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Ask YC: What would you tell your younger self?
If you could tell your younger self one thing what would it be?
I was curious what the YC crowd would say to this.
Personally, I'd tell myself to live for the moment. Don't worry about the future too much, as long as you have a good head on your shoulders things will work out. Before you know it years have flown by and you'll wonder where they went.
So, what would you tell yourself?
- donna 18y agokeep your day job while developing your innovations and funding
- pg 18y agoDon't worry about trying to impress people. Just work hard on things you like. Don't get into debt.
- mattmaroon 18y agoI hear ya about the debt. Though my dad told me that and I didn't listen as well as I should have, so it might be a waste even coming from myself. I've just now returned to the good credit category.
- unalone 18y agoOut of curiosity (I think that's sound advice through-and-through): would you say the same thing to the dramatic socialite? Most of my friends are part of the theatre circle: for a lot of us, impressing people and seeming really cool doesn't come from a desire to be liked, but from the thrill of getting reactions from crowds. It's more the act of people who specialize in trying to handle crowd emotions. Is that a separate thing, or would you bundle that sort of community attitude as attempted impressing?
- pg 18y agoThat's kind of an edge case. But even within acting there's a distinction between actually wowing audiences and trying to seem impressive. The American Repertory Theater in Cambridge is a good example of what not to do.
- fallentimes 18y agoSome businesses are impossible to start without debt.
- mamama 18y agoWhat if working hard on what I like could potentially get me into debt? Or what if I like to impress people?
- pg 18y agoI mainly mean you should avoid consumption debt-- you should avoid living beyond your means. Debt incurred as part of a project your'e working on could be ok. (Could.) If you work hard on things you like, you will impress people.
- fallentimes 18y agoBefore TicketStumbler I at one point had 90k worth of credit card debt to finance my first business. That business was a lot more stressful than TS.
- Alex3917 18y agoRephrased for chiasmus double bonus points: Work hard on what you like, not on what's thought hard work.
- noahlt 18y agoDoes "don't get into debt" apply to choosing what college to attend, as well?
- firewallender 18y agoI'd tell myself to save more, compound interest is full of win.
- critke 18y agotake more risks. don't worry about failing.
- nostrademons 18y agoCheer up. The people who say that your teenage years are the best in your life are the same folks that are beating you up, and life goes downhill fast for them after graduation.
- fallentimes 18y agoHear, hear. Your arch nemesis will end up with a kid, no money and a job as a male stripper before the ripe age of 22.
- dotcoma 18y agois a job as a male stripper bad?
- fallentimes 18y agoIt's more hilarious than anything.
- llimllib 18y agoMy constant reminder that I should have told myself this more was the horribly depressing Marley quote I chose for my senior yearbook: "Think you're in heaven but you're living in hell"
- timcederman 18y agoSpeak up more, and stop being such a slacker.
- samson 18y agoI would say rather to your current self to live and work in such a way that the person you were a year ago would be proud to shake the hand of the person you are today. And every year both in the effort that you put and the integrity that you keep, your year ago self would would still shake your hand. A personal note a little over a year ago I didn't know MySQL,Javascript, or PHP. I taught all three to myself and have become quite good or at least competent to develop whatever I can think of.
- woodsier 18y agoI'm in a similar situation regarding wanting to know MySQL, PHP and Javascript (or even just jQuery) within a year. Give that I currently study full time in a Business Degree, along with two part-time jobs (one static, one freelance and malleable, but both related to web development) do you think you could give me a few tips on what resources to read, and more importantly (given the abundance of resources) what to avoid to keep it as simple as possible? I am happy to pay money for good resources or subscriptions. I do know basic PHP and MySQL, along with complete HTML and CSS (CSS being my forte), however the next step is advancing that knowledge into the dynamic sphere.
- thomasmallen 18y agoThat Gibbs would come back, but to not get my hopes up too much for the Redskins.
- ice_man 18y agoSome day you will have the unique opportunity to talk to yourself from the future, don't blow it like I just did.
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- vaksel 18y agodon't waste your college years. That was 4 years of not needing to worry about food or paying rent that could have been used to launch and grow a startup to profitability.
- dhouston 18y agough. there's plenty of time to start companies, but those 4 years of "not needing to worry about food or paying rent" are unique.
