Depends on how much you want to do. This year i want to (a) eat, (b) marry, and (c) get my degree. The first goal demands a little time to earn money. The seconds one demands mostly time, since debt is inevitable. To get the degree i have to learn.
I'd also like to work (d) on my project ideas, but there isn't enough time left after (a)-(c).
I heard the same thing at FOWA in Miami this year from Gary Vaynerchuk (and have heard it from him before at other conferences). He said, paraphrasing: If you can't quit your job to follow your dream and build your startup because you have to take care of your family, then work 9-5 at the job you hate to pay the bills, then work 6-3am on the startup.
At face value, that's great advice. But I don't think it is that black and white for everyone. I don't know if DHH or Garyvee have kids, but for many people, if you really do need to support a family, then working 9am-3am every day is a pretty bad way to do it. Yeah, you might come out the other end running a business you love that's making you rich, but you'll probably be divorced and have kids that resent you. Or be sick and run down from all that lack of sleep.
If you have diapers to buy, ramen profitability might take longer to achieve. Or might not be an option at all. If you have personal relationships you value, working 18 hours per day might not be the best idea (if you can avoid it).
It really depends on your priorities. If supporting your family and spending time with them is important to you, then yeah, lack of time might really be a problem on the road to starting up. DHH is right that complaining about it isn't productive, but he comes across sounding arrogant when he writes it off as a non-issue.
That's the conclusion I came to. It's not that I don't have the time, it's that I apparently value spending time with my kids more than the rapid progress of my startup. It's still dissatisfying from my startup's point of view, but rather than rail against the universe about it, I look it as a manifestation of my priorities.
Same here. I love the idea behind my startup and I love working on it. Have to say, though, I love the family more. I spend every spare minute I can on my startup, but not at the expense of my family. Their needs and spending time with them come first, along with the paying job that's providing for said family--it has to. If the kid were older, maybe I'd devote more time to the startup, but as it stands now, no.
Also, if I worked 12-15hr days every day, even doing something I love, I'd quickly grow to hate it. Not only would I resent the startup, but I'd likely be looking for an entire career change after a while.
I think asking what we really want is a good exercise for anyone. Once one realizes what's most important, one can focus on those goals and not worry about making excuses for the other things.
There's no "shame" in not starting a business, not majoring in a certain subject, etc, except what society tries to tell us and society is trying to tell us that 100 different things are important. It's up to us to find what our destination is and head there, in spite of what other people say.
Comments
Depends on how much you want to do. This year i want to (a) eat, (b) marry, and (c) get my degree. The first goal demands a little time to earn money. The seconds one demands mostly time, since debt is inevitable. To get the degree i have to learn.
I'd also like to work (d) on my project ideas, but there isn't enough time left after (a)-(c).
I heard the same thing at FOWA in Miami this year from Gary Vaynerchuk (and have heard it from him before at other conferences). He said, paraphrasing: If you can't quit your job to follow your dream and build your startup because you have to take care of your family, then work 9-5 at the job you hate to pay the bills, then work 6-3am on the startup.
At face value, that's great advice. But I don't think it is that black and white for everyone. I don't know if DHH or Garyvee have kids, but for many people, if you really do need to support a family, then working 9am-3am every day is a pretty bad way to do it. Yeah, you might come out the other end running a business you love that's making you rich, but you'll probably be divorced and have kids that resent you. Or be sick and run down from all that lack of sleep.
If you have diapers to buy, ramen profitability might take longer to achieve. Or might not be an option at all. If you have personal relationships you value, working 18 hours per day might not be the best idea (if you can avoid it).
It really depends on your priorities. If supporting your family and spending time with them is important to you, then yeah, lack of time might really be a problem on the road to starting up. DHH is right that complaining about it isn't productive, but he comes across sounding arrogant when he writes it off as a non-issue.
That's the conclusion I came to. It's not that I don't have the time, it's that I apparently value spending time with my kids more than the rapid progress of my startup. It's still dissatisfying from my startup's point of view, but rather than rail against the universe about it, I look it as a manifestation of my priorities.
Same here. I love the idea behind my startup and I love working on it. Have to say, though, I love the family more. I spend every spare minute I can on my startup, but not at the expense of my family. Their needs and spending time with them come first, along with the paying job that's providing for said family--it has to. If the kid were older, maybe I'd devote more time to the startup, but as it stands now, no.
Also, if I worked 12-15hr days every day, even doing something I love, I'd quickly grow to hate it. Not only would I resent the startup, but I'd likely be looking for an entire career change after a while.
I think asking what we really want is a good exercise for anyone. Once one realizes what's most important, one can focus on those goals and not worry about making excuses for the other things.
There's no "shame" in not starting a business, not majoring in a certain subject, etc, except what society tries to tell us and society is trying to tell us that 100 different things are important. It's up to us to find what our destination is and head there, in spite of what other people say.