Startup Winter: Hacker News Lost Its Faith (vincentschmalbach.com)
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42778266
- https://www.vincentschmalbach.com/startup-winter-hacker-news-lost-its-faith/
Commented on HN recently:
Feeling the same pain of walking through the creator's hell.
Heard somewhere we are not supposed to be happy and absent minded. Staying on hard side of things shapes us and make complete.
I'm not sure if this helps, but I’ve personally stopped stressing about outcomes, "get rich quick" schemes, or being in the perfect moment.
The journey is what truly matters.
I use my own tools for consulting and eventually outsource myself as needed. If clients want to hire someone else, I don’t resist. I simply ask for two or three months’ salary for training and limited support afterward.
I’m not trying to build something worth millions to sell. I used to sell CRMs built on top of WordPress for a long time. Eventually, it evolved into a CRM I now use across several businesses. Over the years, I’ve also created numerous small tools that I’ve been using for over a decade—tools for tracking trends, education, and more.
I don’t aim to be in the top 5% of earners, just be in the middle for targeted niche is ok.
For me, freedom means working in "Pendulum mode"—six months of active client phases followed by six months of prototyping new ideas. That balance keeps me sane. No conflict of interests. Clients know I worked hard to kick off things, and productive than most other engineers in slow mode.
As for pressure of being update - I made a simple commitment to try new things 4-8 hours a week min. AI, ML, K8s, hyped programming languages. It was brutal at the beginning, and extremely joyful process now. It's getting easier and easier. The main motivation is to be connected with folks who will come after me.
I'm also trying to surround myself with builders, and be less with transactional people who simply wants salary. Helping other to overcome and internalize the essence of pain of owning code and full responsibilities make my struggles easier.
One thing I would never sacrifice for being in a creator mode - wellbeing and needs of my family. Whatever it takes to bring the food on the table. All high purposes come after.
Naval's mega episodes help me to settle things in mind really well too
wealth https://nav.al/rich
happiness https://nav.al/happiness
