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Oy, is that really the ideal we're supposed to aspire to? The American Dream? Think about how many people in need one could help with 1 million per year...

by ced 19y ago

lupin_sansei 19y ago
You can help a lot more people with 1 million than you can with nothing. If I made it I would be happy to give a lot of what I made out to worthwhile causes.
SwellJoe 19y ago
You must be new here. You see, this is a site about starting businesses. People start businesses to make money. Businesses that make a lot of money are generally better to start than businesses that don't.
- ced 19y ago
  Sure. What does that have to do with what I said? Maybe I come off as morally smug, or something... I should be more careful about it. I meant to say that I feel much more motivated by reading rms's dream to cure HIV ( http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=9736 http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=9736 ) than some guy's dream of owning a Mercedes.
  - kingnothing 19y ago
    Owning a Benz is realistic. Curing HIV isn't a pipe dream, but it's close.
  - SwellJoe 19y ago
    Yes, you came off as morally smug. Most of the folks I know who start businesses (and I know a lot of them these days) aren't grading themselves on "number of fancy items owned". In fact, people who start businesses seem to be less impressed by the trappings of wealth than most. pg rolls in a Mazda 3, and I don't recall ever seeing any particularly expensive cars in the YC lot, even when Joe Kraus, Evan Williams, Ron Conway, etc. were there (though I may not have been paying attention). When you run a business revenues are a measure of how much you're building something good, so you want high revenues because you want to know you're building something good. It has nothing to do with what you plan to buy with the money.
    - ced 19y ago
      Yes, but the article is specifically about what one could do with all that money. And his answer is, more or less: buy a Mercedes. I'm not even arguing against that. I mean, most companies make money by providing a useful service to people, so more power to him if he is successful with that. And if the dream of owning a big car keeps him going, great. I just find, personally, that aiming to spend "only" a million per year is not at all the kind of target that I want to set in front of me. I wanted to know if I'm not alone in that frame of mind. I said it awkwardly. Sorry.

Oy, is that really the ideal we're supposed to aspire to? The American Dream? Think about how many people in need one could help with 1 million per year...

by ced 19y ago

Oy, is that really the ideal we're supposed to aspire to? The American Dream? Think about how many people in need one could help with 1 million per year...

lupin_sansei 19y ago

You can help a lot more people with 1 million than you can with nothing. If I made it I would be happy to give a lot of what I made out to worthwhile causes.

SwellJoe 19y ago

You must be new here. You see, this is a site about starting businesses. People start businesses to make money. Businesses that make a lot of money are generally better to start than businesses that don't.

ced 19y ago
Sure. What does that have to do with what I said? Maybe I come off as morally smug, or something... I should be more careful about it. I meant to say that I feel much more motivated by reading rms's dream to cure HIV ( http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=9736 http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=9736 ) than some guy's dream of owning a Mercedes.
- kingnothing 19y ago
  Owning a Benz is realistic. Curing HIV isn't a pipe dream, but it's close.
- SwellJoe 19y ago
  Yes, you came off as morally smug. Most of the folks I know who start businesses (and I know a lot of them these days) aren't grading themselves on "number of fancy items owned". In fact, people who start businesses seem to be less impressed by the trappings of wealth than most. pg rolls in a Mazda 3, and I don't recall ever seeing any particularly expensive cars in the YC lot, even when Joe Kraus, Evan Williams, Ron Conway, etc. were there (though I may not have been paying attention). When you run a business revenues are a measure of how much you're building something good, so you want high revenues because you want to know you're building something good. It has nothing to do with what you plan to buy with the money.
  - ced 19y ago
    Yes, but the article is specifically about what one could do with all that money. And his answer is, more or less: buy a Mercedes. I'm not even arguing against that. I mean, most companies make money by providing a useful service to people, so more power to him if he is successful with that. And if the dream of owning a big car keeps him going, great. I just find, personally, that aiming to spend "only" a million per year is not at all the kind of target that I want to set in front of me. I wanted to know if I'm not alone in that frame of mind. I said it awkwardly. Sorry.