Ask Jessica: What makes for a good founder?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1115076

by iamelgringo • 16 years ago

70 10 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

The thing that struck me about yesterday's interview with PG on Mixergy, was how central to YC's process you are Jessica. I've really enjoyed reading Founders at work, and I'm looking forward to reading the second edition.

I'd be really interested in hearing your take on what qualities you find make for a good founder/co founder.

newsio• 16 years ago

Also, is a follow-up to "Founders At Work" planned? It's a really inspirational book, and I am sure there is a huge new crop of potential subjects from the last three years of ups and downs in the startup space.

plinkplonk• 16 years ago

"Also, is a follow-up to "Founders At Work" planned?"

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1113661

davidw• 16 years ago

One of the things I liked about the original is that it wasn't just in a limited time period, so you could see how things worked differently in various time periods.

FluidDjango• 16 years ago

I bet she's summarized her take somewhere. But she's also documented in detail how many "roads lead to Rome" (success):

http://www.amazon.com/Founders-Work-Stories-Startups-Early/d...

jl• 16 years ago

The biggest causes I've seen of early startup failures are founders giving up as soon as the going gets tough, and fights between co-founders. Therefore, I think determination is the most important quality in founders and there must be a trusting relationship between them.

Founders also need to be basically level-headed. They need to think big enough to have crazy ideas but not to be themselves deluded about how hard it will be to pull them off.

I'm collecting interviews now for another edition of Founders at Work!

hwijaya• 16 years ago

Giving upon on the idea or entrepreneurship? I am curious to learn on when should pivot and when to stick with an idea. Thx!

shin_lao• 16 years ago

Knowing that is what will make you successful in life and it obviously cannot be summed up in few words. You get it or you don't. That's the way I see it.

aantix• 16 years ago

Kathlyn Hendricks, a relationship expert (_Conscious Loving_ is a fascinating book for the engineering mind dealing with relationships), offers this advice for when to leave a personal relationship (point 2 of the audio). Maybe it's applicable when pursuing ideas as well?

http://www.hendricks.com/QA2

"Have you worked on the relationship so long that the amount of pain you feel overshadows the possibilities? Time to leave."

Ask Jessica: What makes for a good founder?

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