4 ms·

"Once you reach this point everything else is about being able to make your own choices, not being backed into a corner because you have bills to pay." You're

"Once you reach this point everything else is about being able to make your own choices, not being backed into a corner because you have bills to pay." You're an individual. You can already make your own choices. My big problem with this whole "FU" money concept, and your thought I quoted above, is that people seem to think they need to get this opportunity from someone else. That someone else gives them the opportunity to do what they want to do. That someone else is the one who gives them the money. If you continue to think like this then that's exactly what'll happen - you'll be unable to make your own choices because you are waiting for someone else to make them for you. I do hope to post more on this shortly.

pyre 17y ago
If you're trying to say -- as a sub-post said -- "don't wait for a rich man to come and give you permission to pursue your dreams," then you're not looking at the whole picture. 'FU money' doesn't mean that you go down to 'Mojito Island' and sip drinks on the beach for the rest of your life. 'FU money' is money that says, "I'm set for life." After you have 'FU money' you don't have to worry about making tough choices to try and make ends meet. At that point, you can create another start-up or whatever it is you want to do, without needing to worry about becoming homeless at some point (or going into major debt). I posit this example: I like programming and working on web apps/etc. So I create a startup to use my passion to develop a cool and marketable idea. The idea takes off and someone wants my to cash out to the tune of $40M. Yes, I won't have my startup (i.e. baby) anymore, but I will also have the freedom to create another startup, or just to do development on whatever I like (without regard to whether or not it is marketable). In this case, I've given up my startup for the chance to free myself from having to say things like, "I better stop working on this cool idea because I have a family to feed." Or, "I really want to work on this idea, but my mom has cancer, needs constant care, and we can't afford to have someone looking after her."
axod 17y ago
>> "My big problem with this whole "FU" money concept, and your thought I quoted above, is that people seem to think they need to get this opportunity from someone else." What???? It's exactly the same as selling your product to customers. Only difference is there's one sale, and it's a big one.
calambrac 17y ago
My big problem with this whole "FU" money concept, and your thought I quoted above, is that people seem to think they need to get this opportunity from someone else. That makes no sense. Of course you need to get that opportunity from someone else: your customers, your family, your investors, or your buyer, whoever is handing you the money you need to meet your needs. At the end of the day, if someone else hasn't given it to you, you aren't getting it.
- iamwil 17y ago
  While in the literal sense, you get opportunity from others, I think people get stuck in a mode of thinking that they need to get lots of money to pursue some vision or objective that they want. It becomes a mental barrier where they say, "I can't do this because I don't have a million dollars" Where in truth, there's more than one way to skin a cat. Just because something takes a million dollars to do, doesn't mean that it has to be your million dollars. I think Jason Fried's just saying "Be relentlessly resourceful" in a different way. You don't need anything like lack of personal money to stop you from doing what you want to do. It's odd to me how many on HN readily accepted pg's "Be relentlessly resourceful" idea, but when it comes to the idea in a different form, how many rally against it. "Be relentlessly resourceful" applies to things beyond startups, from paying your kids' tuitions, getting to drink mojitos on an island, and pursuing your economically unviable project.
  - calambrac 17y ago
    That's not what they're saying, though, at least not since they started posting these essays after the Mint sale. They've been talking as though taking a giant payday is somehow morally wrong, that it's backing down and giving up some kind of good fight. That's a much stronger stance than "Don't wait for a rich man to come along and give you permission to chase your dreams, just chase them anyways." - it's actually editorializing on what the content of those dreams should be.
- aditya 17y ago
  Unless you're the government and can just print as much as you want. :-) I think the 37signal's viewpoint is interesting, and the point they're trying to make is this, you can chose to do interesting stuff that will make you money while you work for the man. It is _not_ easy. You have to come back from a long day of "meetings, politics, and code" and shut everything out and just create. Sometimes it'll be fun, sometimes it'll be downright boring and impossible seeming, but you own that time, and you can choose how to spend it. If you spend it watching TV then that is your choice. But, there are plenty of ways to make people pay you for stuff that you want to do if you just take the opportunity. (Sorry if that sounds too guru-ish or self-helpy but thinking that way has made it much easier to rationalize working evenings and weekends for me.)
run4yourlives 17y ago
You can already make your own choices. Except of course, that the amount of money in your bank account directly influences the effects of those choices. The more you have, the more "free" your choice is. It's one thing to recognize that you are a man that can make your own choices, it's another to tell your kid he can't eat today because you didn't like what your boss was telling you to do.
- codyrobbins 17y ago
  Yeah, but I think his point is that the amount of money in your bank account is a direct result of your own choices and actions. And the fact that you have a kid is a result of your choices. If you have a kid to feed and that’s constraining your ability to focus on a startup as you would like, maybe you shouldn’t have chosen to have a kid.
  - run4yourlives 17y ago
    All fair points. That being said though, your future choices are sometimes dictated by the results of your past choices. (i.e., the kid is always going to be more important that your startup dreams if you are a responsible adult)

