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I am building a startup that, by definition, is what I want it to be. I can't imagine anything about it being "boring". This kind of, for lack of a better term

by alex_c 19y ago

I am building a startup that, by definition, is what I want it to be. I can't imagine anything about it being "boring". This kind of, for lack of a better term, blind optimism, is one thing that gets to me after a while on News.YC, and I'm a pretty positive guy to start with. I simply cannot believe that every single last aspect of your start-up is enjoyable to you. Either you have someone else doing the parts you find boring, or you steer around the boring parts (possibly to the detriment of your start-up), or you're convincing yourself that you don't find them boring. I've spent the last week and a bit doing some work which is at best mind-numbingly boring, but which might be essential to our success. I will definitely be happy with the results, but that doesn't mean I wasn't bored out of my mind and whining about it the entire time; it just means I want to get it done faster so I can go back to something fun. There's nothing WRONG with finding certain aspects of the work boring, and I think that's a dangerous signal to send. The boring parts have to be done too. What happened to "Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration"?

edw519 19y ago
Maybe "boring" is not the best word. Maybe we are really talking about "more fun" vs. "less fun". Naturally, some things are more fun that others, but I am never bored in my startup. Frustrated sometimes, yes. This week I lost a whole day because I had overlooked something simple one day last week. Had to retool the whole stupid thing when I really wanted to build the next level up. So the exciting part had to wait a day. No big deal. It happens. But was I ever "bored"? Hardly. A little background. I sat in class bored to tears for 17 years. Then, I did work in 86 other companies (none of them mine) before I started this one. I have a clear vision of what I want and a fairly clear idea of how things should work. I love both the technical details and the people part. Usually, I can't wait to get to the next thing. The only thing I really don't like is when a client calls for me to fix something on their crappy system. Shifting gears sucks. Boring? No, I just don't see it.
- alex_c 19y ago
  Maybe we can find some common ground in the word "tedious" rather than "boring". Boring does have the connotation of waiting for class to end or waiting for 5PM to go home.
  - edw519 19y ago
    Agreed

by alex_c 19y ago

edw519 19y ago

Maybe "boring" is not the best word. Maybe we are really talking about "more fun" vs. "less fun". Naturally, some things are more fun that others, but I am never bored in my startup. Frustrated sometimes, yes. This week I lost a whole day because I had overlooked something simple one day last week. Had to retool the whole stupid thing when I really wanted to build the next level up. So the exciting part had to wait a day. No big deal. It happens. But was I ever "bored"? Hardly. A little background. I sat in class bored to tears for 17 years. Then, I did work in 86 other companies (none of them mine) before I started this one. I have a clear vision of what I want and a fairly clear idea of how things should work. I love both the technical details and the people part. Usually, I can't wait to get to the next thing. The only thing I really don't like is when a client calls for me to fix something on their crappy system. Shifting gears sucks. Boring? No, I just don't see it.

alex_c 19y ago
Maybe we can find some common ground in the word "tedious" rather than "boring". Boring does have the connotation of waiting for class to end or waiting for 5PM to go home.
- edw519 19y ago
  Agreed