5 ms·
Ask YC: do you have a girlfriend/boyfriend?
I just want to know that ^_^
- brk 19y agoNo. I'm married.
- startupcrazy 19y agoMan, that is sad.
- startupcrazy 19y agoWhy all the down votes, I was simply implying that if your wife isn't also your girl friend it is a sad place to be.
- noodle 19y agoyes. even those holed up in a closet working full-steam on a startup need to socialize, whether with friends or a SO. otherwise, you'll go crazy and burn out.
- himanshu 19y agoNope. Life as a computer science major in college and an overall geek leaves very little time.
- Tichy 19y agoIf you don't even have time as a student, how will it be once you join the workforce?
- himanshu 19y agoI will worry about it once I am done with school ;) I see nothing wrong with having a girlfriend but I don't feel alarmed not to have one at the moment.
- mrtron 19y agoI mean no disrespect, but as a computer science major at a well recognized school and an overall geek I had several concurrent gf's during university and went out about 4 nights a week on average. Looking back, I was a fool, but I am glad I lived that way for a few years. It taught me many lessons. edit: Re-reading I laugh at how I always throw in that 'good school' part. Perhaps it is because years later I still have stress-dreams about exams there, and the courses were like getting kicked in the balls daily.
- xlnt 19y agoNo, romance is dumb.
- xlnt 19y agoWe know that romantic relationships frequently hurt people. This leaves some pro-romance positions available such as: - it only hurts foolish people; there are known solutions to all those problems - it's worth the risk of being hurt - there is a type of relationship that is different than conventional romance in a way that prevents being hurt, but is still romantic So, anyone want to debate, or just stick to downvoting? None of the pro-romance positions are obviously correct.
- PieSquared 19y agoDebate? I wouldn't mind. I'd say (although maybe I'm unqualified to do so... :) ) that although it may hurt, it can also just lead to a happier lifestyle. And happier people, it seems to me, would be more productive, both in the short and long run. So while relationships may hurt people, the hurt would be short term, while the overall happiness and productivity gains might be long-term. ----- Oh, and by the way. It took me login to post, because I didn't realize that the ID's were case-sensitive. I'm not sure that they should be, eh?
- xlnt 19y agoWhile people frequently feel happy about romance, what is there that should make one happy? If the answer is something like, "having a close relationship where you understand each other well" then that is possible without romance and without being hurt.
- euccastro 19y agoI don't think you are questioning that romance can cause more intense and overwhelming feelings than the social and intellectual pleasure of close bonds and mutual understanding, right? It's quite easy to explain, in evolutionary terms, why it 'should' be like that. But I don't think this is the "should" that you are asking about. And the problem is, there are no other "should"s, no other "why"s. In asking for a transcendent "why", you are negating the intrinsic "legitimacy" of our most basic instincts. You emphasize the "feel" in "feel happy" as if there was anything to happiness beyond the feeling of it. Trying to submit instincts to reason doesn't make any more sense to me than trying to submit axioms to inference rules. You may argue romance is kinda obsolescent now that culture is overriding genetics as the main driver of adaptation. But by the same radically disembodied reasoning, you shouldn't take romantic pain so seriously. We just are what we are. Play to win; life is too short for anything else.
- jpeterson 19y agoHad a girlfriend when I started my company. I haven't had any time for socializing since she left. Anyone else in this boat?
- powerflex 19y agoYes and its very distracting. Girlfriends are money/time/attention pits (but I mean that in a good way).
- bkrausz 19y agoI have a girlfriend, but the condition I made when starting the relationship is that she has to be ok with me being too busy certain weeks to see her. I promise to see her once a week at the least, and she's ok with that. She's not thrilled about it but feels that some of me is better than none, so she accepts it.
- aneesh 19y agopoll?
- ken 19y agoDon't ask us. You're the one with enough karma for it.
- vikas5678 19y agodating, worse than having a gf i think, the mindgames are still in effect! grrrr
- TheTarquin 19y agoI do. It helps that we're both extremely busy, so our "dates" often wind up being the nights when we both have portable work and can hang out together while we grind away.
- joshwa 19y agoAsk YC: a/s/l? Seriously... this is getting stupid.
- thingsilearned 19y agoBroke up with mine when I moved out to the valley. It wasn't too serious and the distraction sux. For valentine's day I wrote my computer a poem in python.
- cooldude127 19y agothat makes me feel a little sad
- subwindow 19y agoI wrote mine in Ruby. Surprisingly enough, she loved it.
- yan 19y agoYes, and it actually improves my productivity. She edges me on to work when I feel like slacking off, and I can have intelligent conversations about whichever ideas I have as long as I can break them down to a non-techie.
