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> At this point in my life I've started to believe that whenever you talk to someone who is "passionate about technology X and clean architectures" or "wants to
by Delmania 8y ago
> At this point in my life I've started to believe that whenever you talk to someone who is "passionate about technology X and clean architectures" or "wants to work on challenging technical problems" is ultimately doomed to fail when setting out to create a (for-profit, bootstrapped) business
A flight to the Virgin Isles was delayed overnight, so a strapping young man named Richard Branson chartered a plane to the Isles with money he didn't have. His next move was to create a sign that read "Virgin Airline, $29 a ticket", which he showed to his fellow passengers. They all paid up and all flew to the Virgin Isles that night. Was he motivated by a "passion to help people get to their destination"? Hell no, he had a girl waiting for him and more than likely he wanted to get laid.
That is the only attitude that works for an entrepreneur, the ability to identify problems, find solutions, and get people to pay for them. If you say you have a passion fr a technology or a clean architecture, or that you want to work on challenging problems, you belong in an established company, either as a lead, an architect, or in the R&D. Entrepreneurs understand that technology is but a means to an end, and focus more on solving problems than gold plating something or waxing philosophical about software. They use the tools at hand to solve a problem to the best of their ability. They're not motivated by some grand scheme, their passions are more personal.
- nostrademons 8y agoThat story seems apocryphal. Richard Branson's business empire started with Virgin Records (and in particular, signing Mike Oldfield before Tubular Bells became a huge hit), and the name came from him sitting around stoned at a party/orgy with a bunch of friends and saying, "Well, we're all virgins in business, so let's just call it Virgin Records." He's not a cofounder of Virgin Atlantic - the cofounders were Randolph Fields and Alan Hellary, and Randolph met RB at a party in which RB agreed to put up all the money in exchange for a large equity stake. He was already wealthy from the success of Virgin Records, which had been in business for a decade. Sources: Losing My Virginity (Richard Branson's autobiography) and the Wikipedia page on Virgin Atlantic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Atlantic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Atlantic
- Delmania 8y agoIt's not. https://www.businessinsider.com/richard-branson-entrepreneur-visionary-2011-5/ https://www.businessinsider.com/richard-branson-entrepreneur... https://jamesclear.com/successful-people-start-before-they-feel-ready https://jamesclear.com/successful-people-start-before-they-f... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson#1981%E2%80%931987:_Package_holiday_industries_and_Virgin_Atlantic_Airways_success https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson#1981%E2%80%931... That story is not how Virgin Atlantic was formed, it's more about his first experience with making money in the airline industry, and would later lead to his decision to agree to a partership. Beyond that, it's more a look into the mindset someone requires to be a successful entrepreneur. It's not about the technology, the architecture, or the language. It's about identifying a problem, and getting people to pay you for a solution. The technology is tertiary.
- 1123581321 8y agoBranson tells the chartered plane story in Losing My Virginity, so I don’t see how you could consider it apocryphal if you’ve read it.