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To paraphrase Richard Pryor, I support anyone trying to do anything at anytime. It’s so, so easy to be a passive consumer, a critic. It is so much more dangerou

To paraphrase Richard Pryor, I support anyone trying to do anything at anytime. It’s so, so easy to be a passive consumer, a critic. It is so much more dangerous and vulnerable to put yourself out there and make something - anything - beyond simply doing what you are told. Whether it’s making art or making businesses. If you start businesses, you will fail. Fact of life. Happened to me many times. You know what investors like to back? Second and third time founders - “serial entrepreneurs”. Backing a 20 year old college dropout with a few million bucks is a down payment on the future because they will inevitably fuck it up, but 10 years from now if they are still in the game and failed a couple times they will take your check and the odds of failure have gone down significantly. With the market the way it is right now, many entrepreneurs (and their employees) reading are likely staring down the barrel of failure. Bite the bullet and move on because no one wants your zombie company with a too-high valuation that’s going to putter along for 2 more years and collapse anyway or get acquihired. Just restart with a clean cap table and a more cost efficient idea.

safety1st 3y ago
I really needed this right now. Thank you. We had some negative customer feedback come in last night and a contract was canceled because of it. I wish this customer had responded to my emails asking for feedback over the last three months but they didn't. Now it's over and done with and some of the most damning feedback we've ever received. It breaks my heart, I'm in a low place today. But as you say, business is hard. Being a passive consumer-critic is easy. I will say that once you start a business and get your hands dirty, I think you can never go back. You see how hard it is to make the sausage and you gain a lot of respect for the process, even as you have random anons telling you to commit suicide on Twitter, how the men making a quarter million dollars at Google in SF are so oppressed because their rent is high, etc.
- mdp2021 3y ago
  > I wish this customer had responded to Are you taking the occasion to reconsider strategy of approach, to get feedback? Sorry, just an aside. Nonetheless, on the known line to translate "failures" into "lessons". -- Update: I must leave the console now, but I hope the sniper passing by posts some argument. Hopefully different from "Insensitive", here where the exact point is (1) treating events as something preventable given some wisdom, to be built, and (2) treating events as something to be analyzed, instead of borne - to neutralize them.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- matwood 3y ago
  I'm no expert, but have been around start ups to large companies for a long time in many roles. Business/capitalism is a full contact sport. Getting someone to give you money, whether it's a $1 or $1M dollars is fucking hard. With billions of people in the world, you think it would be easier to find 10k of them to give you $10 - nope. When selling something, the vast vast majority say no. I remember at a prior company we had our biggest customer drop us. Similar situation, we worked with them for months to get usage up, but they ignored/blocked our efforts. Then one day, no renewal. It hurt, it was scary, but the way business works. It also led to a pivot and later acquisition.
- moneywoes 3y ago
  May I ask if you saw it coming? What were they upset about Can it be rectifyied? Here to help
  - safety1st 3y ago
    Thanks so much for this (and thanks to everyone else who responded too). My comment got a bunch of upvotes and it feels good to get this unexpected support. I decided to try and put it out of my mind for a while, it's a Saturday, it's not urgent, I can revisit the issue later when I'm calmer...
- theGnuMe 3y ago
  I'm going to guess that they got a lower or more competitive bid from another vendor which is why you lost the contract and it is less about you more about them. You know just like dating. If they actually wanted to work with you they would have given continuous feedback since responsiveness to their concerns is usually part of the deal.
- jahsome 3y ago
  Sorry to hear that. I've been crushed in very similar ways. I'm certain you'll bounce back. In the meantime, remember there's more to life than work, and you have more to offer the world than just the products you produce. Take the opportunity to learn, when the time is right to revisit things. Take some time away if you can. Try not to linger on it. It gets easier with each day. Oh, and get the hell away from Twitter :)
el_nahual 3y ago
> To paraphrase Richard Pryor, I support anyone trying to do anything at anytime. What's the actual source quote here? Your paraphrase is excellent in and of itself.
- monero-xmr 3y ago
  https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/comedy/richard-pryor-live-concert-1979-full-transcript/ https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/comedy/richard-pryor-live-conc... You should just watch the live set, but I can’t seem to find this specific set on YouTube for a link. It seems to have hardcore copyright from Netflix and they ban any videos from it https://www.netflix.com/title/907090 https://www.netflix.com/title/907090 You can search on the linked page for “The only thing about it, I don’t like to hear when white people would be saying, he dumb, ain’t he?” regarding the boxer Leon Spinks. Much funnier in the live set.

