4 ms·

I'm tired of all these stories about reckless people remortgaging their houses to work on a startup. It's as though being reckless is a virtue. It's encouraging

I'm tired of all these stories about reckless people remortgaging their houses to work on a startup. It's as though being reckless is a virtue. It's encouraging others to do the same and fall flat on their faces.

lukego 9y ago
Maybe would-be startup bootstrappers should focus on getting into the Mustachian Position of Strength before starting their companies? http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/11/11/get-rich-with-the-position-of-strength/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/11/11/get-rich-with-the-...
- falcolas 9y ago
  Any time this guy is brought up, I feel compelled to point out that he inherited a house he was able to sell, and held a > $250,000 a year job to create the seed for his investments. And he is still working (on this ad-laden site, as a motivational speaker) to supplement his income from investments. Anybody with that kind of starting position could retire early. Most folks don't have that kind of starting position.
  - mgkimsal 9y ago
    Thank you for that clarity. Something about it always bugged me, but didn't know all the history there. Of course, there are plenty of folks who inherit a house, make $200k+, and still do not manage to have the discipline to do what he's done (reduce expenses, etc). But... yes, he's had lucky breaks and situations not everyone will have. To the extent he helps encourage people to reduce expenses and get a handle on their finances, it's useful, imo, but yeah, knowing how he got started can help keep a perspective on the advice.
  - nadezhda18 9y ago
    how about this guy: http://rootofgood.com/ http://rootofgood.com/ seems like he had a more honest starting position also, caring about 3 kids is no joke
TeMPOraL 9y ago
The startup investment machine needs constant supply of fresh, young, foolish blood to work. Those stories are not written to help founders live a better life.
- rhizome 9y ago
  It's like some MBA came up with the idea to arbitrage the post hoc fallacy.
- jondubois 9y ago
  It's scary to think that it's those same reckless people who end up being CEOs and industry leaders. I guess that explains why the stock market goes through violent cycles of booms and bursts. It means that everything appears to work exceptionally well until it all collapses due to lack of long-term foresight.
paulddraper 9y ago
You're probably one of those cranky people that don't like reading about lottery winners. Many thousands of people win the lottery every day, and you can too :/
- tattarattat 9y ago
  ... You're being sarcastic right?
  - paulddraper 9y ago
    Yeah. Classic survivorship bias. For every mortgaged house that financed a success there are ten more that didn't. Just know the odds. https://xkcd.com/1827/ https://xkcd.com/1827/
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

lukego 9y ago

Maybe would-be startup bootstrappers should focus on getting into the Mustachian Position of Strength before starting their companies? http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/11/11/get-rich-with-the-position-of-strength/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/11/11/get-rich-with-the-...

falcolas 9y ago
Any time this guy is brought up, I feel compelled to point out that he inherited a house he was able to sell, and held a > $250,000 a year job to create the seed for his investments. And he is still working (on this ad-laden site, as a motivational speaker) to supplement his income from investments. Anybody with that kind of starting position could retire early. Most folks don't have that kind of starting position.
- mgkimsal 9y ago
  Thank you for that clarity. Something about it always bugged me, but didn't know all the history there. Of course, there are plenty of folks who inherit a house, make $200k+, and still do not manage to have the discipline to do what he's done (reduce expenses, etc). But... yes, he's had lucky breaks and situations not everyone will have. To the extent he helps encourage people to reduce expenses and get a handle on their finances, it's useful, imo, but yeah, knowing how he got started can help keep a perspective on the advice.
- nadezhda18 9y ago
  how about this guy: http://rootofgood.com/ http://rootofgood.com/ seems like he had a more honest starting position also, caring about 3 kids is no joke

TeMPOraL 9y ago

The startup investment machine needs constant supply of fresh, young, foolish blood to work. Those stories are not written to help founders live a better life.

rhizome 9y ago
It's like some MBA came up with the idea to arbitrage the post hoc fallacy.
jondubois 9y ago
It's scary to think that it's those same reckless people who end up being CEOs and industry leaders. I guess that explains why the stock market goes through violent cycles of booms and bursts. It means that everything appears to work exceptionally well until it all collapses due to lack of long-term foresight.

paulddraper 9y ago

You're probably one of those cranky people that don't like reading about lottery winners. Many thousands of people win the lottery every day, and you can too :/

tattarattat 9y ago
... You're being sarcastic right?
- paulddraper 9y ago
  Yeah. Classic survivorship bias. For every mortgaged house that financed a success there are ten more that didn't. Just know the odds. https://xkcd.com/1827/ https://xkcd.com/1827/
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]