- mdolon 18y agoTotally agree.. as a recent (may 08) graduate, college didn't feel very productive in terms of starting a company but I do think I had the time of my life. I tried to spend most of my time enjoying the experience of having so many great people around me and soaking up the myriad of information from my classes. While I didn't end up starting a prosperous business in undergrad life, I did network like crazy and tried to learn a few skills to help me in my career choice (entrepreneurship). That's one thing I don't think I regret or would tell my younger self to change. Don't get too caught up in work to miss out on the incredible experience that is college!
- vaksel 18y agothe thing is that in those 4 years you can take it slow. You don't have the added stress of running out of money to pay for rent etc. 1-2 hours per day on a startup in college is no big deal. You have so much free time in college, that you can easily fit in doing a startup, going to class and having a decent social life.
- markessien 18y agoThen what's the point of being young?
- vaksel 18y agoI'm not saying you need to be a monk and focus entirely on your startup. Think of it an additional class you have to go to every day. And I dunno if its being older talking, but at this point I look back at all that time that I wasted, and feel like I've wasted an opportunity
- woodsier 18y agoI'm 21 and plan on moving from Australia to the Valley next year to start on my passionate life journey. So this advice is really interesting to me! Especially specific advice regarding working in this general field in the Valley or California would be fantastic. Thanks!
- nailer 18y agoWhat's your life journey that begins in .au?
- drlaj 18y agoLearn more math.
- cperciva 18y ago"Think things through carefully, but once you're finished thinking, don't second-guess yourself. You're smart enough that once you've thought things through, you're almost certain to have reached the right conclusions, so just go ahead and act on your plans instead of wasting time worrying about them."
- WilliamLP 18y agoGiven a choice between an engineering school with a great reputation or a school with a female to male ratio close to 70%, choose the second.
- webwright 18y agoAvoid debt (for me, it was the IRS when I started being self-employed). Travel a LOT (it gets harder as you get older). Get jobs in interesting places (I went to school too near home and really didn't get adventurous 'till later). Being entrepreneurial is good, but don't get into services (I had a web dev agency-- crappy way to build equity)... Build products instead. Get to a tech hub sooner. Avoid the following 4 women (none of yer business). Set up an automated recurring investment program. Buy a house before mortgages get more expensive than rent.
- timr 18y agoFortunately, that last one is getting corrected right now...
- jeffa107 18y agoMake more mistakes; don't be afraid to fail. A college degree is overrated; the opposite is true of self-teaching. Buy the Corvette. It's expensive and impractical but you'll never have more fun with a car like that than you will at 24.
- code_devil 18y agoI totally agree about buying your dream car :-) .. I bought a SC430 2 yrs ago when I was 23.
- comatose_kid 18y agoDon't work for a large company straight out of school. Move to Silicon Valley. Don't buy a sports car - every penny you save is one step closer to not having to work for someone else.
- ryanwaggoner 18y agoNot sure I'd agree. I would say that it's a huge benefit to have worked for a large company, but don't stay more than a year, two at the most. You don't really appreciate the hell of a corporate environment until you've worked in one for a bit.
- sivers 18y agoI got to do this! It's a great exercise. My college (Berklee College of Music) asked me to give a talk to the incoming freshmen class on opening day. I wrote it by asking, "What would I tell my younger self?" I called it "6 things I wish I knew the day I started Berklee" and came up with these 6: #1 : Focus. Disconnect. Do not be distracted. #2 : Do not accept their speed limit. #3 : Nobody will teach you anything. You have to teach yourself. #4 : Learn from your heroes, not only theirs. #5 : Don’t get stuck in the past. #6 : When done, be valuable. Some of those won't make sense on their own, so you can read the full version at http://sivers.org/berklee http://sivers.org/berklee or watch it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxYt--CFXK0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxYt--CFXK0
- ChaitanyaSai 18y agoThat was a good talk! I am guessing most of us have regrets and/or proven recipes for our younger selves. However, I do wonder if simply pointing to a list would have helped me. The process by which we arrive at these points is more important, and that seems to be introspection after missing (or meeting, but rarely does success lead to introspection) childhood goals. Unfortunately, I don't think I would have valued introspection over poorly thought out reasoning for why my existing trajectory would lead straight into the lush fields of success. Would I have, I wonder, been more receptive if I had been asked to meditate on why the counter to any prescription was bad? Why, for instance, was focus important enough to trump the sheer enjoyment of youthful disorientation and distraction?
