4 ms·

I ran out of gas and left my cofounder; divorced; worked a succession of small startup jobs, some better than others; ended up back at Apple. I have ideas that

by jfb 12y ago

I ran out of gas and left my cofounder; divorced; worked a succession of small startup jobs, some better than others; ended up back at Apple. I have ideas that I cannot express at Apple and so may end up taking another whack at the piñata, now that a) I am not in the throes of a crumbling personal relationship and b) I've gone round the carousel once, so I have some idea how the world works. I regret the way I left my startup, but at the time I was under an abominable amount of pressure outside work, and I just sort of shot out sideways, like a watermelon seed being squeezed between thumb and forefinger. I do not regret leaving Apple to do the startup, not in the least.

rdl 12y ago
I don't think it is possible to do with more than two of work stress; personal life stress; physical safety or health stress simultaneously. One at a time is ideal, but most startups have work stress and physical stress (due to time) simultaneously. You don't have to be single and childless to do a startup successfully, but if you have family life or interpersonal relationships, they have to be good ones, or at least low stress ones.
- 001sky 12y ago
  This is a very good framing.
- tluyben2 12y ago
  > One at a time is ideal When people say stress they usually mean distress and zero of that is ideal. 'One at a time' for a period of time can be enough to topple you and the life you have for a long time or forever.
rayleoni 12y ago
Can you give a few quick takeaways from your experiences concerning 'how the world works?'
- jfb 12y ago
  The raise and the kabuki around it is at the very best a necessary evil -- bring your own capital on board if at all possible. Having raised, you are under no obligation to do what your angels want you to do -- at the size we were, we spent a totally disproportionate amount of time sucking up to the Angels rather than just getting on with it. Don't pivot to something that nobody wants to work on, simply because the investors want you to. If you're in business with a friend, make sure you both have comparable skin in the game -- I could float off because I hadn't relocated my family from a different continent. And I lost a friend because of the way I behaved -- much, much worse than losing investor cash. Don't be pie in the sky flakes about which color your M5 is going to be.

by jfb 12y ago

rdl 12y ago

I don't think it is possible to do with more than two of work stress; personal life stress; physical safety or health stress simultaneously. One at a time is ideal, but most startups have work stress and physical stress (due to time) simultaneously. You don't have to be single and childless to do a startup successfully, but if you have family life or interpersonal relationships, they have to be good ones, or at least low stress ones.

001sky 12y ago
This is a very good framing.
tluyben2 12y ago
> One at a time is ideal When people say stress they usually mean distress and zero of that is ideal. 'One at a time' for a period of time can be enough to topple you and the life you have for a long time or forever.

rayleoni 12y ago

Can you give a few quick takeaways from your experiences concerning 'how the world works?'

jfb 12y ago
The raise and the kabuki around it is at the very best a necessary evil -- bring your own capital on board if at all possible. Having raised, you are under no obligation to do what your angels want you to do -- at the size we were, we spent a totally disproportionate amount of time sucking up to the Angels rather than just getting on with it. Don't pivot to something that nobody wants to work on, simply because the investors want you to. If you're in business with a friend, make sure you both have comparable skin in the game -- I could float off because I hadn't relocated my family from a different continent. And I lost a friend because of the way I behaved -- much, much worse than losing investor cash. Don't be pie in the sky flakes about which color your M5 is going to be.