4 ms·

An accomplished serial entrepreneur What do these things even mean anymore?

saimiam 4y ago
“Serial entrepreneurship” was accomplished. It’s like an achievement level in gaming. Happens when one launches more than one venture one after another. Longevity of venture is not typically a concern to unlock this moniker.
- jjoonathan 4y ago
  Risks include getting mauled by a bear market.
- hdjjhhvvhga 4y ago
  Well, I read "accomplished" here in a different way: he didn't just create a few startups, but they were successful.
  - saimiam 4y ago
    My comment was tongue in cheek. Your interpretation is likely the intended one.
IceWreck 4y ago
> What do these things even mean anymore? Dude makes a startup, gets some VC money, gets paid and leaves in a couple of years when their contract is up. Repeat.
- blitzar 4y ago
  You son of a b, I'm in.
  - bartchamdo 4y ago
RyEgswuCsn 4y ago
Unlike in "serial killer", the word "entrepreneur" doesn't indicate whether the person succeeded in those attempts or not...
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- mrkurt 4y ago
  It implies that they didn't succeed.
  - tjbiddle 4y ago
    Not at all. It doesn't imply either.
  - IncRnd 4y ago
    That's not an inference you should draw. I've known many people who have serially started companies. Starting a new company doesn't mean that the earlier companies failed or that the founder stayed at those earlier companies instead of selling them or hiring someone to manage them.
- raverbashing 4y ago
  Do blog posts in startup media and investors happy to throw money in whatever looks good on paper count as success?
pnw 4y ago
In the case of the CEO it probably refers to the decade he spent building and then selling two companies for around $200m, the larger one of which he founded.
johndfsgdgdfg 4y ago
The cynical side of me thinks serial entrepreneur means having rich parents who can provide you safety net when your latest venture fails.
- hdjjhhvvhga 4y ago
  Which, frankly speaking, might not seem fair, but is not necessarily bad. Over the centuries, people were doing things that were not directly useful to the society (like art) only thanks to being sponsored by someone else (who cared - in this case, parents). And even if after 10 years you fail to produce a startup than you can sell,* you are still left with tons of experience that you can use (yes, negative experience counts, too). *) Or bring a positive net result, but this is a bit more difficult.
- blagie 4y ago
  s/cynic/realist/g It usually takes at three generations of highly-successful individuals: Gen 1: Manual labor, kid goes to college and gets a professional job Gen 2: Professional has a decent home, can provide a basic safety net, and can push / encourage / raise kid to be academically competitive at an elite level. Gen 3: Starts a business which reaches millions of dollars / enough to be independently wealthy. You can add one more generation if you also want to break into the monied power class. That's on the very, very fast end. It's usually much more than that, since it's rare each generation will have a highly-successful individual. It's better than no mobility. We had no mobility just a few hundred years ago.
  - conductr 4y ago
    What happens next is interesting too. It takes many forms afterwards. I think many here/on this topic view this as a happily ever after scenario where then there is a family tree full of successful people doing interesting things at low personal risks. My grandpa was a Gen 4 in your lineup. He was essentially a trust fund kid that never worked and just squandered the significant savings and assets of his depression era parents. My dad got some rather minor assets. Or so I heard growing up. In reality he got a free house, the one I grew up in, and several debt free rental units/cash flow. Not luxury apartments but growing college town type market. He was essentially a minor league trust fund kid who was bitter about having to work to afford everything he wanted (something he never saw his dad do). He kept a mediocre job and never strived for much. He was more interested in exotic cars, fashion, women, etc. He ultimately blew through all his inheritance in by my young adult years. I got nothing but a stable home environment growing up. Paid for my own college, cars, and everything else. I know many others in similar situations where gen 4-6 seems to be highly correlated to addiction, crime, etc. and just never strive for more. I feel like I’m just starting over with no real advantage. Similar to maybe what gen 2 had.

“Serial entrepreneurship” was accomplished. It’s like an achievement level in gaming. Happens when one launches more than one venture one after another. Longevity of venture is not typically a concern to unlock this moniker.

jjoonathan 4y ago
Risks include getting mauled by a bear market.
hdjjhhvvhga 4y ago
Well, I read "accomplished" here in a different way: he didn't just create a few startups, but they were successful.
- saimiam 4y ago
  My comment was tongue in cheek. Your interpretation is likely the intended one.

IceWreck 4y ago

> What do these things even mean anymore? Dude makes a startup, gets some VC money, gets paid and leaves in a couple of years when their contract is up. Repeat.

blitzar 4y ago
You son of a b, I'm in.
- bartchamdo 4y ago

RyEgswuCsn 4y ago

Unlike in "serial killer", the word "entrepreneur" doesn't indicate whether the person succeeded in those attempts or not...

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
mrkurt 4y ago
It implies that they didn't succeed.
- tjbiddle 4y ago
  Not at all. It doesn't imply either.
- IncRnd 4y ago
  That's not an inference you should draw. I've known many people who have serially started companies. Starting a new company doesn't mean that the earlier companies failed or that the founder stayed at those earlier companies instead of selling them or hiring someone to manage them.
raverbashing 4y ago
Do blog posts in startup media and investors happy to throw money in whatever looks good on paper count as success?

pnw 4y ago

In the case of the CEO it probably refers to the decade he spent building and then selling two companies for around $200m, the larger one of which he founded.

johndfsgdgdfg 4y ago

The cynical side of me thinks serial entrepreneur means having rich parents who can provide you safety net when your latest venture fails.

hdjjhhvvhga 4y ago
Which, frankly speaking, might not seem fair, but is not necessarily bad. Over the centuries, people were doing things that were not directly useful to the society (like art) only thanks to being sponsored by someone else (who cared - in this case, parents). And even if after 10 years you fail to produce a startup than you can sell,* you are still left with tons of experience that you can use (yes, negative experience counts, too). *) Or bring a positive net result, but this is a bit more difficult.
blagie 4y ago
s/cynic/realist/g It usually takes at three generations of highly-successful individuals: Gen 1: Manual labor, kid goes to college and gets a professional job Gen 2: Professional has a decent home, can provide a basic safety net, and can push / encourage / raise kid to be academically competitive at an elite level. Gen 3: Starts a business which reaches millions of dollars / enough to be independently wealthy. You can add one more generation if you also want to break into the monied power class. That's on the very, very fast end. It's usually much more than that, since it's rare each generation will have a highly-successful individual. It's better than no mobility. We had no mobility just a few hundred years ago.
- conductr 4y ago
  What happens next is interesting too. It takes many forms afterwards. I think many here/on this topic view this as a happily ever after scenario where then there is a family tree full of successful people doing interesting things at low personal risks. My grandpa was a Gen 4 in your lineup. He was essentially a trust fund kid that never worked and just squandered the significant savings and assets of his depression era parents. My dad got some rather minor assets. Or so I heard growing up. In reality he got a free house, the one I grew up in, and several debt free rental units/cash flow. Not luxury apartments but growing college town type market. He was essentially a minor league trust fund kid who was bitter about having to work to afford everything he wanted (something he never saw his dad do). He kept a mediocre job and never strived for much. He was more interested in exotic cars, fashion, women, etc. He ultimately blew through all his inheritance in by my young adult years. I got nothing but a stable home environment growing up. Paid for my own college, cars, and everything else. I know many others in similar situations where gen 4-6 seems to be highly correlated to addiction, crime, etc. and just never strive for more. I feel like I’m just starting over with no real advantage. Similar to maybe what gen 2 had.