Im_Talking

So executing people year after year shows that the Singaporian system is working?? Doesn't it show the exact opposite since, you know, they have to continue to execute people? Wouldn't the success of their laws be validated if no one was executed showing that they had eradicated their drug problem?

You need a talk with your immediate manager.

What does your gut tell you?

Why would you work if you don't need the money?

What profit is that?

They go into the Home for Burnt-out COBOL programmers.

Maybe your lack of passion isn't about the job.

And because it's luck, it shouldn't even be thought about. In fact, the word 'luck' shouldn't be used. A more correct term would be 'probability'. There will be a certain number of people who will die by a falling brick or lightning each year. It could be you... probably not.

But it's something that brain cycles shouldn't be wasted on. We get out of bed each morning without knowing that a bad thing will happen that day. We should only think about the things that we can control.

"Call me old-fashioned, but running a business that makes money is not the worst thing in the world."

Are you kidding me? This is the whole point. Regardless of the funding, the goal is for a business to be self-sustaining. A company that relies on external funding is no company at all.

So let all the Zuckerberg-wannabes go after the funding and end-up with 1% stake with 0% authority... I'll settle for building the business, creating the processes and systems, attracting and supporting the customers, and keep my 100% thanks.

This is why Warren Buffet hates tech-stocks. Everyone thinks there's a different metric in tech. There isn't... self-generated cash is king.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” - Teddy Roosevelt

...now pick yourself up and try again.

Love the red states. Protect the foetus at all costs, then abandon the kid once born.

Very poor advice. The business is always the product.

Jeez, everyone is talking incubators, YC, angels, etc. People don't realise that this type of money is the most expensive you will EVER get. And trying to get this funding will consume your business for the better part of a year, at least, with everything else on-hold to the point where you have neglected the actual business long enough that you will need the funding, and die without it.

Bootstrap for as long as you can. Be smart. Be imaginative. Seek out partnerships with customers as they can be a great source of money/advise/contacts if they feel it can benefit them. Sounds like customers love the concept, so get them to pony-up some money or contacts. Then, the cheapest money is the money you don't need.

Equity should be treated as gold. And a lot of founders who create successful businesses kick themselves for the mindless throwing-around of equity in the early stages.

I would suggest setting-up an advisory board. I'm sure you and your co-founders will know several smart people, or ask customers who they recommend.

The writer is over-analysing things and, with the risk of complete generalisation, is a trait more in women than men.

She needs to concentrate on the job, and more importantly, the duty, and stop thinking of non-existent worries and bad potential possibilities/outcomes. Duty is sometimes placed in a bad light, but for a founder, it's the only thing that matters. In fact, I will argue with anyone that duty is much more important than passion. Duty gets one through the shit times and grunt-work, passion does not.

She says she doesn't worry about customers and yet that is the only thing she should worry about. Not (as she writes) investors, advisors, and the craziest one of them all, other founders (jeez). She needs to worry about getting and satisfying customers. Period. They are the only things that matter.

The job of a founder is to create a self-sustaining business. And by self-sustaining, I mean the ability for a business to operate based on its own cash-flow. No investor, or advisor, or other founders are necessary for this, but customers are.

So she needs to concentrate on duty. And her duty is to attract, keep, and satisfy customers, so that they sign and continue to sign cheques. And by doing this, all those other fears will dissipate.