6 ms·

For me, 10 million dollars would be enough to satisfy all of my personal and family needs: house, vacation money, pay off close friends' debts, tuition, health

For me, 10 million dollars would be enough to satisfy all of my personal and family needs: house, vacation money, pay off close friends' debts, tuition, health insurance, etc. More money just means more good that can be done in the world for my larger human family. Also, it is likely that nothing was going terribly wrong. The exit was only small for the later-round investors, who also made a killing on their investment, though not as extreme as the earliest investors. A company should always have a sell price. Intuit met Mint's.

vijayr 17y ago
pay off close friends' debts I think it would be a better idea to loan them money to pay off their debts. Of course, your loan should be interest free, shouldn't have any strings attached, should give your friends very long time to repay - otherwise there wouldn't be any difference between your loan and the 'other' loans in the first place.
- hnal943 17y ago
  Loaning people money is the best way to turn your friendship in to a business. The borrower is slave to the lender; why would you want that dynamic in your friendship?
  - vijayr 17y ago
    No, not always. It becomes a business when 1) you charge interest 2) you have some terms and conditions or attach some "strings" 3) you require collateral 4) you make your friend sign papers, and you leave "legal" options open When I loan a friend, all I say is "dude, this is just to help you, I know you are going through tough times. No way this is to insult or patronize you. you can return the money when you can, even if it takes you 5-10 years" That is trust and friendship, one friend helping the other, nothing more nothing less and definitely not a business.
    - doki_pen 17y ago
      It's bullshit. Invariably lending money to a friend leads to resentment. You are putting a dollar amount on the friendship. If they don't pay you back, will you still be friends? if yes, then why not just give them the money?
      - yalurker 17y ago
        False dichotomy. You don't have to say "we're not friends if you don't pay me back" but you can still want to be repaid. Who here hasn't loaned a friend a small sum of money? My friends and I are constantly in debts of 20 or 30 dollars to each other. I've had a friend/roommate owe me a month's rent without any problem. At no point were we every "putting a dollar amount on the friendship". It's often a bad idea to mix friends and business/money. That doesn't mean it is always a bad idea.
      - vijayr 17y ago
        Its just like borrowing your friend's car. You use it for a weekend, and return it back, don't you? Does your friend take "deposit money" from you for it? Does he charge you "rent" for using his car? No. That is the difference between your friend and a rental car company. You are putting a dollar amount on the friendship Nope, I am not. All I am saying is, if I am in a better position than my friend, and he needs help, I am willing to help. He has to borrow money from someone anyway, why not from me, interest free and trouble free? He can sleep peacefully at night, knowing that I wont foreclose his house or something, if he is going to be late in repaying, or even if he is not able to repay at all. If they don't pay you back, will you still be friends? Yes. We are talking of FU money here, and also assuming that I am in a situation like Mint founders. I am in a position to loan money, without affecting my own lifestyle. Obviously, if I am myself living paycheck to paycheck, this won't apply. why not just give them the money? because, I don't want to patronize them, and don't want to insult them. Frankly, I don't understand why you call this bullshit. Loaning money to friends happens all the time. I've done it many times, and have always been repaid.
- vl 17y ago
  Ironically, giving interest-free loan can produce complicated tax implications. It seems that loaner potentially may be taxed on the difference between 'reasonable marker interest rate' and (in this case) 0%. Receiver may potentially become liable for gift taxes.
jacquesm 17y ago
> pay off close friends' debts Honorable, but basically flawed. Your relationship with your friends will change because of something like that, it is very very nice of you to want to share the wealth, but someone that has a sense of honour themselves will either have to refuse your offer or they will accept and it will hurt their sense about themselves. Should you ever find such wealth be very careful how you approach your friends with such plans. If someone in my circle of friends would make me an offer like that I'd see that as an intrusion, even if it was meant well. Just that you got into some money does not mean that you have the right to 'fix' others lives, they may get a lot more satisfaction out of fixing it themselves. Giving money away is a very tricky thing to do if you do not wish to change your relationship with people. But kudos for looking after others, I really appreciate that that would be one of the first things you'd think of.
- PonyGumbo 17y ago
  Had he suggested that he'd pay off his mother's mortgage, I doubt there would be many objections. For some of us, close friends are closer than family. If I came into a sum of money that enabled me to help the people closest to me, I'd do it in a heartbeat - and I'm quite certain that my friends would, too. I also can't imagine taking a heartfelt offer from a close friend as an "intrusion," but then I'm sure it depends on the relationship and the personalities involved.
  - pavel_lishin 17y ago
    People are funny. If a friend gave me a large sum of money, I'd always feel indebted to them, and probably vice versa. I'd like to think that this wouldn't change our relationship, but you never know.
  - rythie 17y ago
    I can see paying off my your parent's mortgage [if I could], they did after all give me free board and food for ~18 years etc. I do after all owe them. I'm not sure about friends and other family, they'd probably see it as an insult - I'd probably offer to help them get training/education either as a loan or a gift [again if I could].

