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Ask HN: I'm surrounded by passive people, I'm getting depressed

Hi HN, It has been a few years since I'm trying to involve people around me (primarily software engineer friends) in brainstorming ideas to solve problems I and others encounter on regular basis. Sadly, they are passive, they usually complain about stuffs, they say "it would be a good idea to do that or this". However, whenever I move forward and start suggesting solutions to solve the issue, I make diagrams on how a solution could work; it always finishes in them lacking any motivation moving forward in either finding issues with the solution itself or even thinking of how to get it done. Do you know where I can find people with the right mindset? Are there any communities where we're safe sharing ideas and designs with people willing to get things done? Loneliness is kill me :) PS: My wife is really supportive, so at least I have that

giantg2 6y ago
I think context is important here. Is this at work, or a side project? Are these fixes adding to the workload or requiring additional hours? If this is like at a company, they may have the same mindset as me - suggesting new work will only lead to added hours with no reward. I would be more motivated to work on side projects.
segmondy 6y ago
go to indiehackers, it is for doers.
aristofun 6y ago
It’s just how world works. Only 2% of people (at best) are leaders/initiators. And it’s okay. You’ll hire your colleagues later when you prove yourself. I don’t think that some community possible, because leaders are usually busy doing their stuff, not chatting.
- tudelo 6y ago
  > Only 2% of people (at best) are leaders/initiators. Source for this claim? Just a personal feeling?
  - aristofun 6y ago
    Personal observations in different settings and groups (I’m sure I can also find plenty of researches supporting similar numbers but I don’t want to).
  - kleer001 6y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_(Internet_culture) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_(Internet_culture)
docflabby 6y ago
You've got a motivation problem. Basically you want someone to take the risk to take your ideas onwards and then take the credit... Most people won't do that without some financial or other motivation. Question you need to ask is - why would I care about your solution?
kleer001 6y ago
Why aren't you prototyping? Or even pre-totyping? You're coming up with ideas, but I don't hear about your actions to take those ideas to the next step. You might be sitting on million dollar ideas. An entrepreneurs life CAN be lonely.
kleer001 6y ago
If you haven't already you might want to watch a few seasons of "Shark Tank" or "Dragon's Den" and then look at the attitudes and actions of the entrepreneurs who get two or more of the sharks/dragons bidding over them.
tgflynn 6y ago
What is your goal here ? Do you want to build some software solution, open source it, start a company to solve a problem or what ? Without more information about your goals and some more specifics on the problem domain I doubt you'll get much useful advice.
- throw-obviously 6y ago
  I care about open source. But it's mostly about starting a company. Sorry if I was not specific.
  - Lorenz-Kraft 6y ago
    Against depression: You might want to get involved into local JS/PHP/C/whatever communities. Most people there are very enthusiastic and like working on problems (like solving, not just complaining). Some are open and visionary for new ideas. If your ideas can stand the feedback of your community (and your ability to solve arising problems (these might be legal problems also)), you are good to go and start a business. Starting a business without any plan and vision is a sure way to nowhere.
  - tgflynn 6y ago
    OK, in that case I'm not a good person to be giving advice since that's not something I've ever succeeded in doing but I'll try anyway. I think you need to be clear about what it is you're looking to get out of people. Are you looking for co-founders, early employees or what ? I suspect most people won't have much interest in helping you start a business unless they see how doing so could end up benefiting them. I don't know where you're located but I think most medium-size and larger cities in the US have some communities oriented around tech and encouraging startups, so you might want to look into those sorts of organizations. It sounds like you'll need to expand you circle of acquaintances to find people with more commonality of interest.

giantg2 6y ago

I think context is important here. Is this at work, or a side project? Are these fixes adding to the workload or requiring additional hours? If this is like at a company, they may have the same mindset as me - suggesting new work will only lead to added hours with no reward. I would be more motivated to work on side projects.

segmondy 6y ago

go to indiehackers, it is for doers.

aristofun 6y ago

It’s just how world works. Only 2% of people (at best) are leaders/initiators. And it’s okay. You’ll hire your colleagues later when you prove yourself. I don’t think that some community possible, because leaders are usually busy doing their stuff, not chatting.

tudelo 6y ago
> Only 2% of people (at best) are leaders/initiators. Source for this claim? Just a personal feeling?
- aristofun 6y ago
  Personal observations in different settings and groups (I’m sure I can also find plenty of researches supporting similar numbers but I don’t want to).
- kleer001 6y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_(Internet_culture) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_(Internet_culture)

docflabby 6y ago

You've got a motivation problem. Basically you want someone to take the risk to take your ideas onwards and then take the credit... Most people won't do that without some financial or other motivation. Question you need to ask is - why would I care about your solution?

kleer001 6y ago

Why aren't you prototyping? Or even pre-totyping? You're coming up with ideas, but I don't hear about your actions to take those ideas to the next step. You might be sitting on million dollar ideas. An entrepreneurs life CAN be lonely.

kleer001 6y ago

If you haven't already you might want to watch a few seasons of "Shark Tank" or "Dragon's Den" and then look at the attitudes and actions of the entrepreneurs who get two or more of the sharks/dragons bidding over them.

tgflynn 6y ago

What is your goal here ? Do you want to build some software solution, open source it, start a company to solve a problem or what ? Without more information about your goals and some more specifics on the problem domain I doubt you'll get much useful advice.

throw-obviously 6y ago
I care about open source. But it's mostly about starting a company. Sorry if I was not specific.
- Lorenz-Kraft 6y ago
  Against depression: You might want to get involved into local JS/PHP/C/whatever communities. Most people there are very enthusiastic and like working on problems (like solving, not just complaining). Some are open and visionary for new ideas. If your ideas can stand the feedback of your community (and your ability to solve arising problems (these might be legal problems also)), you are good to go and start a business. Starting a business without any plan and vision is a sure way to nowhere.
- tgflynn 6y ago
  OK, in that case I'm not a good person to be giving advice since that's not something I've ever succeeded in doing but I'll try anyway. I think you need to be clear about what it is you're looking to get out of people. Are you looking for co-founders, early employees or what ? I suspect most people won't have much interest in helping you start a business unless they see how doing so could end up benefiting them. I don't know where you're located but I think most medium-size and larger cities in the US have some communities oriented around tech and encouraging startups, so you might want to look into those sorts of organizations. It sounds like you'll need to expand you circle of acquaintances to find people with more commonality of interest.