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Comment by urthor | Hacker News Reader

My circle of friends has three self made 8 digit millionaires in their 20s. I've honestly been slacking.

I don't think I can do it in 1 year. 5 years is perfectly possible.

We live in the golden age of computer science entrepreneurialism.

Venture capital has never been easier to get. The low hanging fruit is largely still unpicked. And, with full remote, hard working highly capable talent has never been easier to hire (hire Europeans, they're overeducated and underpaid).

IMO, not starting a business in the next 5 years would be remarkably foolish.

Just have to write a 35 page business plan, get it reviewed by capable people, have a good idea, and execute.

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>Venture capital has never been easier to get

I think you've missed a lot of developments in the last year or so...

>Just have to write a 35 page business plan, get it reviewed by capable people, have a good idea, and execute.

Thousands of aspiring SV millionaires have done just that and their companies still got nowhere.

Not to mention this sounds like the business version of "how to draw an owl" meme.

Well, I think you write the 35 page business plan.

Then if you can't impress people with your 35 page document, back to your day job.

Getting excited about a subpar startup idea seems like the biggest point of failure.

> I think you've missed a lot of developments in the last year or so...

Trend vs business cycle.

The long term trend is the world's accumulating vast stores of capital. And capital has to be deployed.

Once the current business cycle is over, the capital saturation will mean Silicon Valley VC idiocy will resume.

> Just have to write a 35 page business plan, get it reviewed by capable people, have a good idea, and execute.

Last word in that sentence doing a lot.

"Have a good idea" isn't exactly lounging around, either!

Step 1: Collect underpants

Step 2: ?????????

Step 3: Profit!

Depending on whose underpants they are, you may not need a Step 2...

35 pages! I worked for an IPO where the CEO made the 40 under 40 from a business plan written on a napkin. The fact that you have something written on paper and hopefully not in crayon would have likely snagged you a $10MM valuation in SV a couple of months ago. Times have changed but I hope you are successful.

Software industry is just so weird.

iirc, graduates at Goldman and similar traditionally do/did a 20 page investment banking proposal every 2 days.

They're filtering, so whenever they don't have enough real work, research and write a business proposal for some IB deal or whatever line of work.

Essentially, they just research, write, then supervisor reviews, director reviews, nonstop.

That's investment banking. Write dozens of proposals, pitch a couple to actual companies the partner thinks are good ideas.

https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-pitch-...

https://www.10xebitda.com/investment-banking-presentations/

And it works. They're usually quite good ideas (after all those drafts).

Meanwhile, Silicon Valley funds ridiculous stupidity, because somehow technology startups just make that much money.

I have no idea how Silicon Valley VC firms make any sort of return on capital.

>I worked for an IPO where the CEO made the 40 under 40 from a business plan written on a napkin

Then it wasn't on the merits of the business plan, but the idea, niche, timing, connections, delivery, and several other factors besides...

Millions can scrible some startup idea on a napkin. Getting a VC to take you seriously is another matter, even with a fully fleshed presentation, a prototype, and a well written and researched business plan.

Yes, there's a reason there are "deck-writing bootcamps" and "pitch trainers" and other voodoo. VCs move at the centre of a feeding frenzy.

If that's what will bring you happiness, then don't let anyone stop you. However I just want to give you a little nudge, to think about if you really have no time outside this pursuit of wealth to enjoy yourself. You're only young once :)

> We live in the golden age of computer science entrepreneurialism.

no we don't, not any more. the disruptors are now the ones to be disrupted, and they're trying awful hard to keep that from happening.

like, sure there are still new businesses starting, that's true in a lot of fields. but SVB imploding is a fantastic sign as to what is truly happening to startup culture.

> The low hanging fruit is largely still unpicked.

Given that I'm not one to balk at writing 35 pages and an 8 digit bank account is relevant to my interests could you throw out a few of the low hanging fruit? I assume you won't be angry if I take one.

Transparent algorithms, software defined private capital markets.

The state of the globe's capital markets for a range of non-equity financial products is appalling.

Forget cryptocurrency exchanges. The global financial tools available for bonds, futures, you name it, just about everything else is so appalling.

Venture capital was never easier to get. Be careful, past performance is no guarantee of future results

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