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Some reasons: 1. I have very little clue what gets people to spend money. I keep wanting at least a plausible theory of how this could make money before I div

by bkovitz 17y ago

Some reasons: 1. I have very little clue what gets people to spend money. I keep wanting at least a plausible theory of how this could make money before I dive in. I am particularly discouraged by the idea of making a web site that requires high traffic in order to be ramen-profitable. 2. I am easily distracted. I find myself getting sidetracked at all time-scales: by administrative and sysadmin junk, by other project ideas, etc. 3. I find it particularly hard to implement a software idea that I've come up with myself. It's weird, but I find myself in a mode of "just wanting it done" instead of enjoying the coding. No joy, no work. 4. I don't tolerate mediocrity in my life. Just posted about this in another thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=730261 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=730261 These all seem fixable.

bkovitz 17y ago
Oops, I forgot the biggest reason: grad school. I want to become a professor so I'm paid to indulge my curiosity, teach, and write interesting books into my old age. I imagine that as a professor, as I age into my 50s and 60s and 70s, I would be an appreciated contributor in a loving community, and I imagine that as a start-up founder, I would be cast aside in my old age the way they do in Ik society. I am now at the age when there's not much time left to go down the professor track and be successful. If I wasn't trying to become a professor, I would do a start-up without hesitation. The above four reasons wouldn't stop me. My first year as a grad student was so miserable, I am now reassessing.
- aditya 17y ago
  Why was it miserable? and, why do you think that as an entrepreneur you won't still be building businesses well into your 50s 60s and 70s with teams of ambitious and motivated people?
  - bkovitz 17y ago
    Really good questions. 1. Grad school was miserable because of time-fragmentation. Four simultaneous projects (classes) => couldn't focus on any of them. 2. I think that by nature, I am not really an entrepreneur. I'm a curious person, a tinkerer, someone who mostly enjoys coming up with a really good theory to explain some facts and open up new lines of thought and research. I've met people with a genuinely entrepreneurial mentality: they can't help but see how to negotiate a better deal, broker solutions to practical problems, pounce on opportunities before the crowd values them correctly, surprise their competitors with something unexpected. I admire those qualities, but that sort of thing wears me out fast. Theorizing and seeding other people with cool ideas, though—I never tire of those.

by bkovitz 17y ago

bkovitz 17y ago

Oops, I forgot the biggest reason: grad school. I want to become a professor so I'm paid to indulge my curiosity, teach, and write interesting books into my old age. I imagine that as a professor, as I age into my 50s and 60s and 70s, I would be an appreciated contributor in a loving community, and I imagine that as a start-up founder, I would be cast aside in my old age the way they do in Ik society. I am now at the age when there's not much time left to go down the professor track and be successful. If I wasn't trying to become a professor, I would do a start-up without hesitation. The above four reasons wouldn't stop me. My first year as a grad student was so miserable, I am now reassessing.

aditya 17y ago
Why was it miserable? and, why do you think that as an entrepreneur you won't still be building businesses well into your 50s 60s and 70s with teams of ambitious and motivated people?
- bkovitz 17y ago
  Really good questions. 1. Grad school was miserable because of time-fragmentation. Four simultaneous projects (classes) => couldn't focus on any of them. 2. I think that by nature, I am not really an entrepreneur. I'm a curious person, a tinkerer, someone who mostly enjoys coming up with a really good theory to explain some facts and open up new lines of thought and research. I've met people with a genuinely entrepreneurial mentality: they can't help but see how to negotiate a better deal, broker solutions to practical problems, pounce on opportunities before the crowd values them correctly, surprise their competitors with something unexpected. I admire those qualities, but that sort of thing wears me out fast. Theorizing and seeding other people with cool ideas, though—I never tire of those.