Ask HN: rate/review my LAST startup

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=413529

by scattered • 18 years ago

2 8 18 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

after 7 years of working myself into the ground and never really getting anywhere I'm giving up. I'm about to turn 30 and have nothing to show for it.

I've sold all my business/marketing books as well as the laptop I used to code on and I'm left with just over 1000 (GBP). So here's the plan:

I'm buying 1000 lottery tickets for the draw this wednesday.

I'll update this post Wednesday night to let you all know how I got on.

noodle3• 18 years ago

allow me to be the first to say that, if this is a serious post, don't do this.

scattered• 18 years ago

it is a serious post and I know the odds of a big win are practically non-existent, but then again so are the odds of the kind of payoff that many on HN have dreamt of at some stage in their life and it hasn't stopped them has it? certainly didn't stop me :)

I'm going to start a teacher training course in September after which I'll hopefully start a career in teaching. Whilst I don't think I'll ever lose the entrepreneurial bug I don't think I'll ever be able to put in as much passion as energy as I have these past few years.

In short, I've peaked, and this is just my idiosyncratic way of saying farewell to that part of my life.

noodle3• 18 years ago

why not, instead, use that money to make an angel investment in a small, needy startup?

odds of success are probably higher and it would feed your own bug vicariously

iamdave• 18 years ago

Hey, it's a good way to test out the law of averages.

noodle3• 18 years ago

i'm not saying it doesn't accomplish anything, i just want to point out that he could do better things with the money.

sokoloff• 18 years ago

At least wait until one of those mega-lotteries gets to an EV of a unit wager is over 1.0. (Yes, I'm willing to let slip the NPV discounting, and buy tickets when the "advertised amount" makes it a +EV wager.)

undertoad• 18 years ago

Well, if you've really made up your mind then it would be damn cool to see a post Wednesday night about your big win!

Regardless of the outcome, I hope you'll be okay with yourself (actually I hope that for everybody). There are other things in life besides payoffs.

matt1• 18 years ago

karma: 2

Maybe if you had posted more on HN you would have had a more successful business career ;) Also, if this is serious and you are going to give up and play the lottery, this irrational decision making may be why you never found your success.

Regardless, success isn't measured in dollars. Once you see that, you'll likely make more money and be more successful.

Ask HN: rate/review my LAST startup

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