Ask HN: What's keeping you from starting something?

16 points by slugslog 12 years ago | 23 comments

A lot of us have ideas for starting a product/service/business. Most of us also have lots of fears apprehensions about taking the plunge. So what's keeping you from pursuing what you think will be a life altering decision? Some reasons I can think of

Others will think it's a stupid idea I'm not smart enough to get this done The idea takes too much money Family is a priority Need to learn more skills first Need a business partner I don't have domain expertise I'm not sure I can put in the effort needed 90% of businesses fail. So why bother? I really need to work on this idea on my own before launching This is not the right time for my idea I would've done it if I were in the 'valley' I am not sure I have the right personality for starting

this should've been a poll but I can't create one with my measly reputation.

mindcrime 12 years ago |

I have chosen not to let anything stop me. I started Fogbeam Labs with no money to speak of, no co-founder, no startup experience, no investors, no customers, etc.

Over time, we've added two co-founders, and I've gained a lot of experience "learning as I go". I still have no money or investors (the latter by choice) and we're working very aggressively ont he "customers" part. We have a couple of deals we're working on, and hopes are high for getting some stuff signed in the early part of 2014.

One thing we've doing is shifting slightly towards more focus on SaaS deliverables. Our software will certainly still be applicable to "on premises" deployment, and some customers will favor that model for various reasons, but we're now starting to put more emphasis on getting the SaaS deployment model going. The main reason here is simply that we believe we can build traction faster and more readily, with hosted offerings. And since we're bootstrapping, anything that gets revenue coming in sooner than later is a Good Thing.

Anyway, my mindset is "If you have an idea, start building it". If you have the luxury of being someone who can code, you can get an awful long way down the road, just coding in your spare time, without spending any money. Our "burn rate" is nearly negligible to date, as all three founders are coders and we're building the product(s) ourselves.

Others will think it's a stupid idea

Screw the "others". Who cares what they think?

I'm not smart enough to get this done

You might be. You won't know unless you try.

The idea takes too much money

See above... if you can code, maybe you don't need much money. If it is something that does require money, well... there are options that involve spending other people's money instead of your own.

Family is a priority

You want to make it big so you can provide for your family in the best way, right?

Need to learn more skills first

Learn as you go.

Need a business partner

Start now, acquire a partner when the time is right.

I don't have domain expertise

Partner with somebody who does. Or pick a different domain. Or buy a book.

I'm not sure I can put in the effort needed

You won't know until you try.

90% of businesses fail

And 10% don't. Be part of that 10%.

So why bother?

Freedom. Financial independence. The joy of creating something and building it and watching it grow.

I really need to work on this idea on my own before launching

Well, do it.

This is not the right time for my idea

Come up with a better idea. And/or revisit your assumptions about why this isn't a good time.

I would've done it if I were in the 'valley'

Successful startups emerge from just about everywhere in the world. Being in SV is not a prerequisite for success.

I am not sure I have the right personality for starting

There's only one way to find out.

mattm 12 years ago |

People will give different reasons but there is really only one true reason once you get to the heart of the matter:

"You don't trust yourself"

All the reasons you see listed in this thread are rationalisations your mind comes up with to trick yourself. When you think of them logically, they are pretty trivial.

Through our upbringing, we are taught to listen to others. That our ideas and opinions must be suppressed because it could make others feel bad. After years of this brainwashing we start to believe it deep down. Watch children. They just say things and do things without thinking. They are acting naturally. They don't worry if something isn't going to work out. They just do it. "Excuse" doesn't exist in their vocabulary.

You used to be like this. And you can train yourself to be like this again.

If you're interested in trying to overcome these obstacles, I've put together a course relating to these topics as it relates to programming. It's available at https://www.programmingspiritually.com

rprospero 12 years ago | |

Children do trust themselves. They trust themselves to survive a three story fall onto concrete. They trust themselves to know that house-hold cleaners are delicious. They trust themselves to survive getting hit by that car.

