The called shot: I'm retiring in 3 months | Hacker News Reader

The called shot: I'm retiring in 3 months

baberuth.posterous.com

15 pointsbaberuth15 comments

It's not an impossible dream, but if Vegas allowed me to, I'd put a large bet against you.

Not because I don't think it won't happen. But your timeline is far too short to grow the audiences you'll need on whatever app(s) you create.

And I'd support your bet as the rational move.

I currently have zero web income, but a few half baked projects. I'd bet against me from scratch too, but I'm hoping I can turn partial projects into profit quickly.

I'm going to be very transparent about what I have and my plans on the blog. If after we have the same information, you want to make a small bet against me, I'd consider taking the other side (I'd want odds). It's doubling down, but I want to put my money where my mouth is.

I respect the hell out of you for it. What you're doing is going to be tough, and you know it.

I haven't taken that leap yet, I keep collecting app and site ideas, but my normal day job hasn't reached a point where I need to take that leap.

We'll see how you do and whether or not a bet would be placed, I look forward to following your journey.

Stating your goals makes it less likely for you to achieve them, because you get the praise and ego boost at the wrong time. There's probably a better link than this weird blog, but it has the info : http://www.burnthefatblog.com/archives/2010/12/all_talk_and_...

Derek Sivers said the same in a post called 'keep your goals to yourself' at I read here before.

There's certainly some truth to it.

I failed in secrecy before though, so Im giving transparency a shot.

I am also hoping that it will help me connect with people who can help me make it happen.

Edit: The post was called zip it - http://sivers.org/ There's a TED Talk - http://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_keep_your_goals_to_you...

Yes it sounds ridiculous, but I'm going to work as hell and make it happen.

You should be skeptical, and if you were saying it, I would be too. Naysayers, I'll see you in 3 months.

Please do let us know how you're doing.

You're using an anonymous account, what do you really have to lose by making bombastic predictions?

Nobody's going to say anything in 3 months because they'll have forgotten completely about this post.

I only clicked because I love baseball, but it was an interesting post.

Here's the deal: how is what you're trying to do considered retirement? I'm not aware of any web apps that require no maintenance, no customer support, and no administrativa after 3 months. Sure, you can outsource some (maybe all) of that, but you still have to manage the outsourcing.

Being location-independent isn't retirement. Neither is un-conventional employment. If it's the Tim Ferris/4HWW lifestyle you're going for, fine–but even he's not "retired".

I applaud you for setting a goal, learning from past mistakes, and being bold about it. On the other hand, I boo you for bad semantics and possibly being a little too bold.

On the other hand, I boo you for bad semantics and possibly being a little too bold.

I don't understand booing anybody for being too bold. But maybe that's just me... I advocate being very bold and setting audacious goals. But I also advocate crashing and burning while shooting for the stars, as opposed to merely shooting for the hilltop and then quietly fading away. :-)

thats a wonderful set of guidelines for a startup. "Dont be secretive" resonated with me. Keep source on a public github repo and keep notes in a public wiki (doesn't have to be public-editable). An idea that can succeed for you is something, from a very real point of view, that only you can do. Your set of skills and resources is a competitive advantage if they can be leveraged enough. So share the idea, let it develop in other people's minds. Watch and talk to groups doing similar projects.

Another maxim is "Implementation is more important than idea". Diapers.com is my inspiration for this. One might say, "Another retail outlet on the web? Boring, laughable, amazon.com is already there", but they implemented so well on a boring, obvious idea, that they rocketed into their particular niche and were acquired by Amazon.

Worked for Babe Ruth, didn't work for this year's New York Jets. I'm rooting for you.

Strange post. All he talks about is himself. I would think that the second time around would include at least a passing reference about his customers/users and how what he is building will benefit them. I wonder if he's learned anything at all.

edw519, that post was a bit self centered.

To be honest, failing hard made me learn mostly about me, especially my own personal shortcomings.

I didn't have users Round 1.

I understand that it won't ever be a startup without users, but the last journey was very personal.

I appreciated this post. Yes, it was a bit self-obsessed, but I found value in reading about someone else working through similar issues. Constantly reading about, "how I made x successful" can increase personal frustration and push vicious cycles further.

Ignore distraction. My natural tendency is to idea hop to the next shiny object _real_ fast. I want to know about everything and I can't help but listen in on interesting conversations. I read links that really shouldn't interest me at all.

I think that's the universal bane of the software guy right now. We want to take in everything to stay up-to-date and at the edge, but by doing so we actually let our skills (technical and time-management) slide.

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