- ivankirigin 19y agoMarried to my cofounder
- andreyf 19y agoI realize every relationship/business is different, but how is that working out - both in the relationship and in the business (if you don't mind sharing)?
- ivankirigin 19y agoGenerally, investors are wary of married couples, in that they've been burned before. So we need to be very cognizant of the way we act around each other to ensure they get the most positive impression. If you read accounts of the flickr cofounders, you'll also get anecdotal evidence (that I've never experienced) that some investors are assholes and don't take women seriously. We have complementing skillsets, which is perfect on the work side of it. On the relationship side of it, I have no idea how people do startups that have significant others _not_ involved. Not only do we spend the vast majority of our time on the project, but we talk about it when we aren't working on it. How could an uninvolved party tolerate that?
- bap 19y agoMichael and Xochi Birch are part of the founding team behind Bebo.com, which seems to have worked out rather well for them financially. I'm sure founding a company adds some extra stress to any relationship but you can certainly take proactive steps to assuage that. One blogger (relatively well known) but I can't remember which (sorry!) blogged about how he and his wife set aside a monthly date to re-connect. They go out to dinner, and exchange gifts (big or small.) There was quite a bit more detail than that and I think it's a good ready for any of today's super-busy couples. After 30 minutes of searching around I just haven't found the link. Maybe someone else here remembers the piece (or wrote it?)
- proximitycast 19y agoI don't consider my wife a co-founder, but she is definitely a part of my team if nothing more than being in the cheerleading section. She was not as fully committed as myself and she smartly vetoed the mortgaging of our home to get the project done, but once she caught my vision she became as dedicated as me to seeing the project become a success. I had her read "Internet Riches" to get her non-techy mind into the mode. It was after she read that book that she became fully committed and supportive. I guess I can't really classify her anymore as "not_involved", and that's good for both of us.
- axod 19y agoMarried, and seem to have some curious small people running around breaking things. They scare me.
- edw519 19y agoDon't let them scare you. Let them inspire you. (Funny, we spend all this time and energy trying to get into "startup mode" while forgetting that's the mode we were already in long ago before we let others change us.)
- cmm324 19y agoMarried and the third child on the way!!!! They can be scary... yet so beautiful and amazing.
- xugglybug 19y agoA boyfriend? Why settle with one? I have two.
- watmough 19y agoAll my exes live in Texas. Seriously, I'm married, though with the amount of work I do, sometimes my wife fails to recognize me. ;-)
- mk 19y agoI just got married on sunday.
- jimbokun 19y agoCongratulations!
- deleted 19y ago[deleted]
- truebosko 19y agoI'm in a long term relationship with my lovely girlfriend. We're currently living together, can't complain So to answer your question: Yes
- pibefision 19y agomarried! (and pregnant!)
- brlewis 19y agoI actually have a date with my wife tomorrow night! Just secured a babysitter. Our last date was on Valentine's day.
- laktek 19y agoYeah.It doesn't matter as far as you know how to balance your personal life and work.
- mattmaroon 19y ago47 comments, 8 points. Might be a new record for that ratio.
- alice 19y agoThis is liking asking in a prison how many people have nice cars.
- rglovejoy 19y agoNo, of course not. Who has the time?
- philippp 19y agoIt's depressing to read things like "Nope. Life as a computer science major in college and an overall geek leaves very little time." I'm sure you play videogames, read/post on non-industry forums or do SOMETHING not work related. Socializing with women will help you find "the right one" in the long run, and will keep you from being taken advantage of once you "make it." Personally, I broke up with my girlfriend of three years before moving to SF, independent of deciding to start YC. Overall, not having to "keep up" has definitely helped me. I've been single throughout the nosebleed "grind-and-build-and-demo" three month YC cycle, but I regularly went out in SF and even had some flings that were fun but shallow distractions. I've recently started dating an amazing woman who's completing her studies while working in Los Angeles; she's at least as busy as I am and we're "dating" in whatever capacity is possible. Although we're both ridiculously busy we respect our space/priorities, and it's fun and affirmative. To each his/her own I suppose.
- icky 19y agoNo, I'm married, and my wife won't let me have one. ;-)
- edu 19y agoGirlfriend, we have been dating for 3 years and 8 months We both are pretty hardworkers, and planning to start something toghether (she's been pulling me to apply to this YC's round). I think we are a good time, I understand computers and she understands people (BSc in Psychology). I don't think having a gf need so much time, I always feel that I spend more time procrastinating that staying with her, and with the later I feel better! :)
- kul 19y agoNo :(