One thing I'd like to hear more about are people who took "secure" jobs for a period of time out of college and then jumped ship for a startup once they had some money saved up. I feel like most people coming out of college are very risk averse, so they'd rather get a guaranteed salary over a startup with uncertain prospects.
I'm on the "secure" path at the moment to pay off student loans between my wife and I, and we just had a child. My obligations are more than paid for and things are stable, which is good because my family life is happy and fun and I value that highly, but it means that my risky endeavors have to be on-the-side and bootstrapped because doing stuff that's likely to fail now puts 3 people at risk instead of 1. I don't particularly enjoy the jobs I've had, and that gives me motivation to do things for myself.
But I'd be stupid enough to go for it now. They can come after me for all I've got and get pretty much nothing. In the end if you don't make any income, they have nothing to garnish. Naive view of things for sure.
As i look back, the only real tangible return i ever got back in these 8 years of is that I met my lovely wife.
(By the way, kudos on that level of self-discipline; I would be extremely happy to accomplish that much with 8 years of corporate salary.)
After 3 years as a startup employee (and learning everything about both technical and business side of things), I'm founding a company now.
For the same reason one might go to school, you'll rarely be disappointed if you invest in yourself. My advice to graduates interested in startups is to work in their field of interest until their learning slows down, then to move on to bigger and better things. By starting a tech business, your skills in business and technology will grow tremendously, and will continue to pay dividends.
Obviously not the only way, though.
Don't get me wrong... That time has some valuable lessons that will help you constantly for the rest of your life. But it's not easy. If you go into it with your eyes open, you shouldn't regret it.
my girlfriend has been very supportive. the only thing she asked, is that we still continue to travel/backpack, at least once a year - which I of course "granted" her (while she's granting me with the rent .... :)
Failure is a part of success, but only when taken in the right quantities.
Thanks
Great presentation, wish there was a video version too.
Observation: the topic of "think mobile and platforms" yes, but they're a plus (not the core of the thing.) Besides, relying too much in platforms are a bad idea (adds to the equation some risks parameters that are out of your control.)
The best is to start with the epicenter and iterate often keeping happy the people that will leverage you to ramen profitable.
Lastly, the epicenter should be human centered.
Okay, now I know I don't want to use this guy's products...
How true!
Did you make it yourself or was it done by someone else?
