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NanoDrake

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Hey Folks

I want to share with you today something that has been digging inside my head for a while now.
Someone might have gone through my story but as a brief recap for every one, I was a top sales manager that decided to take life by the horns and use my talent to run my company.
Pumped by an abnormous ego, I crashed and burned after a year. had to go back with parents, take a consulting job and save every dime to get to the end of the month.
To date I lost over 120,000 euro.

There is a silver lining though: all that sleepless nights made me stronger, all that pain forced to grow and I started to get healthy habits (lost over 20kgs in the meanwhile, bye bye junk food) that pushed me back in killer shape, both in my mind and in my body. And of course, I had so much experience while trying to make a business fly that I've seen every possible mistake a person can do.

NOW: I've been offered an executive VP job with market highest pay.
benefits
travel expenses with business class flights covered
corporate Amex.
equity package

After 2 years of grinding and getting no where I have to be honest and understand when it's the time to push and when it's the time to call the towing truck and clear the middle lane.
My first attempts at switching to the fast lane crashed miserably, I'm sorry but if you came here to read a motivational story about glorious pivots, millionaire exits and how F*ck**g lush is my lambo with 2 russian models on it , this isn't the post.

This is the "tactical retreat" post.

Lost battles to try to win the war mentality.

What would you have done in my shoes with an offer like the above?
 
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So you've failed once (struck out) and that's it?

Entrepreneurship is like baseball.

You just don't quit because you've had 1 or 2 at-bats that didn't produce hits or homers.

What would you have done in my shoes with an offer like the above?

Depends on this...

equity package

And it depends on how much time I have to pursue my dream.

Permanent failure is when you quit, not when you fail at one swing.

The job offer sounds like a Slowlane comfort trap.
 

NanoDrake

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Hey MJ,
I understand what do you mean with Entrepreneurship, I tried 3 different projects and they both haven't paid out.
Why I'm considering this? because i'm broke as hell at the moment and I do feel the need to get a safety net before getting back on the field (i'm self benching for poor performance) plus raising finance for me it's actually a problem.

Is it a slowlane comfort trap? oh absolutely, don't get me wrong. I know I'm walking into an ambush.
I'm pretending I have a plan that can work but I don't know if it will till I meet the enemy on the field.

I'm 33 years old, I don't have any "short term" pleasure goals (fancy cars, expensive trips to lush places)
 

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The first thing you need to do @NanoDrake is taking the wise advice from Mr Jordan Peterson -
"Get out of your own damn way".

Dude, I am 36 and have struck out more times than you have snook back under your rock.
Im guessing by your post, that's a lot
Tough words, yes, BUT I don't feel that you have earned the right to even say that you've tried it.
You've literally dipped your toe in and you figured that the water is too cold for you.

If you go back to the slowlane - that's cool but you just have to learn to accept that you never got to where you dreamed of. If that's what you want, cool. It suits some people.

Its a cool thing that you are self-aware enough to know that you're literally punching yourself in the face but do not learn from your actions is just insane to me.

I think @MJ DeMarco mentioned in one of his books - you have to be in a position to say "F*ck it" and that will be your fuel to bring you outta of the mess that you've gotten yourself into.

Truth be told, no one really knows what enemies they will reach within the field - you just have to deal with it when you cross it. However, to find out who will be your biggest enemy and he/she will stop you in your tracks - take a look at the mirror.
This takes me back to the J.Peterson quote.

Good luck
 
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NanoDrake

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The first thing you need to do @NanoDrake is taking the wise advice from Mr Jordan Peterson -
"Get out of your own damn way".

Dude, I am 36 and have struck out more times than you have snook back under your rock.
Im guessing by your post, that's a lot
Tough words, yes, BUT I don't feel that you have earned the right to even say that you've tried it.
You've literally dipped your toe in and you figured that the water is too cold for you.

If you go back to the slowlane - that's cool but you just have to learn to accept that you never got to where you dreamed of. If that's what you want, cool. It suits some people.

Its a cool thing that you are self-aware enough to know that you're literally punching yourself in the face but do not learn from your actions is just insane to me.

I think @MJ DeMarco mentioned in one of his books - you have to be in a position to say "f*ck it" and that will be your fuel to bring you outta of the mess that you've gotten yourself into.

Truth be told, no one really knows what enemies they will reach within the field - you just have to deal with it when you cross it. However, to find out who will be your biggest enemy and he/she will stop you in your tracks - take a look at the mirror.
This takes me back to the J.Peterson quote.

