Almost all of the people I see doing startups are young college, or just out of college, kids with nothing to lose or people who are already extremely rich.<p>I work to live, I don't live to work. I flat out refuse to work more than 9-5 and even that is too much. These startups expect you to give them your entire lives, 24 hours a day, and weekends, and eat nothing but ramen.<p>I don't know about you guys, but I have rent to pay. I need to be paid with real cash, guaranteed. I also need to spend as little time at work as possible in order to earn that cash. I have more important things to do, like sleeping, eating, and spending time with friends and family.<p>I can almost understand the punk kids who do startups, since they have nothing to lose. I absolutely can not understand the VCs or the rich people who do startups. These people have millions of dollars already. As nice and cool as they may be when you meet them, they are fundamentally in a business of greed. They can already retire to a private tropical island forever, but instead they are going to spend their money making some trivial social web app to squeeze out a few advertising dollars.<p>That's perhaps the real reason I don't do a startup. Nobody wants to give me money because they know that as soon as the check clears I'll be out the door never to be seen again.
Because I want to make a difference in the world and I found building a startup doesn't allow you to do that in most cases.<p>I mean, I’ll always be grateful for my startup experience but I’m man enough to admit it was pointless. We built a product, spent our whole time trying to convince people our product was worthwhile, eventually convinced someone who bought the product and then watched the product be squandered.<p>So the founders got a decent amount of money. The first employees (aka Me) got a smaller but still decent amount of money. And we all went on our merry way.<p>But I didn’t accomplish a damn thing during that time. My work was flushed down the toilet and half my time was spent trying to get media coverage. I accomplish more in one day of my current job than I did in the whole year I was in the valley because in my current job people use the fruits of my labor instantly.<p>Again, I’m not complaining. I like what I do now and I couldn’t do it if not for the money I received then. I’ll always be grateful. But as someone who wants to make a difference in the world I don’t see a startup as the way to do that anymore.
I've done the startup thing a few times, and I realized that I don't like the business aspect of it all that much. I like development/architecture/brainstorming/etc... I don't like asking for money, laying people off, being constantly stressed out about this or that issue that I have little to no control over. I really don't have fond memories of cash flow crunches and bridge loans.<p>If I did end up being a founder again, I'd definitely be a technical one (the distinction didn't exist so much in the past). If it has to do with something that isn't code/design/architecture/etc... it's the other founders issue. I could go for that.<p>But setting the right expectations as an employee isn't a bad thing either. My funnest experience in the work world was actually working for a big company on a product I enjoyed. I loved the work and really focused solely on the product. I really haven't had a chance to do that since.
Because I'm happy where I am working and that goes beyond 'security and predictability'.<p>Also remember a lot of folks are more interested in the Hacker side of things, not just startup stuff.
I have a nonprofit I'm passionate about, so I work my 9-5 to get money and pour my energy into my passion. Could I get rich if I redirected that passion to something profitable? Possibly. But to what end?
Doing a startup is really hard. Emotionally grueling and demanding. You have to fight for every 100 users you get. At a bigger company you get 100k's or millions of users "automatically". Right now, I'm more interested in building world changing products that are used by millions, and I feel like my chances for success are higher at a big company since lots of really cool startups die because they couldn't get enough awareness/marketing to get adoption.<p>"At a startup all your challenges are external. At a big company, all your challenges are internal".<p>Fwiw, I started a startup that was acquired so I'm also incented to stick around so that probably biases my thinking a bit too.
I'm not on YC for the startup talk, though I find it interesting now and then. I come here because it has links to thoughtful tech articles; I started reading YC when people from Digg started to flood into Reddit.<p>OTOH maybe I <i>am</i> involved in doing a startup - just not the kind of startup YC talks about all the time. I'm an artist who spends most of her time hanging around her studio (or occasionally out in a coffee shop with the laptop) drawing weird sci-fi comics and trying to build a large enough audience to make a sustainable living off of my art. Somewhere way down the line there's the big brass ring of "movie deals" but I ain't holding my breath.
