A bunch of quotes in this article stuck out at me, but this one in particular:
"How can you possibly have the emotional investment necessary to see things through to profitability, through highs, lows and everything in between, if you haven't fought tooth and nail to get there?"
Is this really true, when you take into account startups that fight tooth and nail and still don't succeed? Is it better to start with the confidence, money, and connections of other people and then ride the wave of their support, or is it better to start with nothing other than your own belief in yourself and then fight tooth and nail until you get the confidence, money, and connections of others?
My boss is trying to convince me that I should at least have an offer of cash in hand from an angel investor before leaving my day job, even if I choose not to take it. While this is quite self-serving (he doesn't want me to leave), it also sounds pretty rational. I mean, right now I have fairly little validation other than my cofounder's confidence, my desire to use our own product, and my belief that I have the technical chops to get to the point where we can.
The article suggests that it's probably better not to have that external validation, and definitely better not to take the money. Is that character-building, or foolhardy?
> The article suggests that it's probably better not to have that external validation, and definitely better not to take the money. Is that character-building, or foolhardy?
The article is wrong. Start-up failure is rarely due to lack of emotional investment, it is almost always due to lack of capital. It is better to start with the confidence, money, and connections of other people. The key is to educate yourself about startup finance issues so you don't screw yourself. Luckily there are sites like news.ycombinator and venture hacks which give you a pretty good idea of good and bad funding models.
The question is a strange one. If you need to have fought tooth and nail to get emotional investment, how do you get the emotional investment to fight tooth and nail in first place? Or put another way: by that line of reasoning, won't you have the required emotional investment after the first couple "highs and lows"?
It's true that we're prone to attach emotionally to stuff that we've suffered to get, and you may use that to your advantage. Most of the time, though, you'll have to fight against that instinct. Otherwise, you'll be unable to see bad early ideas for what they are, and you'll resist rolling them back even when it's the rational thing to do. All because you have invested too much of your time, effort, and ego in them.
Did the author's motivation on Open Source Food come from having fought tooth and nail to start it up? He took a week to build OSF. One week is nothing to fight tooth and nail over. His motivation comes from building something he'd want to use.
Now, he never got told what to build in first place, so he could have made Open Source Food instead of 8apps and Pikki, and have the emotional investment and the money.
I don't think his initial setup was a good one, but the reason is not that their beginnings were too easy.
I think you know what you want to do. You've mentioned your boss in a few posts and it sounds like he's a selfish prick, who doesn't genuinely care about what's good for you. Maybe you should stop talking to him...
If you're successful you will say "Wow. I almost listened to him" like you dodged a bullet. if you fail, you'll have a much better chance of success next attempt.
"You've mentioned your boss in a few posts and it sounds like he's a selfish prick, who doesn't genuinely care about what's good for you."
I actually don't think that - I think he's generally a decent guy who cares about his employees, but cares about his company more. He's even said something to that effect: part of his advice to me was to make sure I can setup a corporate structure that'll survive the departure of founders or key employees, because things do go wrong, and the company is his dream. Perhaps there's a lesson in there: don't let your identity get so wrapped-up in your company that it becomes only your company, one where other people don't feel like they have a chance to make a difference in it. Come to think of it, I've heard similar things from other (failed) entrepreneurs.
You're right though: I guess I just need to go with my gut. Eh, I'm young, I've got plenty of time for failures before success.
"How can you possibly have the emotional investment necessary to see things through to profitability, through highs, lows and everything in between, if you haven't fought tooth and nail to get there?"
Is this really true, when you take into account startups that fight tooth and nail and still don't succeed? Is it better to start with the confidence, money, and connections of other people and then ride the wave of their support, or is it better to start with nothing other than your own belief in yourself and then fight tooth and nail until you get the confidence, money, and connections of others?
My boss is trying to convince me that I should at least have an offer of cash in hand from an angel investor before leaving my day job, even if I choose not to take it. While this is quite self-serving (he doesn't want me to leave), it also sounds pretty rational. I mean, right now I have fairly little validation other than my cofounder's confidence, my desire to use our own product, and my belief that I have the technical chops to get to the point where we can.
The article suggests that it's probably better not to have that external validation, and definitely better not to take the money. Is that character-building, or foolhardy?