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Unless you actually need to solve a specific problem, or you just don't want to work for a big company, the primary reason to found a startup is to make more th

Unless you actually need to solve a specific problem, or you just don't want to work for a big company, the primary reason to found a startup is to make more than you could make in a regular job. With the amount of money FAANG companies pay, that means aiming very high. It doesn't mean founders won't be happy if they walk away with less, but if you say you'd be happy with a smaller exit everyone just asks "why not just join a FAANG?" You kind of have to say you want to be a billionaire.

holoduke 5y ago
I don't think money should be a driver to start up a company. Anyway not in my case. The product must be the motivator. Not money. Never seen someone succeeding with just money as the motivator. I rather make 200k with my own business than working for a large company.
- counters 5y ago
  Eh, I'd suggest your case may be an anomaly, at least in the VC/unicorn world. Products are "fluffy." Your idea for a solution or useful tool may or may not take off, for a thousand different reasons. If you're married to it, you may never pivot enough. If you have too much integrity, you may not be willing to bend the story about the problems it solves. But if you just care about the money, none of that is a problem. Product doesn't have traction? Pivot to something else. Product doesn't _really_ solve the problem that the market is telling you would have value? Just fake it or fib until you that next round of funding and then maybe - just maybe - go back and build the actual solution. You just have to live long enough to position yourself for the big gambit, which should give you enough time and money to try to figure things out. Perhaps I'm too cynical, but I've seen first-hand a situation where the product meant nothing - we sold the story.
lmeyerov 5y ago
Startups are hard: even for ultimately winning ideas, likely to see poor win/loss rate, unknowns, few resources, no 40 hour work week, etc. with 5-10 years to exit or more likely, failure. Even when things go super well, they just go to your limit in other ways -- most of my male CEO friends went prematurely gray/bald/etc, irrespective if $30M co or $30B. I was just advising a new founder yesterday: one of the best advices questions I received when working through some ideas is which I cared enough about to do for the next 5+ years. Money can be the motivator, but extrinsic motivators are hard over long periods. The billionaire thing matters more if you are taking VC money, bc they need people (a) with big ideas and (b) willing to repeatedly increase company risk in exchange for VC capital and that unlikely shot of going from millions to billions, even when the numbers stop making sense. But for non-VC startups, (a) is enough!

holoduke 5y ago

I don't think money should be a driver to start up a company. Anyway not in my case. The product must be the motivator. Not money. Never seen someone succeeding with just money as the motivator. I rather make 200k with my own business than working for a large company.

counters 5y ago
Eh, I'd suggest your case may be an anomaly, at least in the VC/unicorn world. Products are "fluffy." Your idea for a solution or useful tool may or may not take off, for a thousand different reasons. If you're married to it, you may never pivot enough. If you have too much integrity, you may not be willing to bend the story about the problems it solves. But if you just care about the money, none of that is a problem. Product doesn't have traction? Pivot to something else. Product doesn't _really_ solve the problem that the market is telling you would have value? Just fake it or fib until you that next round of funding and then maybe - just maybe - go back and build the actual solution. You just have to live long enough to position yourself for the big gambit, which should give you enough time and money to try to figure things out. Perhaps I'm too cynical, but I've seen first-hand a situation where the product meant nothing - we sold the story.

lmeyerov 5y ago

Startups are hard: even for ultimately winning ideas, likely to see poor win/loss rate, unknowns, few resources, no 40 hour work week, etc. with 5-10 years to exit or more likely, failure. Even when things go super well, they just go to your limit in other ways -- most of my male CEO friends went prematurely gray/bald/etc, irrespective if $30M co or $30B. I was just advising a new founder yesterday: one of the best advices questions I received when working through some ideas is which I cared enough about to do for the next 5+ years. Money can be the motivator, but extrinsic motivators are hard over long periods. The billionaire thing matters more if you are taking VC money, bc they need people (a) with big ideas and (b) willing to repeatedly increase company risk in exchange for VC capital and that unlikely shot of going from millions to billions, even when the numbers stop making sense. But for non-VC startups, (a) is enough!