After serving as founder, co-founder, or early equity hire for a few startups over the years, I now work a straight job at a stable, decades-old company, doing mainly programming and IT stuff.<p>There are nice things about it. It's great to be able to completely push work out of my mind. Barring extreme emergency, I refuse to even think about work when off the clock--that's what work hours are for.<p>In the shower, I think about how the hot water feels on my neck. In my spare time, I make things that I am utterly not good at making, and never will be (e.g., homemade furniture). I don't mentally evaluate every dinner out with my wife against what I <i>could</i> be doing with that time.<p>That certainly isn't how it was when I was running my own startups.<p>A relatively generous and reliable salary is also a boon, especially as I plow through my fourth decade of life and start doing things like buying a house and producing offspring.<p>Having said all that, I'm almost certain to try another startup (or two? three?) in the future.<p>But it is refreshing to take a decade (or two? three?) and focus on other things.
Other.<p>I don't know what this would fall under, but I have a full-time job and also sell things that I write/build on the side. It's not a startup. I sell tutorials and apps and make pretty good money (I could quit my job, but my job is a lot of fun) from it. It's odd that this build-products-and-make-money-on-the-side avenue is skipped over in these and other discussions.
I actually tried last year, opened a company and moonlighted for a few weeks. In the end I simply couldn't muster enough energy and money (I'm married and have a 2-year old daughter, with a baby boy coming up in a few weeks), so effort waned and I never launched. Then I found a more interesting and demanding job, and simply closed everything down. I still have a few domains left (xpenses.mobi and .net among others, if anyone is interested).<p>TL,DR: startup + other job + family = didn't work for me.
"Other" though I think I just completed laying the foundation so that I can start.<p>So far I've identified a niche with a real pain point... people in my wife's industry have to perform a (unregulated) task each month. This takes them between 4hours and 2 full days to complete. There's existing competition and I think I could do way better.<p>Today I got signoff from my day job that they will not steal this project from me sometime in the future.<p>So... foundation laid.<p>I have a good, basic, understanding of the problem domain and have a domain expert (hi honey!) to guide my efforts.<p>Now it's a matter of building the first prototype and watch her try to use it.<p>Will submit a ShowHN once I have a usable tool and validated the business model.<p>Wish me luck!
I expected the majority of people to say they lack a co-founder, not an idea. Ideas are pretty easy to come by from my experience. Finding someone who compliments your skill set, is ready to go "all in" with you, and you actually click with is a much more difficult task.<p>For anyone who is looking for an idea, is a hacker, and lives in SF - I have an idea for a startup and am looking for a cofounder. Email me (in my profile) for more information. I am looking for someone who is interested in virtual goods/currency and the free-to-play gaming model.
In the words of Mark Suster 'Is it time for you to earn or is it time for you to learn?'<p>At the moment, I'm 24 years old (I hated typing the 24 I was 23 only yesterday). I'm in a fortunate but also unfortunate position. I've got a freehold house (mortgage free) but I've got a ton of expenses from my family oh and an ill parent to look after. I've paid down the mortgage on this house completely and I pay for every single thing in this house and my own living expenses.<p>I've worked in two very very hot start-ups in v.sexy sectors. You've probably heard of both. Unfortunately, I just left college and the positions aren't exactly lucrative but the opportunities to learn are formidable. So for me 'life's ability' to try isn't available due to financial constraints.<p>I've two options either a) start my own thing or b) join someone else's start-up at the founder or first 2-3 senior hire positions.<p>At present I'd prefer to do my own thing and being in a full time job is needed. Real estate is an awful investment esp if it is your ONLY investment like it is for most people. I'd much prefer to be in a position i was in 4 years ago with a solid portfolio of liquid investments.<p>However, I realise a business is a brilliant investment, probably the best especially if its cash generative.<p>My long term goal actually is venture capital so either way I need solid operating experience to break in.<p>So, thats really whats holding me back but fortunately, I've got time on my side :)
I have a family and kids and that takes up so much time and energy that that extra bit of time and energy that a startup takes over a challenging day job just isn't there.
