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Being there at the right place at the right time definitely makes a difference. But - somehow I feel that there is always an element of luck involved in decidin
by karterk 16y ago
Being there at the right place at the right time definitely makes a difference. But - somehow I feel that there is always an element of luck involved in deciding that. You don't want to end up waiting and waiting and realize, oops you were too late!
- dmix 16y agoExactly, there were examples of startups who had a product at just the right time. But I've never heard of startups who waited until the time was right and then succeeded. Given the nature of startups and short runways, it's a gamble for a startup to depend on having the "timing right". There are much safer and proven methods for building companies, but its fun to think about.
- pmjordan 16y ago"But I've never heard of startups who waited until the time was right and then succeeded." The reason we don't see that sort of thing happen may be that it just looks like they're slow to gain traction from the outside. Except they're slow because of timing, not execution or other internal reasons. Of course, they themselves probably don't know they're "waiting".
- erikstarck 16y agoUhm. You should read Founder at Work. What everyone is saying is that persistence is key, not luck. Here's another quote, not from the book: "Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success." - Biz Stone, Co-founder, Twitter
- 8ren 16y agoYes, the harder I work, the luckier I get. I think of a startup as a game with a 1-in-10 chance - but you can play as often as you like. The odds of failing n times in a row is .9^n - so the odds improve fast. And of course hopefully you'll learn something general along the way to improve your odds, and leverage specific money/tech/contacts/market presence too. If you're persistent, failing begins to look extremely unlikely. What can stop you (apart from giving up) is if you can't (or won't) learn some key thing, or can't (or won't) do some key thing. Which is why having mentors/colleagues is very helpful (for learning); and having co-founders and being able to employ/outsource/team-work is very helpful (for doing).
- ganjianwei 16y agoAgree that there's luck involved but "waiting" can involve building a product and keeping your burn rate low while waiting for market conditions to be right. "If you are betting on emerging trends it is better to keep your burn low and runway long." That way when the market's ready, you're in a great position since you've already spent time creating and refining your product, as opposed to someone who waited to start only when they saw the correct market conditions.
- 8ren 16y agoI think he covers this in his last paragraph: If you are betting on emerging trends it is better to keep your burn low and runway long.