safety1st 3y ago

I really needed this right now. Thank you. We had some negative customer feedback come in last night and a contract was canceled because of it. I wish this customer had responded to my emails asking for feedback over the last three months but they didn't. Now it's over and done with and some of the most damning feedback we've ever received. It breaks my heart, I'm in a low place today. But as you say, business is hard. Being a passive consumer-critic is easy. I will say that once you start a business and get your hands dirty, I think you can never go back. You see how hard it is to make the sausage and you gain a lot of respect for the process, even as you have random anons telling you to commit suicide on Twitter, how the men making a quarter million dollars at Google in SF are so oppressed because their rent is high, etc.

mdp2021 3y ago
> I wish this customer had responded to Are you taking the occasion to reconsider strategy of approach, to get feedback? Sorry, just an aside. Nonetheless, on the known line to translate "failures" into "lessons". -- Update: I must leave the console now, but I hope the sniper passing by posts some argument. Hopefully different from "Insensitive", here where the exact point is (1) treating events as something preventable given some wisdom, to be built, and (2) treating events as something to be analyzed, instead of borne - to neutralize them.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
matwood 3y ago
I'm no expert, but have been around start ups to large companies for a long time in many roles. Business/capitalism is a full contact sport. Getting someone to give you money, whether it's a $1 or $1M dollars is fucking hard. With billions of people in the world, you think it would be easier to find 10k of them to give you $10 - nope. When selling something, the vast vast majority say no. I remember at a prior company we had our biggest customer drop us. Similar situation, we worked with them for months to get usage up, but they ignored/blocked our efforts. Then one day, no renewal. It hurt, it was scary, but the way business works. It also led to a pivot and later acquisition.
moneywoes 3y ago
May I ask if you saw it coming? What were they upset about Can it be rectifyied? Here to help
- safety1st 3y ago
  Thanks so much for this (and thanks to everyone else who responded too). My comment got a bunch of upvotes and it feels good to get this unexpected support. I decided to try and put it out of my mind for a while, it's a Saturday, it's not urgent, I can revisit the issue later when I'm calmer...
theGnuMe 3y ago
I'm going to guess that they got a lower or more competitive bid from another vendor which is why you lost the contract and it is less about you more about them. You know just like dating. If they actually wanted to work with you they would have given continuous feedback since responsiveness to their concerns is usually part of the deal.
jahsome 3y ago
Sorry to hear that. I've been crushed in very similar ways. I'm certain you'll bounce back. In the meantime, remember there's more to life than work, and you have more to offer the world than just the products you produce. Take the opportunity to learn, when the time is right to revisit things. Take some time away if you can. Try not to linger on it. It gets easier with each day. Oh, and get the hell away from Twitter :)

el_nahual 3y ago

> To paraphrase Richard Pryor, I support anyone trying to do anything at anytime. What's the actual source quote here? Your paraphrase is excellent in and of itself.

monero-xmr 3y ago
https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/comedy/richard-pryor-live-concert-1979-full-transcript/ https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/comedy/richard-pryor-live-conc... You should just watch the live set, but I can’t seem to find this specific set on YouTube for a link. It seems to have hardcore copyright from Netflix and they ban any videos from it https://www.netflix.com/title/907090 https://www.netflix.com/title/907090 You can search on the linked page for “The only thing about it, I don’t like to hear when white people would be saying, he dumb, ain’t he?” regarding the boxer Leon Spinks. Much funnier in the live set.