Good luck

Hey man,
thank you for your post and for your wise words.
Well, may I ask you what do you consider the right to say I've tried? is by how many times you open/close a company? by how many mvp's you try to launch into the market? i'm not arguing with you on this, I just try to understand what metric do you use.

With regards of learning from my actions, well, it depends what do you mean? I learned the reasons I failed at the other attempts to switch to the fast lane (which I might or I might be not accurate in finding the cause)
If you don't mind, how you have dealt when after failures, you are in the position of low currency available?

To use the wise Peterson lessons, I understand the one you use, but I also want to quote "Stop doing things that are counter productive"
 

IamCJTurner

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Hey man,
thank you for your post and for your wise words.
Well, may I ask you what do you consider the right to say I've tried? is by how many times you open/close a company? by how many mvp's you try to launch into the market? i'm not arguing with you on this, I just try to understand what metric do you use.

With regards of learning from my actions, well, it depends what do you mean? I learned the reasons I failed at the other attempts to switch to the fast lane (which I might or I might be not accurate in finding the cause)
If you don't mind, how you have dealt when after failures, you are in the position of low currency available?

To use the wise Peterson lessons, I understand the one you use, but I also want to quote "Stop doing things that are counter productive"

No problem man, anytime.
I think to earn the right to say you have tried is to either succeed or die trying.
Success depends on the persons metric. Some peoples success is physical, some are love and some is money - and you will find those crazy ones that want their cake and eat it too.
Personally, I have not earned the right to say that I have tried because I don't believe my efforts have been good enough because I haven't fulfilled my objectives.
Very few in my mind earn the right and still survive.
Stephen Hawkins earned the right because he died trying to solve the universe - he failed his ultimate destiny BUT will go down in history as one of the greats - until his death, he never stopped.
Elon Musk - his dream is to build on Mars, he will never see his dreams come true because time will never allow that. He still hasn't earned the right to say that he tried because he has time left.
I have large goals - my right to say that I tried will come on the day I leave this earth - or go 6ft under it.

I don't accept that you failed because failure means that you didn't attempt to try. The bare fact that you here, speaks volumes - and this is what it's all about. In fact, my words to you - also speak volumes to me.

How do I deal with failures when I am in a position of low currency?
Well, first off.. my failures are lessons.. although they hurt the same way.
As a matter of fact, I own a telecomms company and right now, there is more month than money.
I wont go into the reasons why, its a little more complex than just a few sentences.
However, your pain, I feel. Trust me.
How do I deal with it? - I just deal with it.
I feel that my woes are the universe testing me, making sure I am worthy of the things I am looking to achieve.

Run towards your fear.
I cant tell you whats on the other side but I can guarantee its much better than stagnancy
 

NanoDrake

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No problem man, anytime.
I think to earn the right to say you have tried is to either succeed or die trying.
Success depends on the persons metric. Some peoples success is physical, some are love and some is money - and you will find those crazy ones that want their cake and eat it too.
Personally, I have not earned the right to say that I have tried because I don't believe my efforts have been good enough because I haven't fulfilled my objectives.
Very few in my mind earn the right and still survive.
Stephen Hawkins earned the right because he died trying to solve the universe - he failed his ultimate destiny BUT will go down in history as one of the greats - until his death, he never stopped.
Elon Musk - his dream is to build on Mars, he will never see his dreams come true because time will never allow that. He still hasn't earned the right to say that he tried because he has time left.
I have large goals - my right to say that I tried will come on the day I leave this earth - or go 6ft under it.

I don't accept that you failed because failure means that you didn't attempt to try. The bare fact that you here, speaks volumes - and this is what it's all about. In fact, my words to you - also speak volumes to me.

How do I deal with failures when I am in a position of low currency?
Well, first off.. my failures are lessons.. although they hurt the same way.
As a matter of fact, I own a telecomms company and right now, there is more month than money.
I wont go into the reasons why, its a little more complex than just a few sentences.
However, your pain, I feel. Trust me.
How do I deal with it? - I just deal with it.
I feel that my woes are the universe testing me, making sure I am worthy of the things I am looking to achieve.

Run towards your fear.
I cant tell you whats on the other side but I can guarantee its much better than stagnancy

Thanks again for your post, you have a very good angle to which I agree with majority of it.

