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Poll: Are startup founders a minority on HN?
I assumed a lot of people on HN are either a startup founder, a indie hacker trying to sell a product, or aspiring to become one of these things.
I saw a comment saying otherwise so I thought I'd do a poll...
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34505219 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34505219
- tptacek 4y agoPresumably they must be? There's a lot of people on HN. This site used to be called "Startup News", but within a few months had shifted to a broader focus.
- RankingMember 4y agoYep, the vast majority of people on HN will be computer/tech nerds simply making the rounds on one of several stops for daily interest-related news/discussion.
- admiral33 4y agoFounders are a small percentage of the population in general. Seeing as this is a public forum I'd expect to see a similar percentage (a bit larger) represented on HN.
- francisofascii 4y ago> I am thinking of doing a startup or new business in the future That might cast too wide a net. Many of us are always "thinking" about it, with varying levels of seriousness.
- strictnein 4y agoMight be too late now, but a "I've done a startup in the past, but have no plans to do one gain" option might have been interesting.
- Fauntleroy 4y agoYes
- jedberg 4y agoYou should add "I was a startup founder but now I'm not". :)
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- asow92 4y agoWorked in startups, and operate some small projects. Not seeking funding. To me, HN seems to have a high signal to noise ratio of information, so it keeps me around.
- granshaw 4y agoI have a feeling this post will be biased towards those who either have founder experience or aspirations – how can that bias be reduced?
- gibspaulding 4y agoThat was my thought as well. Right now the vast majority of respondents are in some way startup adjacent, but that seems unlikely unless HN is way more niche than I thought. The company I work for was founded in the 60's and I don't have an entrepreneurial bone in my body.
- granshaw 4y agoYes, based on the general vibe of replies and discussion I see on HN I would expect more like 80% don't have serious startup aspirations beyond "wouldn't it be nice if..." thoughts
- yieldcrv 4y agoI have founded startups with institutional backing before and am not interested in doing so right now and completely fine with being an IC these things aren't linear, your poll doesn’t account for that
- hangonhn 4y agoShould there be a thing for "I'm not a founder but may start one some day or join as a founder"?
- nhance 4y agoI am a business owner who has never taken funding and has no interest in venture capital until they line up around the block to pitch me.
- layer8 4y agoYou hade me until the “until”.
- time0ut 4y agoI tried and failed in the past. Doing a standard mid-size corporate job now for stability. I picked "I am thinking of doing a startup or new business in the future" as I intend to try again one day.
- was_a_dev 4y agoI'm not even in software anymore
- asdev 4y agoI feel like HN has skewed risk averse over time, so the start up founders, indie hackers kind of get drowned out
- Glyptodon 4y agoWhat do people who are early engineers (or employees) but not founders count as to you? (Early meaning like first 5 eng, or first 10 employees overall.)
- granshaw 4y agoI don't think this poll is targeted at those cases at all. Being a founder is a vastly different situation and risk-profile than even hired Engineer #1
- osamagirl69 4y agoI personally have no interest in taking VC funding (to be honest, I feel like this defeats the purpose of founding a company, which is to have control over it) but currently own a small company (bootstraped side gig) and plan to move to full time when the startup I am currently a FTE at exits.
- lizknope 4y agoI'm in the tech industry. I come here because I see interesting stories posted and intelligent conversation. I have worked for 2 startups and both failed. I have zero interest in ever starting my own company and zero interest in ever working for a startup ever again.
- thefz 4y agoLet me add that I also have zero interest on insights by startup founders,or their rants,or their top 7 tips or whatever.
- chrischattin 4y agoI'm a past startup founder. Bootstrapped and sold two companies. Taught myself how to program. Wrote the code for two other startups that were acquired.
- kurthr 4y agoIt's a little weird that there are not past tenses in Poll. I've been in 3 different start-ups and each has had a different trajectory, but I didn't quit just because we went public (my definition of not-a-startup) so I've got no answer unless I guess the future.
- granshaw 4y agoYou've been IN but not been a founder correct? This poll is all about that, vs having worked FOR a startup...
- kurthr 4y agoThat gets to whether sweat equity is equity when verbal ownership statements still mean something. Does staying up all night prepping for a pitch meeting and meeting with bankers before the private mezzanine deal when you still have exams count? I mean I draw the line at about 3-5 for founders, but I could see that being smaller or larger. In the former case, I've been a founder once... if you think the first 20 working for promises of stock are founders, I've "founded" a few. If you think it's only the first person who has the idea that gets 100 people together for a unicorn, then I've never even been in one.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago> been IN but not been a founder correct? I’ve been a founder. I am not one now. I am open to being one in the future, though I’d prefer to hire a CEO and guide from behind via e.g. a Chairmanship, if possible.
- invalidname 4y agoSame boat. Founded a couple of companies (one startup one not). Startup is still running but I'm not very active there. So I put myself as "thinking for the future". I'll probably do another one.
