the first commercial ISP in the NL. One thing led to another and many companies later I now pulled out of most and again starting as a founder and learning all the new hot technologies.

it_learnses 9y ago
Could you please give me some advice? i'm a full-time developer with 10 years experience. I would like to start my own and have a few ideas to try out. I have savings that could allow me to survive for a year. Would you recommend I quit my day job or just work on it on the side?
- _d8fd 9y ago
  Here are my simple tips: - don't run out of cash - make something you enjoy working on - sell something people need - sell something for more than it costs to make - don't expect the people around you to be as excited as you are about your thing
  - EliRivers 9y ago
    "don't run out of cash" Don't neglect this one. A surprisingly large number of small companies that go under are profitable. They don't go under because they're making a loss; they go under because they cannot pay today's bill. Cash flow kills small businesses dead.
    - amorphid 9y ago
      A good way to watch a business evaporate is missing payroll. Or rent.
  - wiz21c 9y ago
    I'd add : never ever work for nothing (especially if you see your work as an "investment") you must enjoy the job, because at some point your work under the pressure of a customer. be very wary of intellectual property issues (IP issues are not very well understood and some people will think you steal their IP when you're not; and being stolen will make them very angry, like lawsuit-angry) be ready to work according to someone else's planning : during your weekend, when you need to sleep, when you're sick, etc. be ready to contemplate the fact that there are some people who take much and gives quite less.
    - raarts 9y ago
      Also be aware your own IP does not get stolen, or that people do not 'wiggle' themselves or manipulate you into owning part of your IP. I've had multiple attempts of people trying this. One outright stole my source code and rebranded and tried to market it, another, well, don't get me started. There are a lot of bastards out there. Hindsight is 20/20, but there were multiple cases where things didn't feel right, I ignored that and went ahead anyway, and everything went sideways. Always trust your spider-sense!
- raarts 9y ago
  I started my first on the side, I was 33 and building a family, so I couldn't quit my day job. I hired an intern to handle marketing. Amazingly, he also did support. After a year the company made enough money so I could quit. My advice: in general, do not invest your buffer in your company. You will be tempted to, but think of it as a buffer for when your life goes sideways, not your company. PM me if you want, Google my username.
  - shostack 9y ago
    When you quit did you retain ownership and receive any income from the business so it was truly hands off?
    - gehwartzen 9y ago
      Sounds like OP quite his day job not the new business he started
- rtx 9y ago
  Keep a diary, whenever you see people complaining note it down. One day you will come across a problem which only you will be uniquely qualified to solve.
hutzlibu 9y ago
"I had a lot of respect for the 9th until I found out a couple of years later he'd done the same after I left." Why is a divorce something that let you loose all respect for a person, unless you are hardcore catholic?
- traviscj 9y ago
  Not OP but deeply nonreligous and the idea of a CEO dating subordinates sounds very unprofessional and cheating on a partner sounds generally shitty. (Maybe that's not exactly how it went down, but if we take the "left their wife" line literally.) Basically, it isn't the divorce that's the problem, it's everything else about it.
  - kem 9y ago
    FWIW, I'm not sure why infidelity is so stigmatized. With all the things going on in the world that seems so minor in the grand scheme of things. Also, presumably the secretary is an adult, so they're two consenting adults (yes, I understand the power differential issue but there's also the risk of being accused of sexual harassment, which I'd argue is more damaging nowadays). Relationships are so complicated I've learned not to pass judgment on anything. I'm definitely not saying infidelity is good, only that I think it's treated way out of proportion. To be honest, I think it sounds more shitty to unilaterally declare respect or lack thereof for a colleague based on their private life rather than their professional performance. Take credit for work that's not yours, and leave with millions in severance after they've fucked up the company? Totally fine. Sleep with your secretary? Unforgivable (and the CEO's fault).
    - raarts 9y ago
      My comments about infidelity should be read from the POV of a young programmer, that knew nothing about entrepreneurship, starting or running companies, who looked up to C-level management, who's entire network was filled with people in blue collar, low paying jobs. And who was stunned to realize: (1) they are ordinary people, (2) aren't supermen in any way, (3) that many of them valued themselves, money and power more than anything in life, and/or seemed to have no ethics whatsoever.
jansho 9y ago
Nine CEOs ... what? That made my day. Seriously though your background story is awesome. I haven't done electronics for a while, so this unhealthy "meh" attitude is starting to creep in ... but now I have an 8 year old kid to compare to (!) What's your startup about?

by raarts 9y ago

it_learnses 9y ago

Could you please give me some advice? i'm a full-time developer with 10 years experience. I would like to start my own and have a few ideas to try out. I have savings that could allow me to survive for a year. Would you recommend I quit my day job or just work on it on the side?

