5 ms·

I bet 80% of people reading that list are thinking: This describes me perfectly.

raganwald 16y ago
I was about to post how this list makes me question leaving BigCo. I must be in the 20%, I don't think I have any of these qualities, and behold, my bank account tells me that none of my ventures have succeeded.
- edanm 16y ago
  If you've worked on several ventures, I would guess you're more determined than most of the population. Most people only talk or dream of actually working on projects, and never actually do anything with it.
  - raganwald 16y ago
    Thanks! Your kind words are much appreciated. I sometimes have the wrong kind of determination. I created a program for managing classified ads, a desktop database-backed app that integrated with Aldus (yes, that long ago) PageMaker. I did some stuff I'm proud of, including finagling my way into the booth with Aldus at MacWorld and posing for a picture with Guy Kawasaki (a hero of mine those days)... And yes, I sold my software in Canada, the US, and even South America. But my pricing model was all wrong, I didn't grasp that the reason my competition charged 3-5x the amount that I charged (US$795) was that it cost so much to sell software at that time, the cost of ramen was irrelevant. It took me a while to figure this out. I think the turning point was when I looked out of my apartment window and realized that the bank had towed my car away. Anyways, I had the persistence of a bull, but as the OP notes, a little flexibility would have gone a long way.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
- slantyyz 16y ago
  But you're pretty well known (at least in some programming circles in Canada) and you've been involved in some pretty successful ventures. That should count for something. --edit by ventures, i mean senior roles in other people's ventures
- akkartik 16y ago
  Gahd, who reads this and thinks it describes them? Some of PG's essays stress me out just by reading them. They usually involve the d-word (http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Apaulgraham.com+determination http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Apaulgraham.com+determi...). I did my thing (http://readwarp.com http://readwarp.com) for 8 months. But PG and others told me early on it didn't have commercial possibility. So was it determination or inflexibility that I kept at it? I eventually figured it out for myself, in some approximately systematic way, that it wasn't going anywhere. I've taken a job so I can save enough in a year to last me two years while I take stock. Is that lack of determination or flexibility? Would I be more determined if I was contracting instead? I still work on readwarp in the weekends; I find I can't stop even if I know it's not going anywhere. Is that inflexible? Taking a job has allowed me to change readwarp drastically, make it even more minimalist, something I just couldn't prioritize when it was something 'serious'. I still use it everyday. Am I being inflexible? When the running back retreats is it flexibility or lack of determination? Can you really tell without knowing if he ended up downfield? If you watched me work on any given day you'd think I have no determination or persistence at all. I give up at the first sign of trouble, go off to do something else, one of a dozen projects. But in the large I do seem to get things done. I circle back in a few hours or days on that problem I was stuck on, and I find a way to make progress. Is this flexibility? It seems a dynamic fundamentally at odds with being an entrepreneur. Funny thing is, I think PG works like this. I'm not making excuses, just seeking my blind spot. Somehow the things I'm interested in don't seem to be of more general usefulness. I haven't accomplished anything that would stand out in a YC app. I don't know how to hack any realworld systems, except maybe job interviews and negotiations, but that's probably just another sign I'll give up and go back to a job. So I keep seeking my blind spot. What's missing? What works for others? Why am I on the outside looking in? Perhaps you think I just shouldn't care what he has to say. But shouldn't I keep looking for feedback? Different phrasings suggest different answers.
  - jayliew 16y ago