I'll take home your line :

Run towards your fear.
I cant tell you whats on the other side but I can guarantee its much better than stagnancy
 
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WJS

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Pumped by an abnormous ego, I crashed and burned after a year. had to go back with parents, take a consulting job and save every dime to get to the end of the month.
To date I lost over 120,000 euro.

I understand what do you mean with Entrepreneurship, I tried 3 different projects and they both haven't paid out.

I learned the reasons I failed at the other attempts to switch to the fast lane (which I might or I might be not accurate in finding the cause)

Hi @NanoDrake. Thanks for sharing your story. Could you share with us why your ventures were not successful? Was it because:

1) There was not enough demand for your products/services?
2) Your business expenditures were much higher than your business income?
3) Your businesses do not have enough competitive advantage to separate you from your competitors?
4) Unforeseen circumstances eg unexpected lawsuit/natural disaster/sabotages that caused major damage to the business?

If you were to start over again, would you still do the same business and execute it differently? Or would you venture into a totally new market? Why?

This is the "tactical retreat" post

In my humble opinion, there is nothing wrong about going back to a job. There are obligations to attend to and if retreating temporarily while you plan for your next attempt is the way to go, then by all means go for it.

However, you do have to remind yourself the following at all times:

1) While you’re working for other people, you must take active and productive steps to make your next venture work.
2) Do a thorough analysis of why your previous attempts didn’t work out. Were the reasons really legitimate or was it just you? Be really honest with yourself.
3) Never take too long to execute your plan. Do your due diligence and research the market (and prepare yourself mentally and physically). Launch when the time is right. Take action and never look back.
 

NanoDrake

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Hi @NanoDrake. Thanks for sharing your story. Could you share with us why your ventures were not successful? Was it because:

1) There was not enough demand for your products/services?
2) Your business expenditures were much higher than your business income?
3) Your businesses do not have enough competitive advantage to separate you from your competitors?
4) Unforeseen circumstances eg unexpected lawsuit/natural disaster/sabotages that caused major damage to the business?

If you were to start over again, would you still do the same business and execute it differently? Or would you venture into a totally new market? Why?



In my humble opinion, there is nothing wrong about going back to a job. There are obligations to attend to and if retreating temporarily while you plan for your next attempt is the way to go, then by all means go for it.

However, you do have to remind yourself the following at all times:

1) While you’re working for other people, you must take active and productive steps to make your next venture work.
2) Do a thorough analysis of why your previous attempts didn’t work out. Were the reasons really legitimate or was it just you? Be really honest with yourself.
3) Never take too long to execute your plan. Do your due diligence and research the market (and prepare yourself mentally and physically). Launch when the time is right. Take action and never look back.

Hey WJS
Thank your for prompting in! I liked reading your post and insights.

In venture number one the biggest mistake was launching a me too product, there was a lot of demand and cheaper competitors flooded the market, I couldn't differentiate myself with just the classic "but my quality is better" I learned that the company with the best quality, most of times don't win.
I learned the concept of positioning and being market first and acquire customers on a process driven marketing instead of methodical hand to hand combat are key.

Second business venture was actually taking off much faster because it was picked up by a big player, although I violated the control commandment since I was a partner and we violated positioning again.
When Chinese knock offs arrived at 1/5 of our prices, our revenues dried up.
What I learned from this was to be fast with launching more products once your first is on the wave.
Also prepare to dominate your channel because someone might be copy cat you and occupy the position you created somewhere else (a.e amazon usa and people do the exact same on amazon uk - germany a month alter)

Third business venture failed because I thought I had to do everything, while I knew how to recruit VA's and outsource cheap labour, I failed to understand that recruiting key people in key positions is vital in some businesses (especially if you do b2b)
I hired lazy sales people that weren't generating sales, wrong team players (people doing sick leave on important deadlines while they were out partying)
So this venture showed me that hiring is a gamble but if you have a process, you minimize risks (i here can say I would apply the same concepts of Ray Dalio when recruiting)

If I had to start all over, I would still be in the same market (because I have knowledge of it and contacts) but I would spend more time understanding marketing and be extremely clear on the plan.
This Silicon Valley legend of "build your airplane while going down a hill" is complete bullshit. Gravity will gladly smash you against the floor. You test theories and prototypes and study them in a lab for hours before building a "beta model" and see if it flies.
I understood that generating demand is super difficult but can be done if you understand what keeps your customer on the lookout for a solution.


