If you have not read Jason Calacanis’s post on “How to save money running a startup” – you should. Its a good read. Mostly money saving tips for software / internet startups alone. I know more entrepreneurs who do a much better job of saving money when they are not funded yet.
I was struck by post 11 as was Jennifer but for different reasons:
11. Fire people who are not workaholics. Come on folks, this is startup
life, it’s not a game. don’t work at a startup if you’re not into
it–go work at the post office or starbucks if you’re not into it you
want balance in your life. For realz.
Not sure I agree with this 100%.
The passion, zest and commitment for the “idea” or “goal” or “mission” drops about 10% for every new person you add to the team.
What I mean by that is that your #1 employee (outside of founders) is 10% less committed to the idea than you (since it was not theirs) and the #2 hire is 10% less committed than #1 and so on. In all the startups I have started (4) this is a hard fact you have to face. Before you get all upset about that %, realize its a rough number.
Which is why Paul Graham’s piece is true about large companies. Employee #383 is looking for a paycheck and a job NOT to change the world.
Second point: Read Om Malik’s “What the past three months have taught me“. If you are an obsessive compulsive type realize this is where you are headed.
I dont advocate perfect balance. That usually is not possible as a startup founder. But killing yourself doing a startup is so NOT worth it.
