How Not to Die (2007) | Hacker News Reader

How Not to Die (2007)

paulgraham.com

80 pointsbluejellybean31 comments

Very true what Paul says here.

I have created two companies on my own(backed companied from others). The first one was Hell, nobody believed in us or the idea, everyone believed I was crazy, and after fighting and loosing battles a lot I also(my subconscious mind) started believing it!!(I had trained it in failure)

But then it turns out it was a brilliant idea after all. We were the first surprised to see that in the end it worked even better that what we devised at the start. Everybody loved our product and people that had down played us in the past were telling us how much they "always knew" our idea was going to succeed.

The second time everything was objectively very similar to the first company, but it felt completely different. The experience of success gives you confidence and makes things very easy and even fun.

> "If you can just avoid dying, you get rich."

Where "you" == "the founders."

Certainly hard as an employee to hang in there for all the ups and downs and near death experiences after years when "avoiding dying" might look like watching the investors get their pref back and the founders getting a nice new post somewhere else.

Employees get money. If they don't, they leave. If they want to hang in there through some late paycheques, it's because either they believe in the founders and/or the work is rewarding enough.

You don't have to coddle employees and protect them from bad feelings. They're adults and can make decisions for themselves. That being said, founders who keep morale high tend to keep loyal employees longer.

Yes, the opening paragraph in italics and parentheses explains that "you" == "YC founders".

"Founders getting a nice new post somewhere else" does not sound like "avoiding dying" to me. It sounds like the opposite. Could you clarify your point?

Yup. If you have funding and employees, "not dying" is an irresponsible attitude to have. If you can't pay people what they deserve, I think you should accept death--and given that good developers have more self-respect than they used to, you might have to accept death anyway.

> If you can't pay people what they deserve, I think you should accept death

Sorry but if they "deserve" more money they should find a job where they would be payed that. As an employee it's your own responsibility not to get screwed by your employer. If they decide not to pay you, leave.

The same goes for the employer. It's their responsibility to not "accept death". Accepting death is the mindset that will almost always lead to failure.

Life is not an idealized free market where developer hours are a resource to exploit in the short run.

This is true both ethically and professionally. If you screw people, word gets around, and you just alienated all the talent you built a relationship with. It also makes you a bad person.

If you ask loyal employees to stay on for the sake of their equity or the sake of making something great, that's fine, but if you're funded and not delusional about your chances it's unlikely you will be in a position to do this in a fair way.

I pretty much wake up every morning and watch motivational videos on YouTube to keep me going.

I'm onto my fourth start-up, third as CTO, and let me tell you start-ups are no walk in the park. The idea that there's even walking involved is so far off what it's really like. It's non-stop sprinting and if it's not, then you're not doing it right and moving too slow. I like the idea of a work/life balance, but when you have to build every little part of a business, it's just not reasonable to get obstinate about it. When and if I make it, I'll be thanking my perseverance.

The further I get into my startup, the more diligent I get about keeping balance. Perseverance requires actually being at your best day in and day out for years. You can't do that when you're burnt out and unhappy (newsflash: these things take time!).

Also, the whole founder/success mythos is perpetuated by people actually not running startups. These days, I just do what I think is best and work hard, and try to ignore the bullshit.

Sure, but I would argue the root feeling of perseverance should be "I can do this" not "I can withstand this," which is a victim-mentality that reinforces work = pain.

It's this mentality that causes burn-out, resentment, and a wide array of other negative feelings. Focusing on what you can do and learning to do better / more is how I think success is eventually created.

I would suggest this 'constant' sprint idea is often a sign of doing something wrong. Working long weeks cause fatigue which results in a lot of terrible choices which creates more work which 'forces' long hours. Most startups work ridiculously hard, and then fail. Some successful companies had the 24/7 mindset, but fewer than you might think.

Depending on how successful you are it really can be like that. Managing a period of exponential growth is a nightmare on all fronts and I can really relate to the 'constant sprint' feeling. The good news is that usually at some point it tapers off and normality resumes but if you're hip deep in investor money they will see that as a reason to start a push to get back into another phase of hyper growth.

Why does it have to be done at break-neck speed? If it's such a great idea and it happens in 3 years instead of 2 is this a problem? Genuinely curious. I don't understand this start-up culture of long hours.

Because it's not about the idea-the idea can (and probably is) shared by multiple companies. Ideas are easy. If you don't execute well AND fast, others will and they will win. This is especially important in startups that require network effects to survive (think social, uber, etc). If you don't build the lead first, others will, and their lead will grow by virtue of being in the lead (and not screwing up).

I think a lot of these first to market social things just aren't going to get far. For me Uber is just a messy regulation dodge. Twitter makes no money. They just seem to be trying to establish a monopoly whilst making a loss and then using the (perceived) lock-in to try and monetize before dying in flames.

Where is this tight loop of venture capital funding first to market on services that are easily replicable taking society? My guess is nowhere.

Start-ups are study in crisis management. If you watch too many motivational videos on youtube you are spending a ton of time that might be better used elsewhere. Success is a really good motivator and reflexively watching motivation videos / reading self help books / insert placebo here may work - for a while - but it can just as easily become a reason for failure by itself if done to excess. It's understandable but be careful with that.

Best of luck!

Haha come on, I just put them on while I'm in the shower! All day and all night is work! But I appreciate the sentiment

Ok cool :) I was a bit worried there, great to hear you have e that under control.

You may think sprinting is pushing you faster, but by working yourself to exhaustion, you're really going slower (and neglecting your health in the process). For your own sake, give yourself time to recharge. Work/life balance is no small thing.

In addition to not doing other things, I'd like to suggest adding the idea that one also does not have to burn out or be burned out doing a startup.

Indeed. In fact, I think burnout is often one of the causes of failure, either directly, or indirectly through the bad decision making it causes. Building a successful company takes many years. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening A poem by Robert Frost

  Whose woods these are I think I know.
  His house is in the village though;
  He will not see me stopping here  
  To watch his woods fill up with snow.

  My little horse must think it queer
  To stop without a farmhouse near
  Between the woods and frozen lake
  The darkest evening of the year.

  He gives his harness bells a shake
  To ask if there is some mistake.
  The only other sound’s the sweep
  Of easy wind and downy flake.

  The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
  But I have promises to keep,
  And miles to go before I sleep,
  And miles to go before I sleep.

  -------------- End ----------

Oh how I love Robert Frost! This deeply existential and powerfully personal poem is exactly what NOT to do when you are in the throes of startup life.

Sleep! I say sleep. Get that rest and damn that horse. :-)

Edit: I took me 4 years to learn HN carriage returns! :-(

I recommend the poems of Edward Thomas, who was a close friend of Frost's until he died in WWI. Their poems were similar in style.

This is beautiful. Thanks for posting!

- Burnout

- Founder <-> founder resentment

- Founder <-> investor resentment

Those 3 causes are far above everything else, in cases I've seen. Even higher than running out of money.

Where does product market fit fits?

With the title I was expecting Paul Graham to have written an article on Cryonics and the need for donations to SENS :\

Deleted comment

Not dead according to this month-old article.

http://news.sys-con.com/node/3350225

But they do seem to have fallen off that billionaire trajectory.

https://octopart.com/ ?

I'd love to hear Giles Bowkett do another dramatic reading, for this essay. The first one was an instant classic: http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2015/06/let-other-95-of-rea...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com