Noted on your reminder list, this is what do I have in my mind while keep pushing
 

NanoDrake

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Two questions:

1. What is your ultimate goal?
2. Does this path get you closer to that goal?

Personally, a corporate job (with a big equity package) got me closer to my goal of financial freedom. But, for most people, that's not the case. It doesn't need to be a big equity package, btw...there could be something else that will take you closer to your goal? High salary? Good connections? Experience? Etc...

But ultimately, that's what you need to figure out...
Hey JScott
Thanks for prompting in.

My ultimate goal is to be financially free so I have no longer have to work unless I want to before 38( this gives me 5 years roughly)
My path, at the moment, is not taking me there, it just dried me up and forced me to fall back to a position i don't like at all ( i had to move back with my parents after my last crash)

The reason why I'm considering this offer is because it has many of the things you mentioned: good salary, good connections, prestige and come back on the "achievers" radar.
As experience, I think I learned something unvaluable from my previous mistakes, but here I would be forced to apply what I learned so for my it would be like the ultimate boss fight or the final test to see if I graduated.

I'm reflecting a lot if this is a tactical retreat or it is me making a rational on a wounded part of me ( the entrepreneurial spirit) I come to the conclusion that I love the market I'm and I definitely want to do something on my own. but I'm lacking the catalyst to give me take off speed and gain the momentum I need to re launch my ventures
 
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OlivierMo

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This is a great read. Thanks for sharing your obstacles and why your projects were not successful. I'm building something right now and it's helping me with it.

I'm much older (45) so I don't have the luxury of time even though I feel damn young :))
 

WJS

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In venture number one the biggest mistake was launching a me too product, there was a lot of demand and cheaper competitors flooded the market, I couldn't differentiate myself with just the classic "but my quality is better" I learned that the company with the best quality, most of times don't win.

I learned the concept of positioning and being market first and acquire customers on a process driven marketing instead of methodical hand to hand combat are key.

Second business venture was actually taking off much faster because it was picked up by a big player, although I violated the control commandment since I was a partner and we violated positioning again.

When Chinese knock offs arrived at 1/5 of our prices, our revenues dried up.

What I learned from this was to be fast with launching more products once your first is on the wave.

Also prepare to dominate your channel because someone might be copy cat you and occupy the position you created somewhere else (a.e amazon usa and people do the exact same on amazon uk - germany a month alter)

For the first 2 points I’d have to respectfully disagree with you. Sometimes quality TRUMPS quantity. I’ve seen many examples of this. In fact read this post for a great example:

GOLD! - I Built A Worldwide Business From Broke.

Third business venture failed because I thought I had to do everything, while I knew how to recruit VA's and outsource cheap labour, I failed to understand that recruiting key people in key positions is vital in some businesses (especially if you do b2b)

I hired lazy sales people that weren't generating sales, wrong team players (people doing sick leave on important deadlines while they were out partying)

So this venture showed me that hiring is a gamble but if you have a process, you minimize risks (i here can say I would apply the same concepts of Ray Dalio when recruiting)

Since I’ve never actually hired people before, I won’t comment on this. I do, however keep this thread in my “watched thread” in case I need it in the future:

GOLD! - Building a team around you that will follow you to hell and back.

If I had to start all over, I would still be in the same market (because I have knowledge of it and contacts) but I would spend more time understanding marketing and be extremely clear on the plan.

This Silicon Valley legend of "build your airplane while going down a hill" is complete bullshit. Gravity will gladly smash you against the floor. You test theories and prototypes and study them in a lab for hours before building a "beta model" and see if it flies.

I understood that generating demand is super difficult but can be done if you understand what keeps your customer on the lookout for a solution.

Noted on your reminder list, this is what do I have in my mind while keep pushing

Looks like you’re set to go. You have clear directions and you know what you should do. I wish you all the best! Do keep updating so other people can also benefit from your experiences.

P.s: there are many methods for people to get capital other than having a job. Have you considered those options?

P.p.s: In order to tag people put an @ in front of their usernames ;)
 

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Failing is not failure at all, as long as you learned from the experience.

Why did your ventures fail?
What mistakes did you make the first time that you won't make again?
What will you do differently the next time?

Most businesses fail, that's just the facts. The Math. You are certainly not alone.

Give E-Myth Revisted a read - it talks a lot about why most businesses fail. I guarantee you will be able to identify yourself many times throughout the book and give you some insight for your next at bat.
 
