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> My main lesson from running a startup: don't. Worse than failing is not trying. You will live your life always wondering “what if”. When you fail, you will

> My main lesson from running a startup: don't. Worse than failing is not trying. You will live your life always wondering “what if”. When you fail, you will have an answer to the above question and can live in peace.

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orochimaaru 2y ago
It depends. Why do you want to start something? Do you really believe in it? I mean there's got to be a certain set of "hell yes" questions that need to be answered in the affirmative. Otherwise you're not missing much. Work for something that pays well, solve interesting problems, spend time at home with your family and friends. The problem is when you're wanting to start something because someone else did it and don't have the implementation or execution perseverance (or just don't believe in it strongly).
z33k 2y ago
Worse than not trying is trying and experiencing burnout and/or destitution. When you fail, it can be due to many things. Not everything in the world is controllable. This is one of the reasons why expecting zero ”What ifs” at the end of your post-mortem is unreasonable.
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- agumonkey 2y ago
  I don't think there's any absolute rule here. I'm pretty convinced that a startup would be healthier for me rather than my safe day job. The amount of churn and nascent burn out due to chasing tech debt and tickets surrounded by demotivated people is really bad. I guess being aware of what you need and can afford is key.
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teaearlgraycold 2y ago
Most people don’t want to start a business. They might fantasize but it’s not something they would enjoy doing. It’s fine to realize you have other goals and to work on them instead.
makerdiety 2y ago
This (very popular) sentiment you have can basically be abstracted into the “fear of missing out” meme. It's an unnecessary predicate, it's founded on presupposition and bias, and it's really detrimental to all serious long term analyses. There's no proof that this personal feeling should be listened to or given behavioral authority, especially when it suspiciously conforms to the aesthetic that is widely shared by many who end up having only achieved a mundane life, despite “noble” projects launched because of arrogant egos. This social phenomenon which sponsors the freedom and agency of people fit only to be busy drones is wasting global resources on bourgeois affairs. Elon Musk and his eventual epic failure at super-industrialism is a great example of this harmful sinful pride. The “what if” has only served to help overvalue ordinary potential, when that capability should have been limited to simple tasks, industries, and affairs. It's a mind virus riding on the waves of language and the beastly body of rationality, a false reality having been successfully disguised as a legitimate object to perceive within the cognitive sphere of humanity. It is deviation that surely has contributed to the collapse of the great liberal humanism project, the real goal of democracy and its encompassing civilization having been the quiet and stable enslavement of a massive surplus of dull brains and basic bodies. A mass of uninteresting genetic carriers who would do well to never worry about what is outside the scope of their common destinies. The dialectic that there can be morbid peace if you would just test out the hypothesis that you can become a great man is an incomprehensibly devised thinking trap that can filter out men who don't know what the fuck is going on in the grand universe. But God (or simply nature) works in mysterious ways and I'm glad that hubris was created to serve as an instrument for learning what not to ever do. And to materially benefit from, salvaging from the failures of future past technologies being a huge possibility to leverage. Your supposed tragedy is my informed opportunity, to paraphrase Jeff Bezos. EDIT: If you ever invent warp drive or faster than light travel or functional nuclear fusion, I'll be looking forward to the blueprints of such treasures and strategic advantages ;)
scarface_74 2y ago
Nope. I never lived one minute wanting to either start a business or be an early employee at one - I’m 50.
solumos 2y ago
Assuming that the process of failing doesn’t cost you your peace — which is certainly a risk.
liquidpele 2y ago
Yea, wondering “what if” is totally worse than being dead in a gutter.

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orochimaaru 2y ago

It depends. Why do you want to start something? Do you really believe in it? I mean there's got to be a certain set of "hell yes" questions that need to be answered in the affirmative. Otherwise you're not missing much. Work for something that pays well, solve interesting problems, spend time at home with your family and friends. The problem is when you're wanting to start something because someone else did it and don't have the implementation or execution perseverance (or just don't believe in it strongly).

z33k 2y ago

Worse than not trying is trying and experiencing burnout and/or destitution. When you fail, it can be due to many things. Not everything in the world is controllable. This is one of the reasons why expecting zero ”What ifs” at the end of your post-mortem is unreasonable.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
agumonkey 2y ago
I don't think there's any absolute rule here. I'm pretty convinced that a startup would be healthier for me rather than my safe day job. The amount of churn and nascent burn out due to chasing tech debt and tickets surrounded by demotivated people is really bad. I guess being aware of what you need and can afford is key.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

teaearlgraycold 2y ago

Most people don’t want to start a business. They might fantasize but it’s not something they would enjoy doing. It’s fine to realize you have other goals and to work on them instead.

makerdiety 2y ago

This (very popular) sentiment you have can basically be abstracted into the “fear of missing out” meme. It's an unnecessary predicate, it's founded on presupposition and bias, and it's really detrimental to all serious long term analyses. There's no proof that this personal feeling should be listened to or given behavioral authority, especially when it suspiciously conforms to the aesthetic that is widely shared by many who end up having only achieved a mundane life, despite “noble” projects launched because of arrogant egos. This social phenomenon which sponsors the freedom and agency of people fit only to be busy drones is wasting global resources on bourgeois affairs. Elon Musk and his eventual epic failure at super-industrialism is a great example of this harmful sinful pride. The “what if” has only served to help overvalue ordinary potential, when that capability should have been limited to simple tasks, industries, and affairs. It's a mind virus riding on the waves of language and the beastly body of rationality, a false reality having been successfully disguised as a legitimate object to perceive within the cognitive sphere of humanity. It is deviation that surely has contributed to the collapse of the great liberal humanism project, the real goal of democracy and its encompassing civilization having been the quiet and stable enslavement of a massive surplus of dull brains and basic bodies. A mass of uninteresting genetic carriers who would do well to never worry about what is outside the scope of their common destinies. The dialectic that there can be morbid peace if you would just test out the hypothesis that you can become a great man is an incomprehensibly devised thinking trap that can filter out men who don't know what the fuck is going on in the grand universe. But God (or simply nature) works in mysterious ways and I'm glad that hubris was created to serve as an instrument for learning what not to ever do. And to materially benefit from, salvaging from the failures of future past technologies being a huge possibility to leverage. Your supposed tragedy is my informed opportunity, to paraphrase Jeff Bezos. EDIT: If you ever invent warp drive or faster than light travel or functional nuclear fusion, I'll be looking forward to the blueprints of such treasures and strategic advantages ;)

scarface_74 2y ago

Nope. I never lived one minute wanting to either start a business or be an early employee at one - I’m 50.

solumos 2y ago

Assuming that the process of failing doesn’t cost you your peace — which is certainly a risk.

liquidpele 2y ago

Yea, wondering “what if” is totally worse than being dead in a gutter.