I enjoyed reading this startup thread

I've founded 3 companies (2 cash flow positive long-term winners, 1 that got to revenue that I shut down because I didn't like the space and one partner), so I think I'm somewhat qualified to do so.

Before I start, the caveats to my advice: https://twitter.com/buggeroaf/status/1295121390010417154

I've tried raising money many times, but never once succeeded so all my experience is with bootstrapped companies. At one point one company was trying for an IPO, but I was rejected by YC (I told them I wouldn't accept their standard deal because we had almost $500k revenue).

My family was not poor. My father was an entrepreneur who came to the US with nothing though. He set a powerful example for me. Those are my caveats.

Here are my thoughts:

1. This guy is making it sound like starting a startup sucks, but you have to understand that to make big

money, you must make big sacrifices. If you didn't, everyone would do it and the profit opportunity would disappear.

2. He fails to mention that entry-level ibankers and big-law hires also work long hours and don't make much money (especially at a per-hour basis) for the big

payday.

3. Further, compare starting a startup to business school. At business school you will pay $300k and/or load yourself up with debt to do that. At a startup you will learn significantly more and you get paid to do it with the chance of massive upside.

Business school (which I have not been to), does seem fun however and it is great for your social life, which brings me to his point about stunted growth.

4. Startups, depending on how you do them, will stunt your growth socially, financially, and sexually. Unlike with ibanking

or big law, with a startup (especially if you're trying to keep your equity up and bootstrap) you're much more likely to live with your parents or, as I did, with an 85 year old woman to avoid paying rent (less weird than it sounds). When you're living in the 'burbs, it'll be

tough to see your friends in a way that is not just practical, but painful. If you're making less money than them, it will hurt.

I can't speak for being a female founder, but as a male founder with a startup that was not conventional living with mommy, my dating life was

non-functional. You pay the price, but again, you have the upside.

5. Startups are not luck. They are skill. Sorry, but it's true.

6. It is possible to not quit your job before finding product-market fit. Work hard on nights and weekends. Just do it. I did for company #2.

7. If your employees aren't also taking paycuts, you're doing it wrong. I don't know where Buggeroaf gets the idea that the founder is doing all the sacrificing, while the employees are earning normal salaries. Shouldn't be like that if they have equity.

8. If you fail, it was your fault, but unlike years ago, you can get hired. Startups, particularly ones that did some stuff, don't look terrible on a resume. Yes, you will be behind your peers who stayed at FAANG, Big Law, or Finance, but they didn't have the chance of upside.

9. You don't need to work 100 hours a week. You need to work 50 or 60 good hours. What makes working on a startup tough is not the hours worked, it's the stress and the constant need to reinvent yourself and company, while knowing your peers are excelling and you're not.

(wrapping up now)

10. The Buggeroaf guy spends a lot of time dissing vc's and media and even throwing some weird shade on employees for perpetuating false narratives about founding. I'm not a VC nor a media guy, besides my ego and the caveats I listed, where are my biases?

Anyways, you can't really know where Buggeroaf is coming from because he's anonymous, so take what he writes with a grain of salt. Also, he's got a fuck you emoji as his avatar which is...interesting.

11. He suggests a non-recourse loan to an LLC that is...collateralized against

your startup equity. I don't really understand what he's talking about in that senior preferred section (I've never raised money), but it doesn't make sense to me. If it's non-recourse, what does your startup equity matter to the bank? Also, good luck finding that bank haha.

So, is founding a startup hard? Yes. And AFAICT, it's harder than doing big law or ibanking, but not terribly so. It's riskier for sure, but with so much available funding it's really not that bad, especially if you don't compare yourself to ivy leaguers at FAANG/finance.

And of course, you get the opportunity for major personal growth and financial upside, which you're not going to find anywhere else.

The funny thing is that when you get it, you realize it wasn't what you wanted, but that's a story for another day...

/thread