Comment by incognito_limey | Hacker News Reader

Comment by incognito_limey | Hacker News Reader

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incognito_limey

This is what I aspire to. Thanks for showing this is possible!

It's something that I've been thinking about a lot lately, especially after reading "A company of one". That it's possible to make a good living with friends and not be the next X or Y hypergrowth company.

For some context, I am currently working for one of the hottest startups in the world (not hyperbole, we have the metrics to back it up), and I have been here long enough to remember when we could all fit in a small room.

The first 2 years were a dream, this last year has been pretty terrible, and coincidently, is when we started our crazy rapid growth.

It went from a place where you felt like you were working with your friends, and could have great conversations/humour and learn, to politics, arguments, poorly defined scopes on projects, process for the sake of process, or no process at all, but not knowing whom to ask, and not being empowered enough to sort it out yourself.

I realized, and I think I kind of knew this previously, that my happiest work was when I was working with a small team of smart people who could relate to each other. Basically, going to work with my friends.

I think after the IPO, it will be time to leave and find/start something similar to what you are doing.

The thing about success is that it's addictive. Particularly with the mindset that you seem to have currently. I'm not judging, and I don't know you, so this is just the feeling I get from your post. You seem to be ambitious and on the trajectory for massive success.

It's easy to justify putting in extra hard work now if you tell yourself that the struggle is only temporary. That once this success materializes, you can relax, take it easy and just "work for fun". Some people pull that off.

Ultimately though, we are all human, and one thing humans do is get addicted to the adrenaline. Particularly if we come out having accomplished something after the struggle. Particularly those of us who have this innate drive to push the envelope. You might relax for a little while afterwards and savor the fruits of your labor, but soon you'll get restless. You'll yearn for the feeling of acute focus, that rush of adrenaline and that state of being on top of the world when things come together and you pull off something big.

This is what drives many already accomplished people to continue. It is a self fulfilling prophecy as well, because it takes this sort of drive to get there in the first place, and it's the same drive that prevents your from ever stopping. Take Musk for example. He has generational wealth. He could sit back, put his money in some safe assets and neither him nor the following 10 generations would have to ever work in their life again. Bezos could have long ago retired and just enjoyed his wealth. The thing is, once you have FU$, it all becomes a game. You no longer need the money, but you still want the feeling of success and prove to yourself that you can do well.

You should take care of that drive. Don't let it consume you. It should be a tool, a means to an end, not the thing that defines you wholly.

Thank you for the incredibly insightful comment. It's given me a lot to think about.

If this is Deliveroo ("limey", hottest startups) and you've been there for a few years you don't need to wait for an IPO to enjoy healthy stock?

It's not deliveroo.

What do people with power want? More power.

You are correct, but this is not the whole picture I feel. Yes, people with power still desire more power. But it's the same drive that fueled all the great pioneers and explorers of the world. Very few if any stopped after the first breakthrough and said: "Alright, I can stop now".

I consider this one of the great distinguishing features of the human race. For some people, enough is never enough. Yes, obsession has it's dark side, but without these people, we'd not be where we are today. The human race needed this trait to push the envelope. We needed (and for a while we'll still need) boneheaded bastards who won't take no for an answer.

Sometimes this obsession gets us dictators who ruin the lives of millions, sometimes it gets us breakthroughs that improve the lives of billions.

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