I have all my ideas over the years documents. Somewhere just over 30 right now, 3-5 good ones a year, and at least 8 that another company took to market within a year or two of my conceptualization.)<p>I just lack of a technical co-founder. I'm too busy drafting up executive summaries, figuring out monetization strategies, making contacts, researching multiple methods of capital acquisition, and marking up preliminary prototype web interfaces to sit down and learn ruby :(<p>I even have a background in Digital Media & IT, server & database setup, and network administration, as well as working knowledge of calculus, physics, simple data structures & programming fundamentals, and basic digital / analog circuits. On top of that I had a minor (almost second major) in business, with a focus on entrepreneurship, finance, and venture capital.<p>And despite all that I'm still a super social person :)
I've come to the conclusion that I just really need to learn ruby myself, because a technical partner in the southeast is difficult to come by.<p>I actually recently considered publishing all my ideas in an attempt to attract co-founders.
I don't feel that I know enough yet.<p>I've seen too many friends run around in circles jumping from project to project, failure to failure. 37signals likes to cite a Stanford (?) study that founders who have failed are statistically no more likely to succeed than first time founders. Only successful founders have a statistical leg up when starting a new venture. I don't believe that a large-scale, I'm-gonna-go-out-and-raise project necessarily teaches you anything. It's sort of like the big show - you should have rehearsed beforehand.<p><i>That said</i>, that doesn't mean I'm not learning. I think you can learn a ton from hacks/little projects, like Kyle Bragger's tinyproj. Having users for a product does not a startup make, but I think you can learn a lot from that experience. I'm also working my way through a <i>massive</i> stack of management theory/software development/hacking books that I know I'll never read once I actually start a company.<p>A lot of successful founders I know had significant work histories at startups or otherwise before starting something. I don't have that yet.
I was starting something, when my dad got sick. Visa/money/cofounder is a problem most of us have,but just one an extre hump to get through. After I had to fly back home and take care of things. It was really hard for several months to focus on work, when the top idea on my head was family, and pulling stunts with hospitals/insurers.
I want to make games. I want to get really good at making games. It's not even specifically games - I find the intersection of technology and human behaviour fascinating, and games are merely the most fertile patch. I love working on problems that involve such an amazingly wide variety of aspects. Maybe that's because I love novelty, and learning.<p>Some day, I would quite like to strike out on my own and sustain myself off the games I make. Live the "indie dream". But right now I have a job with a large degree of creative freedom, where I get to practice my craft. I don't have to stress about the financial aspects, I don't have the immediate pressure of "ship-or-starve" and I don't have to worry about the things I make when I'm not working making any money. If they do, fantastic! But if they are only interesting, then I have still won.
I'd really like to create a start-up, and my partner and I have many ideas, but I feel like most start-ups out there today are playing the role of the third-party instead of creating truly revolutionary things. Companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft have the resources and backing to execute any idea that has a chance to change the industry. Compare this to a start-up, where if your imagination extends beyond what the iOS SDK or some web framework provides, then nine times out of ten, you're out of luck. I'm not saying that start-ups are completely incapable of becoming a first-party, but it's been a while since I've personally seen a truly revolutionary idea that can realistically be carried out by such a small group of people with little money.
Opportunity cost. If I'd read pg twenty years ago I like to think I would have more readily, but I expect my peak earning years are right now (I'm 40 and paid somewhat over market and regularly reminded how glad they are that I've stayed on) and I'm finally starting to save after squandering a much lower salary for far too long. My savings at this point do amount to a few years' runway, but that means I'd be gambling with my nascent retirement fund. Someone would have to convince me they actually know what the market wants (after seeing ludicrous ideas succeed, I clearly don't) for me to go all-in on their big idea, or find an investor confident enough to cover market-ish rate for me as an early employee.
Fear of failure. Bills. Lack of enough <i>real</i> motivation to move beyond sleepless nights thinking about my ideas and onto sleepless nights working on them. Laziness. Resistance to change. Comfort. A million other excuses.<p>Just like these.
It took a lot of pain, but I finally got it through my thick skull that you can't go off gallivanting and starting startups if you're not earning enough to even make a living on your own.<p>Being a student has its downsides.
