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by hawkice 4302 days ago
Every time I see stories like this on HN I am very tempted to scream about how my burn rate is $700/mo living a very good life without too many distractions from my work. I cannot imagine why people would lace up with lead boots on their first venture by trying it in SF.
3 comments
valarauca1 4302 days ago
"We all like to believe great works are made like the book Ulysses. James Joyce locking himself literally in a hotel room for 2 years straight and doing nothing but working. But reality most great works take as much from what surrounds them as give back to it." -John Green (Slightly Paraphrased).
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silentscope 4302 days ago
"all of us go a little mad: whether from great personal success, or just an all-night drive, we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen." - John le Carre
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ForHackernews 4302 days ago
Because VCs won't fund you unless you're nearby: http://www.forbes.com/sites/maureenfarrell/2010/10/28/ventur...

Seems like maybe there's an opportunity for a VC firm that only invested in far-flung companies.

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FiatLuxDave 4302 days ago
It does happen. However, as the article you linked notes, they hold the reins a lot tighter when it does. I speak from personal experience, since I ran a startup located in Florida which was funded by DFJ. I can say that it was a different experience than the typical Valley startup; we didn't benefit as much from networking as much as we possibly could have. After the first year, we would have a new funding round every few months, and we had to meet benchmarks to show progress. Even though Tim is a really nice guy and was great to work with, it was very stressful to operate with such a short but continually lengthened (until it wasn't) runway. I wouldn't recommend it to the weak of constitution. However, I can understand why they did it - without eyes on the scene on a frequent basis, they were putting much more trust in us than they were in other startups which they could more easily monitor and guide.
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Domenic_S 4302 days ago
Networking. Isolation is fine in KTLO mode but if you're trying to innovate you (usually) need the right environment.
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