- kunwon1 4y agoI came here because I heard that interesting news is discussed here. I was here for about a week before I discovered that this place was related to startups. I rarely comment and I have never posted. I keep coming back because of the quality of the commentary, my subjective opinion is that the commentary here is orders of magnitude better than that in other forums discussing interesting news.
- Izkata 4y ago> I was here for about a week before I discovered that this place was related to startups. Took me a lot longer than that. The occasional post I saw, I thought people were being spammy and it was tolerated as a type of Tell/Ask HN as long as it didn't get out of hand.
- jesterman 4y agoWait this place is related to startups? I know it's owned by Y Combinator and occasionally startups will place employment ads here. Is this meant to be the place where founders go?
- cperciva 4y agoThis was Startup News once. Then it got renamed because pg wanted the name to reflect a wider range of interesting topics and not just startups. It was also briefly Innocuous News.
- icelancer 4y agoI have been told I run a "small business" not a "startup." So that's what I do and it's not an option in the poll. I would have chosen the second option but I'm not the CEO either, I fairly quickly hired one. I am not qualified to be the CEO. Founder, yes. CEO, no.
- halfjoking 4y agoYou're right - I should have said founder or business owner instead of CEO for that option.
- playingalong 4y agoWhat a strange assumption. There are probably more students here than startup founders (yeah, I know you can be both).
- hn_user2 4y agoWas a startup founder. Sold it. No current intention of doing it again, but may change someday. No option really addresses past founders.
- O__________O 4y agoEven among users that self identify as a startup driven person, there’s wide spectrum of what that means. For example, I mainly doing startups for fun as hobbies, never been motivated to take on funding, or for that matter even take the time to sell any “successful” ones I have managed to fine. To me, I just enjoy the challenge of finding new ways to build businesses, but idea of operating a business is not fun.
- Barrin92 4y agoworked at startups in the past but don't intend to start one. I think in general owning a business is quite costly and time consuming. Depends on your jurisidction of course but in general you'll have to take care of your own healthcare, pension, there's no paid time off and what else have you. Given the costs/risks I think of starting a business more of something you do if it's the only way to get what you want but I'm weary of it as a sort of lifestyle choice which startup scenes are sometimes eager to advertise it as.
- maccard 4y agoI would be open to being a founder, but I am not one. I've been employee #10 at two startups now though, so I have experience of the growing pains that come with this world
- jmuguy 4y agoI'm here to take back the term hacker to its original meaning
- vax425 4y agoVoted for first option. Trying to launch https://headlamptest.com https://headlamptest.com
- alberth 4y ago> "I am thinking of doing a startup or new business in the future" The last option should be dropped completely. I have to imagine the majority will never get around to actually starting a company. Just day dreaming (nothing wrong with that though).
- granshaw 4y agoYeah or at least something like, "I have received at least $1 of revenue from a business I've started"
- wartijn_ 4y agoThat wouldn't fit with the other options though. They are all about what you are currently doing, not what you have done. The current options are mutually exclusive, your new suggestion can be combined with all the other options.
- sjducb 4y ago- I have started a company that is no-longer operating?
- 8f2ab37a-ed6c 4y agoAlso could add a further category for founders who are on their 2nd or 3rd rodeo. For a lot of folks once is enough and they're back to regular employment, for others it's a life-long lifestyle.
- lacoolj 4y agoI'm a developer with no intention of running a software business right now. I use HN as my primary curated news source (and slashdot)
- thewebcount 4y agoI am a former startup founder who took a (small) exit. It might be nice to add that to the poll.
- alkonaut 4y agoI would have guessed under 1% even in a startup let alone thinking of starting one, then another 80% working in the tech industry and 20% others (people not even in tech but interested in tech).
- gabrielsroka 4y agoView poll results here https://gabrielsroka.github.io/hnpoll.html?id=34507665 https://gabrielsroka.github.io/hnpoll.html?id=34507665
- swiftpoll 4y agoFounder as an IndieHacker here! Funny enough the product I built is https://swiftpoll.net https://swiftpoll.net! Ha, ha! (It makes beautifully made polls!)
- snapplebobapple 4y agoYou need a "I started a startup, it did well and so I now actually have time to read the fire hose that is hacker news."
- fuzzfactor 4y agoMy father founded a company which I worked in, starting as a young teenager. After college I worked at a company founded by one of my chemistry professors. In a different city found an even better job, with a startup doing commercial research projects. Had equity but they did not have the runway. After a few years I went to a young little company where I built their lab from the ground up and ran it in a businesslike way. Tasks were about the same as a startup but I didn't own it. Eventually pressure built for me to start my own company so I did. That was years ago, definitely will start another soon.
- terrycody 4y agoBeside this, I am wondering what the percentage of users from the silicon valley? I mean, if there are 10 million tech people in Silicon valley, how many of them will often visit HN? Any statistics there?
- marssaxman 4y agoBeen there, done that; not likely to try it again. I sure do prefer working for startups, though.
- outside1234 4y agoThis is a maker community, of which, startup founders are a valued subset (my take).