"Secondly, the 'vocal' people are the people trying to make you start a big business."
As a guy who respects both paths (and has gone down both), I'd say I see more people advocating against a swing-for-the-fences path ("VCs will eat your babies, take control, force you to take insane risks, make you work insane hours, and you'll die penniless 99.9999% of the time!") than advocating against a happy-lifestyle business path. In fact, Alex's post is the first time I've ever read anyone actually saying, "If you're smart, DON'T do a small business that makes you happy! Aim higher."
The lifestyle zealots, to me, seem a lot more vocal/angry. The go-big zealots honestly just seem puzzled... If you're going to quit your job and start something, why wouldn't you attack a huge opportunity? They just don't get that some folks have different motivations than money/fame/world-changing.
The idea that EITHER group tells you what you should do with your life is disgusting to me. For what it's worth, raising venture capital and working VCs made me perfectly happy. My first bootstrapped business actually made me pretty miserable. For the right startup, I'd raise money again in a heartbeat. Whether you raise money or aim big depends entirely on what you care about and how much cash you need to pull it off.
We are more vocal because we are in a tiny minority, constantly trashed (e.g. "lifestyle business"), and most of the people who are "living the life" are too busy running their own businesses to blog. Or they don't see it as a movement, like I do.
Yeah, it's the "constantly trashed" that I never see. "Lifestyle business" isn't an insult-- it's a perfectly valid label for a lot of businesses (those that prioritize lifestyle over growth). Bootstrapped is another good label-- for those that don't necessary avoid growth, but don't (or can't) raise or borrow money.
And other that Alex's post, I can't recall anyone taking the time to write a post trashing lifestyle businesses or bootstrapping or whatever you want to call it (I guess the latter could imply more ambition while the former might imply maximizing reward for as little effort as you can get away with).
Granted, we celebrate "go-big-or-go-home" folks (in the news and on HN)... That's nothing new-- humans have celebrated daring forever. It sells newspapers and generates pageviews.
On the other hand, I feel like I can rattle off a long list of "VCs will eat your baby" bloggers. Yours, 37s, the LessEverything guys, the folks at Jackson Fish Market, etc. I love all of your blogs and all of your products-- but I just don't get the rage (though I think you were perfectly justified in blowing up at Alex, btw).
It's a Blue Honda problem -- or whatever the name was. You buy a new car, suddenly you see them everywhere. A type of selection bias. You probably don't see it because you aren't tuned into it.
As a guy who respects both paths (and has gone down both), I'd say I see more people advocating against a swing-for-the-fences path ("VCs will eat your babies, take control, force you to take insane risks, make you work insane hours, and you'll die penniless 99.9999% of the time!") than advocating against a happy-lifestyle business path. In fact, Alex's post is the first time I've ever read anyone actually saying, "If you're smart, DON'T do a small business that makes you happy! Aim higher."
The lifestyle zealots, to me, seem a lot more vocal/angry. The go-big zealots honestly just seem puzzled... If you're going to quit your job and start something, why wouldn't you attack a huge opportunity? They just don't get that some folks have different motivations than money/fame/world-changing.
The idea that EITHER group tells you what you should do with your life is disgusting to me. For what it's worth, raising venture capital and working VCs made me perfectly happy. My first bootstrapped business actually made me pretty miserable. For the right startup, I'd raise money again in a heartbeat. Whether you raise money or aim big depends entirely on what you care about and how much cash you need to pull it off.