    Hey Kartik, I remember when I first got to know you before you took that job. Your story reminds me of when Evan Williams (Blogger) was the only person left, and he was just stitching it all by himself, no money, etc. But he had users. I sense your frustration, that you feel like you're spinning your tires - and I've been there. (1) do you have a non-negligible number of users? (have you done qualitative + quantitative research, customer development, etc) (2) do you have a business model hypothesis, that you've sought to validate/invalidate? (3) does getting into YC have to be a pre-requisite for your startup to succeed? (Can you try to succeed without it?) Another quote came to mind as I read your comment; as they say in startup world, there's fine line between a visionary and a lunatic. I genuinely want to believe that you are a visionary. All startup founders want to be visionaries. But we know the dismal rate of startups. We're techies, and we naturally like data. We know that while we founders are emotionally swayed, data is not. What does the data say? Is it looking good? I feel you when you talk about finding your blind spot. Blind spots are by definition, well .. hard to find, which is why it's so frustrating (been there). There's a quote that I can't seem to recall now, but it's something to do with trying too hard. Counterintuitive, I know. But if you've been staring at something for too long, you might be too close to the problem to objectively assess it. I don't have answers to your questions. The way I sometimes deal with ambiguity is to define processes, fail-safe checks, high/low-level watermarks, etc. More structure. If I were you, I would come up with a sign post. How do I know I've gone off the deep end? E.g. wait for someone to tell me, or specify mile-markers, or ..
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
llaxsll 16y ago
It's a mindset. You believe it, you become it :).
- Andrew_Quentin 16y ago
  How awesome would that be if I could just believe that I am the King of England and so become it.
  - BrandonM 16y ago
    In his article, PG was describing personal qualities, as opposed to external qualities (with something of an exception in the case of the cofounder item). In the case of most personality traits, if you want that trait and actually try your best to exhibit it, then "you believe it, you become it," is pretty accurate. If you want to procrastinate less and right away you begin to finish things that you've been putting off, well then you've already won. But if you keep putting off the day when you'll stop procrastinating, well you can see where that's going. I think most people underestimate their ability to hack their own personalities.
    - hugh3 16y ago
      I don't know, there's too much room for self-delusion. It's easier for an unimaginative person to convince themselves that they're imaginative than for an imaginative person to actually become imaginative. The illusion that you're King of England can't be maintained for long. The illusion that you're good-looking can be maintained for a little longer. The illusion that you're determined, imaginative and... naughty... can be maintained pretty easily.
      - deleted 16y ago
        [deleted]
  - kyro 16y ago
    You certainly can make that happen. Psychiatrists see this every day.
pierrefar 16y ago
I was thinking it describes PhD students who actually finish. Of course apart from the friendship bit because PhD programs are still solitary journeys.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
  - bjelkeman-again 16y ago
    That is way to small of a data set to draw a conclusion from! ;)
pchristensen 16y ago
I gave myself 2 and 2 halves.
dabent 16y ago
There may be a "selection bias" here with so many of us likely wanting to start a company. This didn't used to describe me. I was quite happy being Mr. Fortune 500. The 5 years or so back, I went after one startup, then another, then I just applied to YC. I must have some kind of flexibility, determination, etc. to have gotten this far. Time will tell how much of the qualities described I have.
addoway 16y ago
I would bet it's even higher
c00p3r 16y ago
That's why they're wrong. ^_^ The point is - someone else (people around you) must become quite sure you are like that.

