Ask HN: launching a startup but still having a life?

[Sabrosa]

I’m a young, 20-something guy who’s been working on a startup project for about 5 months now. It’s going well. Fortunately, my project is technically very simple – most of the work is non-technical (writing, design, etc.) which I am better at. There will also be no need for a huge staff to maintain the site, once it's live.

Here’s the thing: sitting in front of a computer for 15 hours a day isn’t exactly how I want to spend the next 2-5 years. These are arguably the best years of my life (age 18-26) and I’d like to spend them traveling, volunteering, and doing other crazy stuff.

At the same time, I’m passionate about the product and entrepreneurship in general. It’s not that I’m lazy or unwilling to put in the work (far from it), it just doesn’t seem like the right phase in my life to sacrifice all of my time.

Any advice on running a startup “part-time”? Is it doable, or am I just deluding myself? Would going all-out for a couple years then selling the business be a better plan? Putting the idea on the backburner isn’t an option, so please don’t suggest it. I currently don’t have the money to travel. Even if I did, there’s a time limit to my startup – I need to launch soon, before someone else solves this problem. The question is “How will I execute?” not “Will or Should I execute?”

(Yes, I know you aren’t supposed to keep your idea under wraps. I have talked to numerous business professionals offline, but I’m not ready to broadcast it on a tech savvy site like HN.)

[rick888]

The problem is that it will take sacrifice and hard work to get your startup off the ground. If you half-ass it, you probably won't succeed (I've seen many failed attempts from others and myself).

If you want to travel, volunteer, and do crazy stuff, that's fine, but you probably won't be able to run a successful startup at the same time.

[Sabrosa]

Yeah, I agree entirely with the initial work. I don't have a problem buckling down (in one place) for the next 6-12 months and getting the product launched.

The issue, I think, is if I can actually run it from abroad, after it's been launched. Or rather, if it's even worth trying to manage it part-time - perhaps I'd be better off just focusing on it 100% for the next 1-2 years, and then see what happens.

(My apologies for not being clear in the initial post.)

[mattm]

Instead of travelling from point A to point B, go live in another place like Thailand. Costs are cheap (you can live well on $500 a month) and you get to experience more of the culture rather than just travelling through.

[Sabrosa]

That is a possibility. But the idea is more to go wherever you want and run a startup simultaneously - being able to manage it anywhere that has an Internet connection.

[martinshen]

I think you should worry about the other stuff after you launch the site. Buckle down for the next 6 months. After that, figure it out. As 37signals says... Look only 90 days ahead... Shit changes.

Also, don't assume success.