- yan 18y agoWork a little bit harder. When you're already doing average school work, it doesn't take much more effort to be excellent. Experiment. Don't be afraid to speak up; Don't be afraid to be wrong. Regretting something you didn't do is always far, far worse than regretting something you did. I'm still 23 though, so I still need this advice. Putting it to practice is harder than it should be. edit: Also, don't rush school. Keep track of idle time.
- known 18y agoCelebrate your failures. Insulate but donot isolate yourselves Ignorance is sin. Innocence is bliss.
- zasz 18y agoPeople are not as hard to hack as you might think. What's the worst that could happen? Seriously? It's better to be right than consistent.
- DaniFong 18y agoYou already know what you want.
- sutro 18y agoI'm reminded of Red's (Morgan Freeman's) classic speech from "The Shawshank Redemption" -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtwXlIwozog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtwXlIwozog
- antiform 18y agoIt's not a race. Don't forget to slow down and enjoy life sometimes. Learn to appreciate friends and family, because the times you spend with them will be the ones that you cherish the most later.
- teuobk 18y agoI like Mark Twain's take: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
- mattmaroon 18y agoI'd probably just give myself a sports betting almanac. Until you asked that question I never fully appreciated Back to the Future 2.
- fallentimes 18y agoWould sports be fun if you already knew what was going to happen? Speaking of gambling. I'm going to Vegas for a week during March Madness. Let me know if you'll be in town for a poker tournament.
- mattmaroon 18y agoNo but it would be hella profitable. The rest of life would be more fun with an unlimited source of funds.
- fallentimes 18y agoI don't think it'd be worth it. Unless I could delete my memory.
- mattmaroon 18y agoYou like sports a hell of a lot more than I do if you would trade unlimited cash for the joy of watching games. Also, it's an almanac so you could only look at the results when you needed cash.
- fallentimes 18y agoI guess as long it was as needed almanac I'd be OK. If I was auto-infused with all sports predictions & knowledge I don't know if I could do it.
- mattmaroon 18y agoWell, the trick would be to just start watching the sports that didn't quite make it into the almanac. Snowmobiling ftw.
- nickfox 18y agokiss her, you idiot... :o)
- ninjackn 18y agoI have actually thought very deeply about this question and would often ponder about it in my spare time. Hypothetically speaking if I could go back in time and tell my younger self one thing it would be: DO NOT FORGET February 13, 2002: 1,4,19,28,46 M4 If I could say a little more on top of that it would be: invest in google stock.
- Eliezer 18y agoEverything on Overcoming Bias - that's what it's there for.
- tdavis 18y agoI would probably say something along the lines of, "You've been lucky enough to be born in a time and place where there is nothing you cannot do; the world is there for the taking, so stop sitting around and go fucking take it already!" To this day, I still don't take as much as I should. But, baby steps.
- quantumhobbit 18y agoBuy Google stock. Sell everything before Oct 2008. Profit. In college I would tell myself not to worry as much about grades, but to focus on a few projects of my own. Take more internships in different fields.
- nostrademons 18y agoBuy Akamai stock. If I had a time-machine, I'd tell myself "Go all in. It's not going out of business" back when it was selling at $0.50/share in 2002. I'm satisfied with my 10-bagger (I missed both the trough and the peak and didn't sell all my shares), but if I'd put my life savings of about $15K in in 2002, and sold at the peak in 2007, I would have made $1.8M.
- quantumhobbit 18y agoActually stocks might not be the way to go. I'd hand myself a sports almanac and start betting. As long as Biff doesn't get his hands on it.
- laut 18y agoIf you knew the price of a stock on a certain date, options would be good. And you could leverage the investment with no risk. Better return than buying stocks outright.
- saroj 18y agohave more freedom in every way!!
- reidman 18y agoAAPL
- blader 18y agoDon't do anything different, I like it here.
- electromagnetic 18y agoI'd second that one. My message to my younger self: don't screw it up moron, or you won't get happily married!
- msg 18y agoYou wanted to figure out what it all meant, and you were right. Don't give up. PS You love computer science.
- sherl0ck 18y agoIt's OK to say no to someone
- siong1987 18y agoDude. You should start doing on your idea right now. Idea is nothing without execution.
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- axod 18y agoDon't be so shy - you'll regret it later. Just do it.
- LPTS 18y ago"Save the cheerleader save the world."
