3 ms·

At what point during development of your startup is it ok to start losing sleep, friends, socializing?

2 points by twism 20y ago

zaidf 20y ago
Generally, sooner the better. But here is the twist: if your startup is part of the social network bandwagon, you can't get THAT disconnected from friends and the outside world.
AF 20y ago
Never. Think about what you are asking. The probability of anyone's startup succeeding is miniscule. And if doesn't succeed and you've sacrificed friends and who you are, what have you become? Miserable. Don't let a business and money consume your life.
- twism 20y ago
  I feel like ive invested way too much time to slow down... But im actually out with friends at whiskeys in boston... First time in months. Getting hammmered... Wohooo
jmtame 20y ago
I've found that becoming more disconnected frees me from wasting time. In college, the time spent socializing can become a huge and excessive waste of time. Granted, I'm bombarded with "you have the rest of your f___ing life to work" (one of my professors pulled me aside and told me that), and the usual "you should make college the funnest time of your life!" (according to the hippy generation of people who probably just miss getting high during their youth and being rebelious) Anyway, I consider what people tell me and then make my own decisions. I'm slowly disconnecting myself from my friends, and I don't see that as a bad thing. I see it as a way to focus my concentration entirely on my startups. It depends on how much you value your friends versus how much you value your startup. You're going to marry one of them, so you'll need to figure that out at some point. Some people say you can do both, but it's like getting married in my opinion. Once you get married, you can't keep hanging out with all your old friends like you always did. You're committed to someone (or your startup) from that point on, and unless you really put in the time and work at it, it probably won't work. I can think of very few things that work by just casually doing it on the side (ie Facebook). Even in that case, Zuckerberg is an entrepreneurial individual and had a strong interest in programming. This is all coming from a college kid who has never been married, though. I speak not from experience, but from observation ;)
davidw 20y ago
You have to keep some balance, I think. Tone things down some, sure, but: 1) Your body needs sleep. 2) In the end, you'll probably just waste time you would have spent with friends here or somewhere else.
brlewis 20y ago
Change your idea into one your friends would be interested in. I'm socializing more now. Start losing sleep tonight, then two days from now decide whether it was a good idea or not. It depends on you.

2 points by twism 20y ago

zaidf 20y ago

Generally, sooner the better. But here is the twist: if your startup is part of the social network bandwagon, you can't get THAT disconnected from friends and the outside world.

AF 20y ago

Never. Think about what you are asking. The probability of anyone's startup succeeding is miniscule. And if doesn't succeed and you've sacrificed friends and who you are, what have you become? Miserable. Don't let a business and money consume your life.

twism 20y ago
I feel like ive invested way too much time to slow down... But im actually out with friends at whiskeys in boston... First time in months. Getting hammmered... Wohooo

jmtame 20y ago

I've found that becoming more disconnected frees me from wasting time. In college, the time spent socializing can become a huge and excessive waste of time. Granted, I'm bombarded with "you have the rest of your f___ing life to work" (one of my professors pulled me aside and told me that), and the usual "you should make college the funnest time of your life!" (according to the hippy generation of people who probably just miss getting high during their youth and being rebelious) Anyway, I consider what people tell me and then make my own decisions. I'm slowly disconnecting myself from my friends, and I don't see that as a bad thing. I see it as a way to focus my concentration entirely on my startups. It depends on how much you value your friends versus how much you value your startup. You're going to marry one of them, so you'll need to figure that out at some point. Some people say you can do both, but it's like getting married in my opinion. Once you get married, you can't keep hanging out with all your old friends like you always did. You're committed to someone (or your startup) from that point on, and unless you really put in the time and work at it, it probably won't work. I can think of very few things that work by just casually doing it on the side (ie Facebook). Even in that case, Zuckerberg is an entrepreneurial individual and had a strong interest in programming. This is all coming from a college kid who has never been married, though. I speak not from experience, but from observation ;)

davidw 20y ago

You have to keep some balance, I think. Tone things down some, sure, but: 1) Your body needs sleep. 2) In the end, you'll probably just waste time you would have spent with friends here or somewhere else.

brlewis 20y ago

Change your idea into one your friends would be interested in. I'm socializing more now. Start losing sleep tonight, then two days from now decide whether it was a good idea or not. It depends on you.