I don't trust myself to make a profitable business with my current resources. You're right about that. Where I disagree with you is your implication that I should.

visakanv 12 years ago | | |

There's no reason why you need to start with a profitable business that utilizes all your resources; you could always put together something smaller that doesn't take up all your time!

Scienz 12 years ago |

I am actively working on starting stuff I consider important, but the main things holding me back are:

1. Compile-time/linking errors with every C++ serialization library I've tried so far (boost, autoserial and cereal, so far). Half joking here, this has been screwing me up all week.

2. Lack of experience and lack of collaborators means projects that would take others days or weeks take me months or years. I hope I'm at least improving, though.

3. Lack of funding to hire said collaborators, and unwillingness to commit my few savings to something that may not have a guaranteed ROI. I'm not interested in seeking funding or trying something like YCombinator since I don't really want to share ownership in my vision, and figure it wouldn't be enough to last very long anyways.

4. Having to stop to deal with other life stuff, such as classes and moving to a new place.

phantom_oracle 12 years ago |

You shouldn't create a poll for it, because all those reasons somehow overlap.

My biggest reason is the "if I build it, they may not come".

I have plenty others like:

I really don't want a snake/VC on my back I couldn't afford to pay employees without VC cash I'll need to generate money before bringing someone onboard A 1 man team takes all other factors of failure and multiplies those factors by 100/1000

mrfusion 12 years ago | |

Do you have some good ideas that you think might be sucessful?

phantom_oracle 12 years ago | | |

In our minds, I'm sure we'd all like to think so, but metrics, customer needs and a whole lot of other external factors (especially luck) determine success.

Are you working on anything interesting?

exelib 12 years ago |

Risk. I have family and because I can't just out my job (with very good salary) and work 150% time on my project/product without get money for this.

henryaj 12 years ago |

In my case: I'm not a programmer. I'm interested in it, and immersed in the tech world, but part of me doesn't believe that people really teach themselves to code and go on to make a career out of it. A self-limiting belief, I suppose.

BWStearns 12 years ago | |

Largely self-taught here. I highly recommend giving it a go. There are so many resources for free or very cheap online now that you can get to the point where you can build something on your own. At the very least it will allow you to show a really minimum viable product to a more experienced developer who is more likely to decide to jump in since you already showed commitment and capability to learn (versus the "Dude I have this killer idea! Just build it for me!").

prasidp 12 years ago | |

Hey Henry - I work at Bloc - we offer a web development apprenticeship and most of our students sound pretty similar to you - read HackerNews, immersed in tech, tried learning on their own and realized they needed a more robust program like a bootcamp - but didn't want to quit their job / don't have $13K to spend on a bootcamp.

if you wanna chat - my email is prasid@bloc.io

phantom_oracle 12 years ago | | |

Your pricing is not that much cheaper than $13K...

akg_67 12 years ago | |

I used to think like you. My limiting factor was that I didn't know how to program. But things changed couple of years ago. Finally, I decided to learn to program on my own. It was most liberating thing I did.

Now, any idea I come up with, I know how to build an MVP, test the market, and take it from there. Once you know how to program (hammer), all ideas look like nails.

henryaj 12 years ago | |

Thanks for all the advice here, guys - much appreciated. Time to start!

visakanv 12 years ago |

"Taking the plunge" is a romanticized idea. Don't quit your day job. Put together something in your spare time and see how people respond to it.

kashkhan 12 years ago | |

how often do great ideas succeed when done part time?

Even if nine out of ten times you lose, total belief and commitment in your idea makes the difference between success and failure.

almassapargali 12 years ago |

1. That idea already implemented. 2. "They will not come" as phantom_oracle said.

axilmar 12 years ago |

1. Time. Not much free time. 2. Risk. I have to support a family.

duiker101 12 years ago |

the fact that I already have 100 unfinished projects. Or finished and waiting for updates.

lorenzodomi 12 years ago |

can't do it all by myself