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The Importance of Realism in Startups

4 points by DanielRibeiro 13y ago

mindcrime 13y ago
Age brings wisdom. Timidity, too. But age brings perspective. If older entrepreneurs are more cautious it’s because life’s experiences have taught them to be so. I am so fucking tired of this old meme, that I think I'm going to vomit if I hear it again. SOME older entrepreneurs may, indeed, be "more cautious" or "timid" or whatever. But there is absolutely nothing about being an older entrepreneur that mandates such a thing. Furthermore, there is a countervailing factor which rarely gets mentioned: older entrepreneurs are just as likely to be more desperate to succeed, and hence not at all cautious or timid, because they are literally running out of time. Speaking from personal experience: when I was 20, I could afford to lollygag and take my time and be patient and buy into the "good things come to those who wait" bullshit. Now I'm 40 and, last time I checked, I ain't getting any younger. If I'm going to make my dreams happen, I can't afford to do anything less than give 101%... Timidity, caution? Fuck that, ain't nobody got time for that here. More than at any point in my life, I'm looking at this startup thing as a full-contact sport, and coming in with an attitude that I'm going to do whatever it takes to win. These are desperate times, and no cards are off the table, and we will fire every arrow in our quiver here... it's "do or die" time, ya know? But my 20 year old self lacked that sense of perspective. Now I don't claim to be a "representative sample" in any formal statistical sense, obviously. But if I feel this way, I'm pretty sure there are other older folks who do as well, at least in the general sense.
- eksith 13y ago
  I'm wondering why this meme persists too because clearly the first Dot Com Bubble wasn't all due to actions of "young" entrepreneurs. Plenty of "older" people decided to take risks (probably due to that desperation) until those risks stopped paying off altogether or it became obvious they never will.

4 points by DanielRibeiro 13y ago

Age brings wisdom. Timidity, too. But age brings perspective. If older entrepreneurs are more cautious it’s because life’s experiences have taught them to be so. I am so fucking tired of this old meme, that I think I'm going to vomit if I hear it again. SOME older entrepreneurs may, indeed, be "more cautious" or "timid" or whatever. But there is absolutely nothing about being an older entrepreneur that mandates such a thing. Furthermore, there is a countervailing factor which rarely gets mentioned: older entrepreneurs are just as likely to be more desperate to succeed, and hence not at all cautious or timid, because they are literally running out of time. Speaking from personal experience: when I was 20, I could afford to lollygag and take my time and be patient and buy into the "good things come to those who wait" bullshit. Now I'm 40 and, last time I checked, I ain't getting any younger. If I'm going to make my dreams happen, I can't afford to do anything less than give 101%... Timidity, caution? Fuck that, ain't nobody got time for that here. More than at any point in my life, I'm looking at this startup thing as a full-contact sport, and coming in with an attitude that I'm going to do whatever it takes to win. These are desperate times, and no cards are off the table, and we will fire every arrow in our quiver here... it's "do or die" time, ya know? But my 20 year old self lacked that sense of perspective. Now I don't claim to be a "representative sample" in any formal statistical sense, obviously. But if I feel this way, I'm pretty sure there are other older folks who do as well, at least in the general sense.

eksith 13y ago
I'm wondering why this meme persists too because clearly the first Dot Com Bubble wasn't all due to actions of "young" entrepreneurs. Plenty of "older" people decided to take risks (probably due to that desperation) until those risks stopped paying off altogether or it became obvious they never will.