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Can't things change quite a bit between these years? When your in school, you're broke. Its not weird to eat ramen and work all the time. But by the time your
by jjmaxwell4 15y ago
Can't things change quite a bit between these years? When your in school, you're broke. Its not weird to eat ramen and work all the time.
But by the time your 22, maybe you got an internship at a cool company, and they're offering you 80k a year. Your getting used to a decent standard of living. Maybe you get recruited by Wall Street and the dangle 140k under your nose. You take the job, and get locked in with the "golden handcuffs". Now your comfortable, and you meet a cute girl, who wants a guy with a steady job, so you never start the company.
Maybe this guy was never really meant to be an entrepreneur; maybe he wanted that comfortable life all along. But when he was 19 he was ready to go.
> There's no rush. Someone who can start a successful startup at 19 can do it as well or better at 22.
I think there is a better chance that he won't start the startup at 22, cause he got a high paying job, and doesn't want to downgrade from his standard of living.
- Shenglong 15y agoI don't think YC really wants to fund people who would give up on a start up, just because of a 140k/year job. Start ups seem to be a lot of work, and you'd need to be really dedicated to succeed. In my opinion, people dropping out of school for YC shouldn't be doing it because they see an alternative opportunity - they should be doing it for a variety of other reasons. The mental calculation should not be "I could do a start up and make money now, or I could do 3 more years of school and make 140k/year comfortably." It should be along the lines of, "I know I'll succeed, and I can't wait to do it."
- jjmaxwell4 15y agoYour right you gotta be dedicated, I just think some of this dedication erodes as you evolve into your mid-20's. People settle and get a little less hungry.
- carbocation 15y agoI didn't downvote you, but I don't agree. Age is not a gating factor. You can be hungry at any age.
- impendia 15y agoI think you're both right. There is a strong tendency for people to get comfortable and less hungry as they age. But there's no reason this can't be resisted. Indeed, I've done that myself. :)
- namank 15y agoMuch as I'd like to believe this, I was recently having a discussion with a neuroscience researcher where he talked about this natural phenomenon they've observed. Infants are on this side of the line craving novelty and mastery while aged folks are on the opposite end with comfort and familiarity. Everyone else lies sequentially in between. That made a lot of sense to me. No doubt we can override it but...this kind of predisposition does place restrictions that one may not otherwise account for. Plus, what better time than NOW! I say this as I study for midterms
- carbocation 15y agoThere is nothing special about the mid-20s that makes you less hungry, biologically. It's just cultural: in our culture, it's typical to be settled into a way of life by your 20s or 30s. That doesn't put up a real roadblock unless you let it. The research you're talking about wouldn't, I'm guessing, contradict this.
- namank 15y agoWell I was more focusing on the effect than the cause since this is a cause in the current context (i.e. lack of 'hunger'). But yeah, most of it IS probably driven by culture. That said, I'm sure there are some biological intricacies too. Something like x years after puberty your brain starts to want more of the same things - something that would definitely help in establishing a stable lifestyle and child rearing.
- 5hoom 15y agoAbsolutely agree. In my 20's I was completely certain that I would be successful without hard work as I was smart & talented. After a decade of that imagined success not materialising I am far hungrier, more determined and working harder now than I have ever been before.
- chromedude 15y agoIf anyone's in the startup business solely because they think they will make a bunch of money they will find out very quickly that they should be going for the plushy job instead.
- ditojim 15y agothe people willing to drop out and try to succeed on their own are also willing to fail, over and over again (dropping out of school being a pretty big failure in itself), until we get it right. i don't think people should be naive and think that they are going to find success out of the gate just because they want to succeed on their own.
- Cushman 15y agoBetter idea: Drop out of high school to go to college. Then start your business at 19 after graduating.
- quanticle 15y agoAnd how, exactly, are you going to get into college without a high-school diploma?
- realitygrill 15y agoIt's really not that difficult. For formality's sake you could pick up a GED, but I think most colleges don't have a HS diploma as a strict requirement and would waive it if they did (assuming some evidence you're ready). EDIT: I speak for the USA only.
- treeform 15y agoUSA: I got into collage at 14 by just taking an entrance exam, never needed a GED. No one will stop you form going to collage, you just need to pass exams.
- smilliken 15y agoAnother data point: I started college in the US at 14 as well without a GED or high school diploma. There weren't really any safe-guards to prevent this.
- reissbaker 15y agoI know a guy who started Oxford at 15, so it's apparently possible in the UK as well. He calls it one of the greatest mistakes of his life, though, so it sounds like mileage may vary.
- ido 15y agoCare to share why he thinks that way?
- nickzoic 15y ago> But by the time your 22 [...] Your getting used to a decent standard of living. Get off my lawn! Seriously, though, from my late-30s-with-a-young-family perspective, if being 22 with a girlfriend and an internship is enough to stop you chasing your dreams, then they weren't really your dreams after all.