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NanoDrake

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Hi @WJS
thanks for the tag lesson :)

I do think you misunderstood me on the first 2 points:
I'm not saying Quality isn't important, because I'm a firm believer that a higher quality product will allow you charge a premium, but what I'm saying is that it's much better to have an OK quality but the the first option in the head of your customers, sometimes it means cut on quality to pump advertising, sometimes it means be market first so get out with an MVP

Thanks for the post about building a team, will read it very soon
 

NanoDrake

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Failing is not failure at all, as long as you learned from the experience.

Why did your ventures fail?
What mistakes did you make the first time that you won't make again?
What will you do differently the next time?

Most businesses fail, that's just the facts. The Math. You are certainly not alone.

Give E-Myth Revisted a read - it talks a lot about why most businesses fail. I guarantee you will be able to identify yourself many times throughout the book and give you some insight for your next at bat.

Hey @IGP
Well, if you don't learn from your expansive mistakes, you are a poor idiot :)

I think I made a good job a bit above in underlining the causes but definitely reading the E.myth is on the list, I've been trying to do that for so much time.
 

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Hey @IGP
Well, if you don't learn from your expansive mistakes, you are a poor idiot :)

I think I made a good job a bit above in underlining the causes but definitely reading the E.myth is on the list, I've been trying to do that for so much time.

Read it... After you do, you will see that the reasons you listed above are not why your business failed!
 
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Hi @WJS

I do think you misunderstood me on the first 2 points:
I'm not saying Quality isn't important, because I'm a firm believer that a higher quality product will allow you charge a premium, but what I'm saying is that it's much better to have an OK quality but the the first option in the head of your customers, sometimes it means cut on quality to pump advertising, sometimes it means be market first so get out with an MVP

My bad. Do read the thread though. There are a lot of great points to take note of in the one and only (I think) GOLD intro thread in this forum. Especially on the part of building and maintaining great relationships with your customers, as well as providing "out of the world" level kind of customer service.
 

NanoDrake

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Hey Dude
My bad. Do read the thread though. There are a lot of great points to take note of in the one and only (I think) GOLD intro thread in this forum. Especially on the part of building and maintaining great relationships with your customers, as well as providing "out of the world" level kind of customer service.
No worries :)
Thanks for the lead, I will go through it tonight!
 

NanoDrake

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Hey guys, for who might be interested I made some researches.
I used some mental models in helping me to structure a framework to make a decision

So i took the national industry statistics of Italy (my native country) and in general, you have a 0,2% to create a business that makes over 2 mlns a year in revenue (please remember, it's Italy, not U.S) and doesn't die within the next 5 years.
In my industry, the top 15 players that are in "sellable" territory are all manufacturers, no PL brands got there, and of all of these, they all pushed one brand through the roof and made a lot thanks to export.
this is the baseline and what I'm using as a model. It took an average of 9-11 years to these companies to build a relative fast growing business.
The salary of a ceo for these companies usually ranges into the 140-160k euro a year plus benefits.
Majority of these companies were debt financed by retail banks.

Looking at this, it absolutely doesn't make sense if the ultimate goal is to "sell" for a big payday. let's call it more a "lifestyle" biz: you don't own a lambo but you drive a nice mercedes, take holidays when you want and have 2 nice houses.
Chances of achieving this (i'm using the regression to the mean here) are very slim and the award for this endeavour is not really tempting to me.

On the other side, let's take the U.S version (approx because I have some lacks of data)
From what I could observe, it takes 5 to 8 years for a brand to become interesting and reach high sales volumes. Quasi the totality of the brands that surpasses the 2 mln usd. over 5 years are PL brands and don't have manufacturing facilities.
What is the common point of these brands?
brand is structured correctly (here a bit of CENTS doesn't harm)
Cash injections by investors.
More availability of external services for faster growth.
Much bigger Market that accept concepts faster.

I lack data on the average salary levels during these years but it came to my understanding that the goal is to sell the business to score the big one deal.

In my current position, what assets do I have that I can leverage to put myself in the same position of who made it?
(work in progress)
 
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NanoDrake

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Next chapter: The Dilemma.

