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Starting a company is a crucible in every sense, brutal but transformative. For some people, they come out the other side a better person in almost every sense,

Starting a company is a crucible in every sense, brutal but transformative. For some people, they come out the other side a better person in almost every sense, with a much stronger identity and mental fortitude. For other people, and I might argue most people, it is destructive in a very real way and I know of many examples. People who haven’t done it truly underestimate the level of pressure across many aspects of life that entrepreneurship entails, even if you are vaguely successful. It isn’t to be envied per se, though I’ve done it multiple times and would place myself in the former category. It is a calling. I don’t recommend it for almost anyone but some people are compelled to do it. There is little to recommend that lifestyle. Society won’t reward it one whit unless you are spectacularly successful. But… There is much to be said for the opportunity to take that risk nonetheless. You can’t do that everywhere.

jyscao 5y ago
> For some people, they come out the other side a better person in almost every sense, with a much stronger identity and mental fortitude. Could you elaborate a bit more on this point, based on your own personal experience with entrepreneurship?
- iamstupidsimple 5y ago
  The comment below put it rather succinctly. > Avoiding pain and hardship is hardly a way to discover life. Strife is character building, and can lead to a more experienced, well-rounded person, if you're lucky. Of course, it can go the other way too.
  - WJW 5y ago
    This makes me wonder if anyone has done thorough (and replicable) research into which amount of strife leads which percentage of people to become more well-rounded rather than bitter and traumatized. I agree that zero strife is probably not the optimal amount. OTOH, there are many people who manage to work their way up out of the ghetto but are definitely not well-adjusted. The agressive paranoia and constant need to prove their "big-ness" are very telling. You can see this in a lot of war survivors too, the constant suffering and uncertainty just breaks people in ways that are almost impossible to recover from.
  - jyscao 5y ago
    I completely agree. People only grow when they step outside of their comfort zones, whether intentionally or not. But there are many more ways to do that than starting your own business. I suppose doing that provides an even greater dosage of that than most other things.
- jandrewrogers 5y ago
  Every personal weakness is exposed. Entrepreneurship requires you to be a relatively “complete” person to be successful. In my estimation, I, like most people had to learn how to be that person on the fly. That is not easy. You realize just how much you don’t know when faced with decisions and problems that you alone are required to address. It is a rough learning experience. If you don’t get ground up in that process, you come out the other side a different and much more capable person. It almost gives you superpowers, even in large corporate structures, because few people know what you know about how to make things happen. For me, I came out the other side able to land in almost any organization and have an immediate impact at scale no matter how large those organizations were. It was a powerful education though I did not understand it at the time.
  - jyscao 5y ago
    That's very inspiring to hear. I'm in my early 30s, and do often think about if/when I should pull the trigger and try and build something for myself. I guess I just don't feel my current skills (even the technical ones) are sufficient to really get things done well yet.
- AlbertCory 5y ago
  I'm blown away by the depth and intelligence of all these comments. So unlike other social media. As for personal experience: I went through two startups. The first cratered and was a horrible experience from start to finish. The other IPO'ed. Did the first make me a better person? It would be hard to make that argument. I spent 10-15 years recovering from it. However, it made me realize that the startup is, as the cliche goes, "the lengthened shadow of one man." The folks who ran the second one are not just smarter than I am, they are better people. The old-fashioned notions of "character" really do apply here. You can also make money in a place led by bad people, but you have to more careful because they won't hesitate to screw you.
arvinsim 5y ago
>It is a calling. I don’t recommend it for almost anyone but some people are compelled to do it. There is little to recommend that lifestyle. Society won’t reward it one whit unless you are spectacularly successful. Doesn't help that the message that SV culture is imparting is "Start a business if you want to get rich unless you want to be a lowly employee."
- xvilka 5y ago
  But it's true. Entrepreneurship is the only thing apart from investment that can make you rich. It's just chances are very low. But it's next to impossible to do that as an employee, even for a C-suite, with a few exceptions.
  - Pyramus 5y ago
    I'm agreeing with you in principle. I would substitute rich with very rich and be clear that we only talk about richness in monetary terms.
  - mettamage 5y ago
    If you do it to get rich though one needs to become a bit of an investor first. And then ask the question: is my growth potential higher than the companies (on the stock market that have a fair/low price) that I believe in?
rmason 5y ago
It's also addictive. I never looked at working for someone else the same way again. In the beginning not having a boss is harder than you can imagine. It puts additional responsibility on your shoulders being responsible for your employees and their families. But once you've had that experience you can't ever be content working for someone else again even if circumstances force you to do it. The world just looks different. You say never again yet six months later you start writing down ideas for companies. You know that sooner or later you have to start another one.
- matwood 5y ago
  This. We recently sold our company, and you're completely right. It was a good thing us and the employees, but the day after is certainly different. I think I skipped right over the never again part and am already in to writing down ideas. The responsibility you mention is stressful and hard, but ownership (not just in the legal sense, but also in the control sense) matters. See an opportunity - take it. Don't like something - change it. Screw something up - deal with it.
- pototo666 5y ago
  This. I failed my first startup. Then I worked for a year. Quit. Now I am poor and working on my second startup. Never want to go back.