- terpua 18y agotravel and hang around more cafes
- partoa 18y agoRelease Early, Release Often. Had an epiphany about this last week, and it has nothing to do with the Bazaar either, but rather everything to do with marketing. A client released a system that I did not consider ready for use and somehow it works..., I had only hacked the thing for a total of 3 days!
- corentin 18y agoIgnore what people say; live for yourself.
- 0_o 18y agostart coding now!
- gaius 18y agoTake Maths or Egyptology, no-one actually uses anything they learn in their degree in the real world, so just enjoy the undergrad opportunities to learn cool stuff.
- davidw 18y agoListen to this dude Rufus, he knows what he's talking about.
- pierrefar 18y agoIf you've found a limitation in your world that makes you unable to do something, don't whine, rant, or try to fix it. Work around it and keep moving instead.
- markessien 18y agoIf you keep doing the same stuff, you'll keep getting the same results. Every change you make should be a change that builds on top of what you already have (restarting usually does not work). Don't spend so much on donuts, it adds up. No matter how tough anything is, the 3rd time you try it, it will be pretty easy. When you have an idea, execute it and finish it. Don't let people influence you, just do it. History will show that your ideas usually worked. Don't start what you can't finish. Have a clear finish line for everything you start. If you go out to a club 10 times, and you still are not enjoying it, it's time to go somewhere else, no matter what everyone else is doing. Make sure you're friends with your lover. When there is an argument happening, stay out of it and get some work done.
- awt 18y agoYou're not as good a programmer as you think you are.
- paraschopra 18y agoLife Couldn't Have Been Any Better!!
- fallentimes 18y agoStart a startup asap.
- fallentimes 18y agoIdeas don't really matter, only execution does.
- batmanbury 18y agoSmoke weed, you pansy!
- thomasmallen 18y agoSmoking weed has nothing to do with courage...maybe you mean to say "resist silly laws"?
- batmanbury 18y agoYou sound as if you think you know me.
- Allocator2008 18y agoParaphrasing Rand, I think I would tell my younger self: Do not recognize anyone's right to one minute of your life, nor to any part of your energy, nor to any creation of yours, no matter how large their number nor how great their need. Personally, I think I spent too much time in a futile effort to please parents and relatives and so forth. Later in life, I find that is not only a futile effort, it can also make one completely miserable, since one is not being one's truest self, but is acting as one perceives others want them to act or be. Reading Rand, I find that mistake is a common but grave mistake, underlying societal decay in much of history, namely, the mistake of living for others instead of oneself. So yeah, that would basically be it. If I could reach back a decade, and tell a copy of myself in a Everett-Wheeler parallel universe one thing, that would be it, the above paraphrase from 'The Fountainhead'. :-)
- petercooper 18y agoIt's a cute idea, but I'd sincerely hope my past-self would never listen to anything I have to say now and instead figure it out for himself. I thought a lot of crazy stuff then - probably still do - and I liked it that way.
- pavelludiq 18y agohttp://abstrusegoose.com/80 http://abstrusegoose.com/80
- hwijaya 18y agoAppreciate and live the moment. Most people (incl. myself) were always looking for big things in life. Not realizing, at the end of the day, it's all the small little things that you take it for granted are all that makes the whole differences.
- robg 18y agoStart hacking. It's all the fun of science but with the rigor you like in math.
- chris_l 18y agoSurrender. Don't fight reality, go with it.
- azharcs 18y agoDon't waste time. Value your family and friends more, they are the only ones you know in this world. Don't listen to Naysayers.
- mathogre 18y agoI'll simply use something paraphrased from Voltaire's story Zadig: "Be just and worthy of having friends." Do that and everything else will follow.
- pmjordan 18y ago"Don't listen to your parents so much."
- swapspace 18y agoDon't pretend to do, just do.
- pasbesoin 18y agoActions speak louder than words. And not just your own, but others' as well. Observe what people do, not just what they say (or write). Learn from it. To do that, you have to participate. Participating is challenging. Learn to stand up for yourself. Take martial arts. Not to be a badass, but to maintain your integrity around jerks who use physical intimidation. Actions speak louder than words. If you feel bad about what you are doing, likely it is impacting others negatively as well. (Even if it's just talking.) We learn emotions, not just ideas. If you stay stuck in bad emotions, you will reinforce their patterns. Two things you have in finite quantity and which, once lost, may not be recovered. Time, and your health. Guard both strenuously. I dont' mean that one should live in isolation; quite the contrary. But don't let your time and health be wasted or needlessly, stupdidly compromised.