_d8fd 9y ago
Here are my simple tips: - don't run out of cash - make something you enjoy working on - sell something people need - sell something for more than it costs to make - don't expect the people around you to be as excited as you are about your thing
- EliRivers 9y ago
  "don't run out of cash" Don't neglect this one. A surprisingly large number of small companies that go under are profitable. They don't go under because they're making a loss; they go under because they cannot pay today's bill. Cash flow kills small businesses dead.
  - amorphid 9y ago
    A good way to watch a business evaporate is missing payroll. Or rent.
- wiz21c 9y ago
  I'd add : never ever work for nothing (especially if you see your work as an "investment") you must enjoy the job, because at some point your work under the pressure of a customer. be very wary of intellectual property issues (IP issues are not very well understood and some people will think you steal their IP when you're not; and being stolen will make them very angry, like lawsuit-angry) be ready to work according to someone else's planning : during your weekend, when you need to sleep, when you're sick, etc. be ready to contemplate the fact that there are some people who take much and gives quite less.
  - raarts 9y ago
    Also be aware your own IP does not get stolen, or that people do not 'wiggle' themselves or manipulate you into owning part of your IP. I've had multiple attempts of people trying this. One outright stole my source code and rebranded and tried to market it, another, well, don't get me started. There are a lot of bastards out there. Hindsight is 20/20, but there were multiple cases where things didn't feel right, I ignored that and went ahead anyway, and everything went sideways. Always trust your spider-sense!
raarts 9y ago
I started my first on the side, I was 33 and building a family, so I couldn't quit my day job. I hired an intern to handle marketing. Amazingly, he also did support. After a year the company made enough money so I could quit. My advice: in general, do not invest your buffer in your company. You will be tempted to, but think of it as a buffer for when your life goes sideways, not your company. PM me if you want, Google my username.
- shostack 9y ago
  When you quit did you retain ownership and receive any income from the business so it was truly hands off?
  - gehwartzen 9y ago
    Sounds like OP quite his day job not the new business he started
rtx 9y ago
Keep a diary, whenever you see people complaining note it down. One day you will come across a problem which only you will be uniquely qualified to solve.

hutzlibu 9y ago

"I had a lot of respect for the 9th until I found out a couple of years later he'd done the same after I left." Why is a divorce something that let you loose all respect for a person, unless you are hardcore catholic?

traviscj 9y ago
Not OP but deeply nonreligous and the idea of a CEO dating subordinates sounds very unprofessional and cheating on a partner sounds generally shitty. (Maybe that's not exactly how it went down, but if we take the "left their wife" line literally.) Basically, it isn't the divorce that's the problem, it's everything else about it.
- kem 9y ago
  FWIW, I'm not sure why infidelity is so stigmatized. With all the things going on in the world that seems so minor in the grand scheme of things. Also, presumably the secretary is an adult, so they're two consenting adults (yes, I understand the power differential issue but there's also the risk of being accused of sexual harassment, which I'd argue is more damaging nowadays). Relationships are so complicated I've learned not to pass judgment on anything. I'm definitely not saying infidelity is good, only that I think it's treated way out of proportion. To be honest, I think it sounds more shitty to unilaterally declare respect or lack thereof for a colleague based on their private life rather than their professional performance. Take credit for work that's not yours, and leave with millions in severance after they've fucked up the company? Totally fine. Sleep with your secretary? Unforgivable (and the CEO's fault).
  - raarts 9y ago
    My comments about infidelity should be read from the POV of a young programmer, that knew nothing about entrepreneurship, starting or running companies, who looked up to C-level management, who's entire network was filled with people in blue collar, low paying jobs. And who was stunned to realize: (1) they are ordinary people, (2) aren't supermen in any way, (3) that many of them valued themselves, money and power more than anything in life, and/or seemed to have no ethics whatsoever.

jansho 9y ago

Nine CEOs ... what? That made my day. Seriously though your background story is awesome. I haven't done electronics for a while, so this unhealthy "meh" attitude is starting to creep in ... but now I have an 8 year old kid to compare to (!) What's your startup about?