[burlesona]

I’m a parent of three kids (all under 7), and I’m also the Cofounder of a startup that is doing quite well so far (though we are still early).

I would say that it all depends on funding. I have bootstrapped before, and I could never do that now. Perhaps more accurately, I would not want to do that now.

Having raised funds for this start up, my salary is a lot lower than it was working in enterprise, but it’s enough to support me and my family.

I have two Cofounders to share the load. One is also a parent, one isn’t. They pull a lot of weight, but none of us have to work ourselves to death. Having a good founding team is crucial.

My wife is at home full-time - Chief of Domestic Operations - and that’s what makes it work. Because she enjoys that role and I can feed us all, things work out.

With that support structure (funds, founding team, supportive spouse), it’s very doable. Still hard work, but the very enjoyable good kind of hard work.

[stncls]

> My wife is at home full-time - Chief of Domestic Operations - and that’s what makes it work.

I feel that this is very important and makes a huge difference. I think most families still have a "primary" caregiver (by that I mean it's not 50%-50%), even if not stay-at-home. Not only being that parent is incredibly time consuming [1], but it also comes with a draining mental load (raising kids is an endless grind of having to make decisions in the dark).

Grandparents and other community support can also be very beneficial.

[1] At some point during partial lockdowns, I clocked 70+ hours per week spent with my children. Meanwhile my partner was not slacking off averaging 40+ hours. That's with two full-time jobs, only two children, and still some daycare access (child care was prioritized in my area and was shut down only during the direst of the pandemic).