- mdolon 18y agoBuy all the two-letter, three-letter and dictionary word domain names possible and retire before going to college.
- op12 18y ago1. There is a big difference between understanding something and appreciating something 2. Remember that you can make the right decision and get the wrong outcome
- wingo 18y agoI would give myself a copy of "Disciplined Minds" by Jeff Schmidt. It explains so many things I didn't understand then. It is probably the most important book that I have read in the last five years.
- jodrellblank 18y ago"Hi, I'm you from the future. It's critically important that you visit $country ASAP. Heck, it's important enough that they sent me back through time to tell you! You! Here's some money, go to this place and speak to this person. Go on your own". Hopefully, convincing myself to go. The place isn't important, except that it's more than a day's travel, and the person would be some generic description who's likely to be there, and the cash wouldn't be enough to get back. Or maybe the place and person would be someone interesting who I'm yet to hear of. Not sure. The experience, maybe it would be enough of a kick to change my life for the better. I needed it. (I still need it).
- michaelneale 18y agoA list of shares to purchase, and who to borrow the money from to buy them.
- simplegeek 18y agoUse your own mind and explore. And above all, just don't settle and always raise the bar.
- cpr 18y agoDon't do anything you wouldn't be proud to show your (theoretical, future) children.
- bootload 18y ago"... what would you tell yourself? ..." Practicing things many times over, matters more than doing them a couple of times; Be: aware of your surroundings and seize opportunity; irreverent to authority and the pompous; generous with your time; miserly with criticism; pain is temporary;
- Prrometheus 18y agoBored in class? Learn about those computer thingies.
- lifestudent 18y agoDrop out of school sooner...like after freshman year...make sure you live very close to campus for the next few years after dropping out...spend the day working on your own projects with friends around campus (make sure you do team projects)...and the nights chilling at student clubs and meeting the motivated folks around campus. Learn through your own individual and group projects..and keep up with industry trends...be sure to travel around (to other schools among other places) and meet other folks that have a youthful spirit. People around you will not like your unique lifestyle...but then again, they also will not have enough money to pay off the debt for the lifestyle they say you should have (go to school, invest in a home, etc.) Any well-defined path...no matter how prestigious...will not lead to entrepreneurial success; success comes from finding/developing a new path; blaze your own trail Be wary of things that you "Ought to do" or "Should do"...they usually cause issues (credit: Carol Bartz for the last line)
- whichdokta 18y agoI wouldn't tell myself anything right away. I'd listen for a long time. I don't know yet but after that maybe I'd say something or ask something if it made sense to.
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- pclark 18y agogo to the doctor and ask for a full blood test.
- Fuca 18y agoThink for yourself, be yourself. Find the people and activities that match who you are. When the going gets tough, You will only have 2 friends your dad and a dollar.Talk as little as you can.Choose a profession knowing that is what you will do the rest of your life. Your wife will be 80% of your happiness / sadness of your adult life. Do not think you are below or above anyone. Being an employee sucks big time.Dont underestimate perseverance. And pretty much reread everyday Soroyan short preface of "In the time of your life"
- jaytee_clone 18y ago-Video game is a waste of your time. -Practice something everyday.
- kamme 18y agoI have a good, interesting job, started working on the age of 14, have saved some money and have no debts. The only thing I would say to myself is: Don't forget your friends. They are important as well. Because sadly, I think most people do forget them, including me...
- g1rlb0t 18y agoNever settle. You're worth more than that.
- lmao 18y agoWork hard, play hard.
- mightybyte 18y agoLearn Haskell well before you graduate from college. It will change your view of programming. If you ever at any point have an "obscenely high" return on one of your investments (other than a startup you own), always liquidate it if possible to realize your returns. In May of 2003, check out http://crossfit.com http://crossfit.com
- bookbabe 18y agoI have thought about this question a lot. You see, I am a transgender woman who was, as you can imagine, a very confused and scared young man. One thing I would tell him is that I am here for him; I will never leave him. And I understand why he is rejecting me, and I love him. <br> <br> When I started to live as a woman, I was able, for the first time in my life, to say that I love who I am, and ther person I was.