vijayr 17y ago

pay off close friends' debts I think it would be a better idea to loan them money to pay off their debts. Of course, your loan should be interest free, shouldn't have any strings attached, should give your friends very long time to repay - otherwise there wouldn't be any difference between your loan and the 'other' loans in the first place.

hnal943 17y ago
Loaning people money is the best way to turn your friendship in to a business. The borrower is slave to the lender; why would you want that dynamic in your friendship?
- vijayr 17y ago
  No, not always. It becomes a business when 1) you charge interest 2) you have some terms and conditions or attach some "strings" 3) you require collateral 4) you make your friend sign papers, and you leave "legal" options open When I loan a friend, all I say is "dude, this is just to help you, I know you are going through tough times. No way this is to insult or patronize you. you can return the money when you can, even if it takes you 5-10 years" That is trust and friendship, one friend helping the other, nothing more nothing less and definitely not a business.
  - doki_pen 17y ago
    It's bullshit. Invariably lending money to a friend leads to resentment. You are putting a dollar amount on the friendship. If they don't pay you back, will you still be friends? if yes, then why not just give them the money?
    - yalurker 17y ago
      False dichotomy. You don't have to say "we're not friends if you don't pay me back" but you can still want to be repaid. Who here hasn't loaned a friend a small sum of money? My friends and I are constantly in debts of 20 or 30 dollars to each other. I've had a friend/roommate owe me a month's rent without any problem. At no point were we every "putting a dollar amount on the friendship". It's often a bad idea to mix friends and business/money. That doesn't mean it is always a bad idea.
    - vijayr 17y ago
      Its just like borrowing your friend's car. You use it for a weekend, and return it back, don't you? Does your friend take "deposit money" from you for it? Does he charge you "rent" for using his car? No. That is the difference between your friend and a rental car company. You are putting a dollar amount on the friendship Nope, I am not. All I am saying is, if I am in a better position than my friend, and he needs help, I am willing to help. He has to borrow money from someone anyway, why not from me, interest free and trouble free? He can sleep peacefully at night, knowing that I wont foreclose his house or something, if he is going to be late in repaying, or even if he is not able to repay at all. If they don't pay you back, will you still be friends? Yes. We are talking of FU money here, and also assuming that I am in a situation like Mint founders. I am in a position to loan money, without affecting my own lifestyle. Obviously, if I am myself living paycheck to paycheck, this won't apply. why not just give them the money? because, I don't want to patronize them, and don't want to insult them. Frankly, I don't understand why you call this bullshit. Loaning money to friends happens all the time. I've done it many times, and have always been repaid.
vl 17y ago
Ironically, giving interest-free loan can produce complicated tax implications. It seems that loaner potentially may be taxed on the difference between 'reasonable marker interest rate' and (in this case) 0%. Receiver may potentially become liable for gift taxes.

jacquesm 17y ago

> pay off close friends' debts Honorable, but basically flawed. Your relationship with your friends will change because of something like that, it is very very nice of you to want to share the wealth, but someone that has a sense of honour themselves will either have to refuse your offer or they will accept and it will hurt their sense about themselves. Should you ever find such wealth be very careful how you approach your friends with such plans. If someone in my circle of friends would make me an offer like that I'd see that as an intrusion, even if it was meant well. Just that you got into some money does not mean that you have the right to 'fix' others lives, they may get a lot more satisfaction out of fixing it themselves. Giving money away is a very tricky thing to do if you do not wish to change your relationship with people. But kudos for looking after others, I really appreciate that that would be one of the first things you'd think of.

PonyGumbo 17y ago
Had he suggested that he'd pay off his mother's mortgage, I doubt there would be many objections. For some of us, close friends are closer than family. If I came into a sum of money that enabled me to help the people closest to me, I'd do it in a heartbeat - and I'm quite certain that my friends would, too. I also can't imagine taking a heartfelt offer from a close friend as an "intrusion," but then I'm sure it depends on the relationship and the personalities involved.
- pavel_lishin 17y ago
  People are funny. If a friend gave me a large sum of money, I'd always feel indebted to them, and probably vice versa. I'd like to think that this wouldn't change our relationship, but you never know.
- rythie 17y ago
  I can see paying off my your parent's mortgage [if I could], they did after all give me free board and food for ~18 years etc. I do after all owe them. I'm not sure about friends and other family, they'd probably see it as an insult - I'd probably offer to help them get training/education either as a loan or a gift [again if I could].