Comment by renegade-otter
12 days ago
I was putting off starting my SaaS idea for years (has to do with assigning code reviewers based on specific file patterns and notifying them on Slack) but the idea was much more marketable 10 years ago when I first had it. GitHub did not even have the concept of CODEOWNERS back then.
After getting laid off, I decided to roll the dice instead of looking for another work-for-hire. Yeah, it's too late, but I needed this just to get excited about technology again. I was seriously jaded from debugging the microservices spaghetti at every frigging job, trying to make a pile out of water and not actually building anything.
I torches through my savings, and no regrets. I am in my 40s, and the time to take a chance is running out.
The point is, there is such a thing as "right place, right time". The idea and the execution have to be well-timed. It might be too early, or it might be too late (as it was for me). Take The Globe, for example - the Facebook before Facebook. They failed because a) there were no phones b) not enough people online to get the network effect. Similarly, good luck getting your "crypto" getting traction at this point.
If you have an idea, and you think the time is right - take the chance. Not knowing what will happen is part of the fun. Don't look at it as taking risk, look at it as rowing through a river and without knowing where the river goes. If you don't row, you will never find out what's around the bend.
> If you have an idea, and you think the time is right - take the chance. Not knowing what will happen is part of the fun. Don't look at it as taking risk, look at it as rowing through a river and without knowing where the river goes. If you don't row, you will never find out what's around the bend.
I think you kinda need to re-evaluate your relationship with uncertainty when doing something like this.
As a wagie, unexpected news is nearly universally bad news (layoffs, corporate mergers), whereas the status quo is neutral-good.
When you're starting up a business, unexpected news can be good (new customer, new investor), but the status quo is neutral-bad (slowly running out of momentum and funds).
> Take The Globe, for example - the Facebook before Facebook. They failed
"The company's IPO made history when it posted the largest first day gain of any IPO with a 606% increase in price.[3] Early in his tenure, Paternot became known in popular media as "the CEO in the plastic pants" after he was filmed in a nightclub saying 'Got the girl. Got the money. Now I'm ready to live a disgusting, frivolous life.'"
Then they lost everything in the dot-com bust, but is this really failing? They had an idea and probably made life-changing money. theGlobe failed, the people behind it have not. They unlocked the next tier of freedom where they can work on anything they fancy and drive a McLaren to work. I hope to fail like them.
The right time is defeatist nonsense. It's like the stock market: you can't time it, so just enter and stick with it. Hindsight is a useless tool to entrepreneurship.
Stick with it on who's money? Not everyone has the luxury if failing multiple times - you need to at least weigh your odds.