So I've been working on this and this current stage I think I will turn down the offer
***SHOCKING MUSIC ZAP***

I've made some calculations:

+ At my current stage, I learned to live as a "feral cat", I don't think classic corporate life will suit me and the worst thing I could do is to force myself into this "just because of the monnnnnneyyyyy" and hate it.
+ Even if making a shitload of money, after taxes, I would still need to live cheap and save everything for 5/6 years to have a net million in the bank.
Question is: would these 5/6 years be years I will remember when on my deathbed? will they be relevant to me? what would be the difference of sacrifice freedom for cash?
+ All of the above works if I do something that is relevant for me in the next 5/6 years. If I have to be a couch potato, is obvious that the only possible explanation is that I'm being an idiot.
+ It's better to make 50k and have available 95% of your time than make 250K and have 10% of your time available.
+ I promised myself time ago to NEVER EVER loose sleep because of work, and I can smell late stressful nights (which isn't just myself being biased or being weak, I think it's really a thing nowadays)

I'm taking time off for Easter, wish everyone that prompted in this topic a fantastic productive day
Thanks to @MJ DeMarco @IGP @WJS @OlivierMo @JScott @Imcjturner
 

throttleforward

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+ It's better to make 50k and have available 95% of your time than make 250K and have 10% of your time available.
I'd rather have the extra money. An extra $200k/yr goes a long way toward leveraging other people's time, plus giving you room to test various ideas (e.g. experimenting with ad campaigns, hiring VAs, importing products, etc.) , as opposed to eeking out a living and doing everything by yourself or being dependent on the first iteration to work because you have no leftover money.

+ I promised myself time ago to NEVER EVER loose sleep because of work, and I can smell late stressful nights (which isn't just myself being biased or being weak, I think it's really a thing nowadays)
I've lost a lot of sleep trying to start/run businesses...I'm afraid this comes with the territory whether you're working for yourself or someone else.
 

NanoDrake

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I'd rather have the extra money. An extra $200k/yr goes a long way toward leveraging other people's time, plus giving you room to test various ideas (e.g. experimenting with ad campaigns, hiring VAs, importing products, etc.) , as opposed to eeking out a living and doing everything by yourself or being dependent on the first iteration to work because you have no leftover money.


I've lost a lot of sleep trying to start/run businesses...I'm afraid this comes with the territory whether you're working for yourself or someone else.


Hi @throttleforward
Thanks for getting in.
About the extra money... what do you mean with extra money? I would be tight to a iron clad contract that would oblige me to focus 100% on that job
No side gigs, no drive bys, no "but can i build my own company while working at night?" stuff
At the moment, I don't really need "more" money to live.



I've lost a ton of sleep at my 2 previous attempts of creating my own business, I've also lost a lot of sleep while building somebody's else business.
That's what I want to avoid. I don't mind loosing my health to build something for me, I do mind loosing for somebody else.
 
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Hi @throttleforward
Thanks for getting in.
About the extra money... what do you mean with extra money? I would be tight to a iron clad contract that would oblige me to focus 100% on that job
No side gigs, no drive bys, no "but can i build my own company while working at night?" stuff
At the moment, I don't really need "more" money to live.



I've lost a ton of sleep at my 2 previous attempts of creating my own business, I've also lost a lot of sleep while building somebody's else business.
That's what I want to avoid. I don't mind loosing my health to build something for me, I do mind loosing for somebody else.
Is that kind of contract really enforceable? What if you were a stand-up comic or played in an orchestra at night - what could they do about that? I see you're in Malta so maybe the laws are different than the US, but other than termination of employment or suing you after launching a direct competitor there is little employers can do to penalize you for your outside activities.

And re: extra money, my thinking was that if you only need $50k or less to live, the remaining $200k could be applied toward a (or several) business attempt, allowing you room to continue failing and experimenting until you found something that worked without putting all your eggs in one basket.
 

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Is that kind of contract really enforceable? What if you were a stand-up comic or played in an orchestra at night - what could they do about that? I see you're in Malta so maybe the laws are different than the US, but other than termination of employment or suing you after launching a direct competitor there is little employers can do to penalize you for your outside activities.

And re: extra money, my thinking was that if you only need $50k or less to live, the remaining $200k could be applied toward a (or several) business attempt, allowing you room to continue failing and experimenting until you found something that worked without putting all your eggs in one basket.

Technically the contract cannot be enforced strictly, although, it poses a different question: would I do that? it's market related, so I could be a uber driver and do this job but would I feel confident in keeping in feet in two shoes?

I do agree with you on the extra money although, extra money can help me doing a lot, if I have just to take it and compound it till i become a millionaire, I don't think it's worthy tho...
 

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