pyre 17y ago

If you're trying to say -- as a sub-post said -- "don't wait for a rich man to come and give you permission to pursue your dreams," then you're not looking at the whole picture. 'FU money' doesn't mean that you go down to 'Mojito Island' and sip drinks on the beach for the rest of your life. 'FU money' is money that says, "I'm set for life." After you have 'FU money' you don't have to worry about making tough choices to try and make ends meet. At that point, you can create another start-up or whatever it is you want to do, without needing to worry about becoming homeless at some point (or going into major debt). I posit this example: I like programming and working on web apps/etc. So I create a startup to use my passion to develop a cool and marketable idea. The idea takes off and someone wants my to cash out to the tune of $40M. Yes, I won't have my startup (i.e. baby) anymore, but I will also have the freedom to create another startup, or just to do development on whatever I like (without regard to whether or not it is marketable). In this case, I've given up my startup for the chance to free myself from having to say things like, "I better stop working on this cool idea because I have a family to feed." Or, "I really want to work on this idea, but my mom has cancer, needs constant care, and we can't afford to have someone looking after her."

axod 17y ago

>> "My big problem with this whole "FU" money concept, and your thought I quoted above, is that people seem to think they need to get this opportunity from someone else." What???? It's exactly the same as selling your product to customers. Only difference is there's one sale, and it's a big one.

calambrac 17y ago

My big problem with this whole "FU" money concept, and your thought I quoted above, is that people seem to think they need to get this opportunity from someone else. That makes no sense. Of course you need to get that opportunity from someone else: your customers, your family, your investors, or your buyer, whoever is handing you the money you need to meet your needs. At the end of the day, if someone else hasn't given it to you, you aren't getting it.

iamwil 17y ago
While in the literal sense, you get opportunity from others, I think people get stuck in a mode of thinking that they need to get lots of money to pursue some vision or objective that they want. It becomes a mental barrier where they say, "I can't do this because I don't have a million dollars" Where in truth, there's more than one way to skin a cat. Just because something takes a million dollars to do, doesn't mean that it has to be your million dollars. I think Jason Fried's just saying "Be relentlessly resourceful" in a different way. You don't need anything like lack of personal money to stop you from doing what you want to do. It's odd to me how many on HN readily accepted pg's "Be relentlessly resourceful" idea, but when it comes to the idea in a different form, how many rally against it. "Be relentlessly resourceful" applies to things beyond startups, from paying your kids' tuitions, getting to drink mojitos on an island, and pursuing your economically unviable project.
- calambrac 17y ago
  That's not what they're saying, though, at least not since they started posting these essays after the Mint sale. They've been talking as though taking a giant payday is somehow morally wrong, that it's backing down and giving up some kind of good fight. That's a much stronger stance than "Don't wait for a rich man to come along and give you permission to chase your dreams, just chase them anyways." - it's actually editorializing on what the content of those dreams should be.
aditya 17y ago
Unless you're the government and can just print as much as you want. :-) I think the 37signal's viewpoint is interesting, and the point they're trying to make is this, you can chose to do interesting stuff that will make you money while you work for the man. It is _not_ easy. You have to come back from a long day of "meetings, politics, and code" and shut everything out and just create. Sometimes it'll be fun, sometimes it'll be downright boring and impossible seeming, but you own that time, and you can choose how to spend it. If you spend it watching TV then that is your choice. But, there are plenty of ways to make people pay you for stuff that you want to do if you just take the opportunity. (Sorry if that sounds too guru-ish or self-helpy but thinking that way has made it much easier to rationalize working evenings and weekends for me.)

run4yourlives 17y ago

You can already make your own choices. Except of course, that the amount of money in your bank account directly influences the effects of those choices. The more you have, the more "free" your choice is. It's one thing to recognize that you are a man that can make your own choices, it's another to tell your kid he can't eat today because you didn't like what your boss was telling you to do.

codyrobbins 17y ago
Yeah, but I think his point is that the amount of money in your bank account is a direct result of your own choices and actions. And the fact that you have a kid is a result of your choices. If you have a kid to feed and that’s constraining your ability to focus on a startup as you would like, maybe you shouldn’t have chosen to have a kid.
- run4yourlives 17y ago
  All fair points. That being said though, your future choices are sometimes dictated by the results of your past choices. (i.e., the kid is always going to be more important that your startup dreams if you are a responsible adult)