"If you start a company, only do so if you have an idea you’re in love with. If you’re hanging out with your friends trying to come up with an idea, I don’t th

"If you start a company, only do so if you have an idea you’re in love with. If you’re hanging out with your friends trying to come up with an idea, I don’t think you should start that company (although there are many who disagree with me)." I'm one of those that disagree with this. Entrepreneurship is a long-term "profession" all of its own. If you plan to be an entrepreneur, you need to treat it as such. You need to work in it by e.g. building companies, you need to fail it in a few times before you succeed, etc. Most importantly, unlike most Software Developers, you need to realize the goal of an entrepreneur is to make money. You shouldn't be starting a company because you have a great idea, or because you feel like starting a company, but rather, because you want to make money and have identified that the path to make it is to be an entrepreneur and start this particular company. This affects both which companies you do start and which you don't. This is not to say I necessarily think starting a company at 19 is the right thing to do. My advice to ambitious 19 year olds who want to be entrepreneurs would be to find a job as a personal assistant to a CEO of a small company in the field they want to work in, and learn the ropes from her. NOTE: I give a very "entrepreneur==trying to get rich" perspective here, which I believe is sorely lacking in most young Software Developers. Some people start startups for other reasons entirely, which is of course great and absolutely your choice.