What is it with every post on HN having an almost 50/50 split along the cynical line.
Of course 9/10 founders are going to fail, some people have more privilege to take risks, and people with families have to take measured risks.
What's the point? Should people not try, keep crying about it, keep complaining that it's easy to say this when you have privilege, keep looking at the negative side? We all recognize life's a lottery and the odds are stacked in favor of some and not others. So?
I am not cynical, I am a 3 time founder and looking to start another company. I am the opposite of cynical. It is simply cautionary advice. I think we have a tendency to glorify startup life and I think people should be grounded in reality when making massive decisions like this.
There is also something called dealing with the consequences. People figure it out. It's not a joy ride, but it's not the end of the world.
At least most people in tech have the skills to fall back on a career if their company fails. Needless caution advice coated in a cynical tone just creates negativity around the whole topic.
Can't we just celebrate that the founder of Webflow managed to rescue his company from the brink of fail (even if it was dumb luck - it wasn't) and has built a life for himself? This is the stuff that inspires human beings and makes everyone feel like they could do it too. Clouding it in _oh but what if you're in the other 9 out of 10 camp_ is just you know .. pointless.
It's fine to say, hey make yourself comfortable first, play small bets and free yourself from complete ruin before you go bet the farm, but, yolo so you do you. But no need to rain on the parade of the person who has crossed over to the other side.
so basically you're saying it's ok to create positivity around a topic on a regular basis, but not negativity, even though the negative consequences happen more often than not?
And what do you aim to accomplish with that negativity? We all know the risks in everything.
By educating me about the risk, you haven't accomplished anything. If you have ideas for how I can play the odds better and improve my success rate, I'm all ears. It's better to say look to each side of the road when you cross vs you're gonna die if you're not careful.
Research shows that people view negative evaluations as being more intelligent. It’s extraordinarily difficult to be intelligently positive, and very easy to seem intelligently negative.
The point is that people should avoid that path until universal healthcare is a thing, and we need to showcase more stories of life destroyed not feel-good stories that give you hope that the system is “fine”.
Either move to a country with universal healthcare or spend the money for a good private healthcare. Don’t half ass that, you’ll end up homeless for life otherwise.
Of course 9/10 founders are going to fail, some people have more privilege to take risks, and people with families have to take measured risks.
What's the point? Should people not try, keep crying about it, keep complaining that it's easy to say this when you have privilege, keep looking at the negative side? We all recognize life's a lottery and the odds are stacked in favor of some and not others. So?