Duty & Failure | Hacker News Reader

Duty & Failure

metamorphblog.com

27 pointsMediaSquirrel21 comments

I understand the anger/outrage towards him for what on the surface seems irresponsible. But is it necessary to completely rip him apart repeatedly on Twitter, write a long, harsh blog post, and post insulting comments to hacker news?

He seemed to have screwed up. Big Time. I get it. But come on, be a little professional or at the very least, wait for the full story.

I guess it just struck a nerve.

I was the poor kid in college who worked two jobs to pay for school while the rich kids partied and globetrotted. My co-founders and I applied, interviewed and got rejected from YC. Now I'm living in the dining room of an apt I share with them and we worked 16-18 hours a day, 7 days a week on our startup. We're having a blast, but my personal finances, which are normally impeccable, have gone to total shit. It's just that I'm all fucking in, and so are my co-founders. And when I hear about some bloke who has the opportunity of a lifetime and just throws it away like that, well, it pisses me off.

Am I jealous? Yes. Do I feel sorry for the guy? Not in the least. Am I being fair? I think so.

It'd be fair if you knew the whole story. Don't be part of the torch/pitchfork mob with shit like this... Wait for the whole story.

Did this startup founder run over the blogger's dog or something?

I'm surprised the guy even had time to have a girlfriend when trying to start a company, much less marry her. Unless she was also a co founder.

I downvoted you. Business should never come ahead of family. No excuses. If you're starting a company to the detriment of the establishment of a family, you're doing it wrong.

What's so fundamentally wrong with waiting a year or two to establish a family because you want to get a company started?

the wrong part is starting and then backing out when you've got other people depending on you.

What's wrong with it is that companies come and go. Sometimes they do well for a while and sometimes they do well for a lifetime, but they all eventually fizzle out. And, even if your company does well, the money is nice, but no matter how much money you make, it is not worth selling 1-2 years or more of happiness with your potential spouse and children. That enjoyment and happiness is the best thing in life, and is in fact a major part of its purpose, and no amount of money can compensate for its absence.

Family is number one and always must be. I have heard of extremely few situations in my life that justified the postponement of the formation of family. People think of it like an extra burden, and there is some extra burden, but it's absolutely nothing compared to the extra joy, the extra sharing, and all the other awesome extras that come with family life.

It's not worth putting family off for years to finish school, it's not worth it to become rich, there's basically nothing that is worth postponing the formation of a family for.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1472515

Regardless, who goes on a month-long honeymoon at all? Let alone being at a startup. No matter who you are, I'd say max is two weeks.

----------- Edited my 'Irregardless' to 'Regardless'

Hate to be that guy, but "irregardless" is not a word. Regardless, however, is.

You're right. Thought I had learned that awhile ago. Guess not.

i think it just shows how little regard the guy had for his co-founder, employees and investors.

I think he was trying to escape. I'm sure it all depends when he planned the honey moon (most likely before they started, considering they came about in December '09) but still, you're employees come first.

Wait, what? Your wife is forever. Your employees, your investors, and your company are not.

Corrected. Yes, you're wife comes first. But you're wife would understand the dream you have been working on and make concessions to support it.

In my view, he had two commitments, his company (involving employees, investors and the journalists they signed) and his wife. Weighing these two are the question. I'd argue that the honeymoon could either wait or being shortened up even though it was probably planned first.

If you'll forgive a little nazism... please be careful with "your" and "you're". It gets distracting.

Forgiven. Looking back at my post today I'm surprised by the use of 'you're'. I'm typically a nazi about it myself.

Company - a good company - can easily outlive its founder and all his family.

I get where both you and the OP are coming from. But you have to admit that he could at least have properly scheduled both events. Maybe delay the launch of the site by a month?

Anyway, you both have valid points.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com