jyscao 5y ago

> For some people, they come out the other side a better person in almost every sense, with a much stronger identity and mental fortitude. Could you elaborate a bit more on this point, based on your own personal experience with entrepreneurship?

iamstupidsimple 5y ago
The comment below put it rather succinctly. > Avoiding pain and hardship is hardly a way to discover life. Strife is character building, and can lead to a more experienced, well-rounded person, if you're lucky. Of course, it can go the other way too.
- WJW 5y ago
  This makes me wonder if anyone has done thorough (and replicable) research into which amount of strife leads which percentage of people to become more well-rounded rather than bitter and traumatized. I agree that zero strife is probably not the optimal amount. OTOH, there are many people who manage to work their way up out of the ghetto but are definitely not well-adjusted. The agressive paranoia and constant need to prove their "big-ness" are very telling. You can see this in a lot of war survivors too, the constant suffering and uncertainty just breaks people in ways that are almost impossible to recover from.
- jyscao 5y ago
  I completely agree. People only grow when they step outside of their comfort zones, whether intentionally or not. But there are many more ways to do that than starting your own business. I suppose doing that provides an even greater dosage of that than most other things.
jandrewrogers 5y ago
Every personal weakness is exposed. Entrepreneurship requires you to be a relatively “complete” person to be successful. In my estimation, I, like most people had to learn how to be that person on the fly. That is not easy. You realize just how much you don’t know when faced with decisions and problems that you alone are required to address. It is a rough learning experience. If you don’t get ground up in that process, you come out the other side a different and much more capable person. It almost gives you superpowers, even in large corporate structures, because few people know what you know about how to make things happen. For me, I came out the other side able to land in almost any organization and have an immediate impact at scale no matter how large those organizations were. It was a powerful education though I did not understand it at the time.
- jyscao 5y ago
  That's very inspiring to hear. I'm in my early 30s, and do often think about if/when I should pull the trigger and try and build something for myself. I guess I just don't feel my current skills (even the technical ones) are sufficient to really get things done well yet.
AlbertCory 5y ago
I'm blown away by the depth and intelligence of all these comments. So unlike other social media. As for personal experience: I went through two startups. The first cratered and was a horrible experience from start to finish. The other IPO'ed. Did the first make me a better person? It would be hard to make that argument. I spent 10-15 years recovering from it. However, it made me realize that the startup is, as the cliche goes, "the lengthened shadow of one man." The folks who ran the second one are not just smarter than I am, they are better people. The old-fashioned notions of "character" really do apply here. You can also make money in a place led by bad people, but you have to more careful because they won't hesitate to screw you.

arvinsim 5y ago

>It is a calling. I don’t recommend it for almost anyone but some people are compelled to do it. There is little to recommend that lifestyle. Society won’t reward it one whit unless you are spectacularly successful. Doesn't help that the message that SV culture is imparting is "Start a business if you want to get rich unless you want to be a lowly employee."

xvilka 5y ago
But it's true. Entrepreneurship is the only thing apart from investment that can make you rich. It's just chances are very low. But it's next to impossible to do that as an employee, even for a C-suite, with a few exceptions.
- Pyramus 5y ago
  I'm agreeing with you in principle. I would substitute rich with very rich and be clear that we only talk about richness in monetary terms.
- mettamage 5y ago
  If you do it to get rich though one needs to become a bit of an investor first. And then ask the question: is my growth potential higher than the companies (on the stock market that have a fair/low price) that I believe in?

rmason 5y ago

It's also addictive. I never looked at working for someone else the same way again. In the beginning not having a boss is harder than you can imagine. It puts additional responsibility on your shoulders being responsible for your employees and their families. But once you've had that experience you can't ever be content working for someone else again even if circumstances force you to do it. The world just looks different. You say never again yet six months later you start writing down ideas for companies. You know that sooner or later you have to start another one.

matwood 5y ago
This. We recently sold our company, and you're completely right. It was a good thing us and the employees, but the day after is certainly different. I think I skipped right over the never again part and am already in to writing down ideas. The responsibility you mention is stressful and hard, but ownership (not just in the legal sense, but also in the control sense) matters. See an opportunity - take it. Don't like something - change it. Screw something up - deal with it.
pototo666 5y ago
This. I failed my first startup. Then I worked for a year. Quit. Now I am poor and working on my second startup. Never want to go back.