I'm in grad school going for a PhD in physics.<p>I was a programmer. I hated it. I make less than half what I used to. It's awesome.<p>That said, if I can't pull this off for some reason, I'll probably move out to the Valley and roll the dice.
I think there are many ways to classify a startup. I just enjoy working on projects in my spare time. My financial stability does not depend on the success of my side projects, although it would be nice if I could make a living doing what I enjoy.<p>You might ask why I would not go out and seek funding. Simply put, I do not think many people would fund me, and those who would probably would want to slightly redirect the path of my work. The only things I enjoy working on are those that are risky, unproven, and complex - all things that investors hate.
I just follow Jeff Bezos's "Regret Minimization Framework". Yes, I'm old, I don't have money but I would be very very sad on my deathbed if I didn't try and work all my life in big corporation.
"In order to live free and happily, you must sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice."<p>Not easy indeed! I don't like my job, yet cannot cut loose from the daily cocoon that I'm used to.
Other -- and this is important. Lack of connections and willingness to use people is something worth considering. I know a lot of people, but not a fan of nepotism. However, I wouldn't mind someone believing in me, but would never ask. So I've heard, your first startup isn't really about the idea. It's about "you" or your character. That does not preclude me from building something. I just rather assume it's a project until certain milestones have been reached.
Ive got some ideas, none of them are very fancy, since I have no plan on being funded, all my ideas are little micro-business bootstrap stuff...<p>and I'm not starting them up because I don't have enough discipline yet to go spend enough time working(Im a remote coder) to have free time later to work on my own stuff...
I always end up spending my whole day between work and procrastinating, then I work more to compensate my procrastination, sleep late, wake up late...etc<p>:(
Other:
Money isn't everything, and I'd rather have relationships and free time over the need to build something. If I really need to build something from the ground up I go into my garage. I make good money, work at a startup (but not a founder) and if it hits big, I'll get some of the payout, but I won't be a millionaire. Unlike the founders though I'll have a relaxing life! Money and fame isn't everything.
My spouse doesn't want me to. Also, the current economy scares the bejesus out of me. I know what they say about a recession being a good time to start a company (and also that we are not officially in a recession ... yet). But with the US government threatening to shut down every couple of weeks, why would I leave an easy job with an essentially guaranteed six figure salary? Someday I will, I hope, but not today.
I have no freaking time until I get at least one kid shipped off to college. Although then I suppose the "financial reasons" answer will come into play.
I just had a baby in May, and we planning on emigrating from the U.S. in the near-to-mid term. Thus, my priorities don't include starting and running my own business when I have many other things to take care of before heading down under. It's something I may try to tackle down the road, but for the next 3-4 years I want to spend my energy on other things.
Running my own web design & search engine marketing company that keeps me from working on startup ideas. Every time I get ready to put the day job on-hold, someone comes along with a "we'll pay anything" project that we end up taking.<p>I guess I'll have to get stronger so I can just say "no thanks" and move on to what I really want to do.
I am full-firce right now. But I had a lull year before starting this one where I felt unmotivated. I had a failed startup and one that was "successful" but didn't make me any money. I had enough mostly-passive income from two retail stores that I am a partner in, so I wasn't particularly financially motivated.<p>Then inspiration struck.
I'll point out that if everyone took the leap then you would have no one to hire as your business grew. Not everyone can be the founder just like not everyone can be the CEO. As someone who has started companies and worked for others I can tell you that both can be fulfilling.
My main issue is the lack of a co-founder is delaying me. With a co-founder my business would be up and running by xmas. Without it will probably be March and as such it is just plodding along.
Other: I'm getting valuable hands-on product experience at my current gig (low risk too, since it's not my company). When that ends, I'll probably get the itch to start something.
I'm on an H1B. Trying to figure out how to, without compromising my chances of getting a greencard. Technically, I can't even build + charge for an iOS application right now.
One of my ideas isn't big enough, and has taken longer than I expected; other of my ideas may be too big for my brain to accomplish (I don't want to do any web-gimmicks).
It astounds me the number of people who are here with no idea for a startup. Are you guys hackers, hustlers, "idea people", or am I missing a contingency?<p>Mind blowing.