I was about to post how this list makes me question leaving BigCo. I must be in the 20%, I don't think I have any of these qualities, and behold, my bank account tells me that none of my ventures have succeeded.

edanm 16y ago
If you've worked on several ventures, I would guess you're more determined than most of the population. Most people only talk or dream of actually working on projects, and never actually do anything with it.
- raganwald 16y ago
  Thanks! Your kind words are much appreciated. I sometimes have the wrong kind of determination. I created a program for managing classified ads, a desktop database-backed app that integrated with Aldus (yes, that long ago) PageMaker. I did some stuff I'm proud of, including finagling my way into the booth with Aldus at MacWorld and posing for a picture with Guy Kawasaki (a hero of mine those days)... And yes, I sold my software in Canada, the US, and even South America. But my pricing model was all wrong, I didn't grasp that the reason my competition charged 3-5x the amount that I charged (US$795) was that it cost so much to sell software at that time, the cost of ramen was irrelevant. It took me a while to figure this out. I think the turning point was when I looked out of my apartment window and realized that the bank had towed my car away. Anyways, I had the persistence of a bull, but as the OP notes, a little flexibility would have gone a long way.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
slantyyz 16y ago
But you're pretty well known (at least in some programming circles in Canada) and you've been involved in some pretty successful ventures. That should count for something. --edit by ventures, i mean senior roles in other people's ventures
akkartik 16y ago
Gahd, who reads this and thinks it describes them? Some of PG's essays stress me out just by reading them. They usually involve the d-word (http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Apaulgraham.com+determination http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Apaulgraham.com+determi...). I did my thing (http://readwarp.com http://readwarp.com) for 8 months. But PG and others told me early on it didn't have commercial possibility. So was it determination or inflexibility that I kept at it? I eventually figured it out for myself, in some approximately systematic way, that it wasn't going anywhere. I've taken a job so I can save enough in a year to last me two years while I take stock. Is that lack of determination or flexibility? Would I be more determined if I was contracting instead? I still work on readwarp in the weekends; I find I can't stop even if I know it's not going anywhere. Is that inflexible? Taking a job has allowed me to change readwarp drastically, make it even more minimalist, something I just couldn't prioritize when it was something 'serious'. I still use it everyday. Am I being inflexible? When the running back retreats is it flexibility or lack of determination? Can you really tell without knowing if he ended up downfield? If you watched me work on any given day you'd think I have no determination or persistence at all. I give up at the first sign of trouble, go off to do something else, one of a dozen projects. But in the large I do seem to get things done. I circle back in a few hours or days on that problem I was stuck on, and I find a way to make progress. Is this flexibility? It seems a dynamic fundamentally at odds with being an entrepreneur. Funny thing is, I think PG works like this. I'm not making excuses, just seeking my blind spot. Somehow the things I'm interested in don't seem to be of more general usefulness. I haven't accomplished anything that would stand out in a YC app. I don't know how to hack any realworld systems, except maybe job interviews and negotiations, but that's probably just another sign I'll give up and go back to a job. So I keep seeking my blind spot. What's missing? What works for others? Why am I on the outside looking in? Perhaps you think I just shouldn't care what he has to say. But shouldn't I keep looking for feedback? Different phrasings suggest different answers.
- jayliew 16y ago
  Hey Kartik, I remember when I first got to know you before you took that job. Your story reminds me of when Evan Williams (Blogger) was the only person left, and he was just stitching it all by himself, no money, etc. But he had users. I sense your frustration, that you feel like you're spinning your tires - and I've been there. (1) do you have a non-negligible number of users? (have you done qualitative + quantitative research, customer development, etc) (2) do you have a business model hypothesis, that you've sought to validate/invalidate? (3) does getting into YC have to be a pre-requisite for your startup to succeed? (Can you try to succeed without it?) Another quote came to mind as I read your comment; as they say in startup world, there's fine line between a visionary and a lunatic. I genuinely want to believe that you are a visionary. All startup founders want to be visionaries. But we know the dismal rate of startups. We're techies, and we naturally like data. We know that while we founders are emotionally swayed, data is not. What does the data say? Is it looking good? I feel you when you talk about finding your blind spot. Blind spots are by definition, well .. hard to find, which is why it's so frustrating (been there). There's a quote that I can't seem to recall now, but it's something to do with trying too hard. Counterintuitive, I know. But if you've been staring at something for too long, you might be too close to the problem to objectively assess it. I don't have answers to your questions. The way I sometimes deal with ambiguity is to define processes, fail-safe checks, high/low-level watermarks, etc. More structure. If I were you, I would come up with a sign post. How do I know I've gone off the deep end? E.g. wait for someone to tell me, or specify mile-markers, or ..

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

llaxsll 16y ago

It's a mindset. You believe it, you become it :).

Andrew_Quentin 16y ago
How awesome would that be if I could just believe that I am the King of England and so become it.
- BrandonM 16y ago
  In his article, PG was describing personal qualities, as opposed to external qualities (with something of an exception in the case of the cofounder item). In the case of most personality traits, if you want that trait and actually try your best to exhibit it, then "you believe it, you become it," is pretty accurate. If you want to procrastinate less and right away you begin to finish things that you've been putting off, well then you've already won. But if you keep putting off the day when you'll stop procrastinating, well you can see where that's going. I think most people underestimate their ability to hack their own personalities.
  - hugh3 16y ago
    I don't know, there's too much room for self-delusion. It's easier for an unimaginative person to convince themselves that they're imaginative than for an imaginative person to actually become imaginative. The illusion that you're King of England can't be maintained for long. The illusion that you're good-looking can be maintained for a little longer. The illusion that you're determined, imaginative and... naughty... can be maintained pretty easily.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
- kyro 16y ago
  You certainly can make that happen. Psychiatrists see this every day.

pierrefar 16y ago

I was thinking it describes PhD students who actually finish. Of course apart from the friendship bit because PhD programs are still solitary journeys.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
- bjelkeman-again 16y ago
  That is way to small of a data set to draw a conclusion from! ;)

pchristensen 16y ago

I gave myself 2 and 2 halves.

dabent 16y ago

There may be a "selection bias" here with so many of us likely wanting to start a company. This didn't used to describe me. I was quite happy being Mr. Fortune 500. The 5 years or so back, I went after one startup, then another, then I just applied to YC. I must have some kind of flexibility, determination, etc. to have gotten this far. Time will tell how much of the qualities described I have.

addoway 16y ago

I would bet it's even higher

c00p3r 16y ago

That's why they're wrong. ^_^ The point is - someone else (people around you) must become quite sure you are like that.