I think we're talking about two difference senses of responsibility.
Well, yes. But they're closely related -- people with lots of responsibilities have to be responsible, or else bad things will happen.
Well, yes. But they're closely related -- people with lots of responsibilities have to be responsible, or else bad things will happen.
When your parents think you're being irresponsible by starting a startup instead of getting a job, they're thinking about the affect on your own career, not the amount of work you're undertaking to do for other people.
I'm not convinced that is generally true. Note that I'm talking about perceptions, not reality. I don't think many people avoid startups because they're afraid of being irresponsible -- I think they avoid startups because they're afraid of seeming irresponsible -- and I think a lot of this is based on the perception that a startup which hasn't reached profitability yet (especially if it doesn't have any paying customers yet) isn't a real company.
The "students [expected to] graduate and walk into high-paying jobs with Google/Facebook/Amazon/Microsoft/Cisco/etc".
In another way, my parents wants me to quit from my dreams (build an forex system and a web based software startup) until my 18. They want me working for the government. Here at Brazil, work for Microsoft and Google are similar to work for the Government. Their point is that i have to be like everybody from my age, get a safe job, be independent, earn my own money and leave home (22 years old now). This kind of responsability is far more hard for me to take than the other. I can quite a (expensive)girlfriend and the status quo of having a job, but i cant ignore what my parents say and stay focused ! I wake up and sleep with this in my mind every day ! It´s like if a man must take a job to be a man, if not, you are just a kiddo. And being a kiddo on your 22 is being a loser. Being a loser is very hard to take.
Thanks both of you for pointing this types of responsability. And sorry for my bad english.
I'm starting something. I don't care if I look responsible to others or if people think I'm a responsible person or not.
However, my biggest fear is that I get a bunch of customers and then somehow my product fails them. I would be responsible, and that would be bad.