Top all-time · #2286
Jason Freedman
Personal blog · humbledmba.comstartupscareer
Jason Freedman writes humbledMBA, a personal blog at humbledmba.com about startups and career. Since 2010, 35 different Hacker News readers have linked it 78 times, most often “Please stop asking how to find a technical co-founder.”. The last post was in 2021, but the archive is still widely read.
Most-linked posts?
- Please stop asking how to find a technical co-founder.8 people · 8 mentions · first linked 2011-06-30
- Don't give bullshit advice4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2011-05-25
- The Drag Coefficient Scoring System: what size startup is right for you3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2010-06-30
- Startups in stealth mode need one piece of advice.3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2011-02-15
- Beware of MBAs2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2015-07-30
- Don't try this at home. How credit card arbitrage funded my first company. 2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2011-09-22
- You don't get shit you don't ask for2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2011-05-31
- /become-a-morning-person-how-to-end-insomnia-f2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2014-07-29
- How to Earn a Technical Co-Founder2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2016-03-24
What Hacker News says?
Yep...know how you feel bud. Thanks for sharing out loud. I want to add one additional suggestion. I think lack of light and Seasonal Affective Disorder gets mixed into the normal startup depression quite frequently. It's never surprising to me when people feel depressed during winter months. The lack of light, lack of vitamin D—it contributes heavily. Now, the OP mentioned this is a once-a-quarter pattern, so S.A.D…
Comment linking /become-a-morning-person-how-to-end-insomnia-f
on “Sad, Tired, and Alone: My Ongoing Battle With Startup Depression”Submitted You don't get shit you don't ask for as a story · 387 points
HN discussion>Is it the prevailing opinion in the startup community these days that building up personal debt and letting your relationships fail are worthwhile parts of starting a company, or is this, as I suspect, just a sad story about misaligned priorities? Ultimately, whether or not it was "worth it" will always be decided based on the final outcome of the company coupled with a large dose of hindsight bias. A startup found…
Comment linking /dont-try-this-at-home-how-credit-card-arbitra
on “The last day”Submitted Please stop asking how to find a technical co-founder. as a story · 364 points
HN discussionWhat is your amazing idea? http://www.humbledmba.com/startups-in-stealth-mode-need-one-...
Comment linking /startups-in-stealth-mode-need-one-piece-of-ad
on “Applications Open for Winter 2012 YC Funding”Submitted Don't. Waste. Time. as a story · 323 points
HN discussionYes. See http://humbledmba.com/become-a-morning-person-how-to-end-ins...
Comment linking /become-a-morning-person-how-to-end-insomnia-f
on “Total darkness at night key to success of breast cancer therapy”Submitted Everyone sucks at interviewing. Everyone. as a story · 292 points
HN discussionSeems like I see this article on hacker news a lot. Here are some of my past favorites. http://www.humbledmba.com/startups-in-stealth-mode-need-one-... http://eaaasyusuf.blogspot.com/2012/03/tell-everyone-about-y...
Comment linking /startups-in-stealth-mode-need-one-piece-of-ad
on “No One Will Steal Your Big Idea”Submitted Startups in stealth mode need one piece of advice. as a story · 288 points
HN discussionI really dislike articles like this, which state unproven thoughts as facts and useful advice. 1) Learning to code isn't hard? It is. But let's say you did learn some basic stuff and put up an MVP which is gaining traffic. You now need to hire more engineers. How are you going to vet them? When you hire them are you going to manage them or are they going to manage you? Are they just going to take over the product? H…
Comment linking /please-please-please-stop-asking-how-to-find
on “Stop Looking For A Technical Co-founder”Submitted Become a morning person. How to end insomnia for $520.99 as a story · 256 points
HN discussionHe links to another article which states clearly what he was trying to say: Don't look for a technical cofounder; earn one. http://www.humbledmba.com/please-please-please-stop-asking-h...
Comment linking /please-please-please-stop-asking-how-to-find
on “Stop Looking For A Technical Co-founder”Submitted How to Email Busy People as a story · 221 points
HN discussionI'm curious if there are more up-to-date recommendations for his light regulation technique, linked at the beginning of the article: http://humbledmba.com/become-a-morning-person-how-to-end-ins... For example, the "NatureBright Per3 Deluxe Wake Up Light" recommended in the 2012 update is no longer available on Amazon.
Comment linking /become-a-morning-person-how-to-end-insomnia-f
on “When you have to wake up earlier than usual”Submitted Meanwhile, just East of Silicon Valley, in Tupelo Mississippi... as a story · 183 points
HN discussionI'm not sure how this matches up with your previous article, http://www.humbledmba.com/dont-give-bullshit-advice , that made the point: "Don't tell an entrepreneur whether you think his idea will work. You don't know. You have absolutely no idea." Either you give advice about what doesn't work, or you don't... you can't do both.
Comment linking /dont-give-bullshit-advice
on “Advice to advisers: Stop being so nice.”Submitted Public speaking for normal people as a story · 173 points
HN discussionGood talk, but lots of big generalities. You have to pick and choose what to really take to heart, IMO. Good counterpoint that you may have already seen: http://www.humbledmba.com/dont-give-bullshit-advice
Comment linking /dont-give-bullshit-advice
on “Naval Ravikant: "The Anatomy of a Fundable Startup" (video)”Submitted Don't give bullshit advice as a story · 158 points
HN discussionGreat post, and I definitely empathize with your struggle. Finding a good co-founder is damn hard, whether he's technical or business. As someone who has been in those shoes before (but wearing the business hat looking for a technical co-founder), I have found it at least as hard, if not harder, to find good technical co-founders. I think a business person who is unwilling to learn any amount of coding, especially o…
Comment linking /please-please-please-stop-asking-how-to-find
on “A Hacker's Journey To Find A Co-Founder”Submitted Don't try this at home. How credit card arbitrage funded my first company. as a story · 150 points
HN discussionI'll point you to some articles written by people more experienced than I at this: anti-family: - Jason Friedman http://www.humbledmba.com/the-drag-coefficient-scoring-syste... Pro-family: - Vivek Wadhwa http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1431263 http://techcrunch.com/2009/09/07/when-it-comes-to-founding-s... Hope you find these helpful. Good luck!
Comment linking /the-drag-coefficient-scoring-system-how-to-de
on “Ask HN: Does having a family makes you less of a startup material?”Submitted Why Entrepreneurs Can't Sleep as a story · 131 points
HN discussionI've found this helpful as well: http://www.humbledmba.com/please-please-please-stop-asking-h... http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2714304 Get out there an meet as many people as you can! Go to local events, tap into your personal networkm do whatever it takes. Its not easy, but it is possible. Good Luck!
Comment linking /please-please-please-stop-asking-how-to-find
on “Need a Tech Co-Founder”Submitted Obliterate Startup Depression as a story · 119 points
HN discussionIt can definitely be done like your mentor said. As a Rails developer myself, I'm kind of biased to coders being part of the DNA of the company and having a strong stake in it. This is a great article on humbdledmba for non-tech co-founders: http://www.humbledmba.com/please-please-please-stop-asking-h... They make a good point. The coder's biggest is fear is wasting his/her time. Do as much as you can to alleviate t…
Comment linking /please-please-please-stop-asking-how-to-find
on “Founding an online startup. Do I need to learn programming?”Submitted There is no such thing as a CEO of pre-product startup. Get off of it. as a story · 119 points
HN discussionNot sure who downvoted me for this but I share the same sentiment being said here when I made this comment: http://www.humbledmba.com/dont-give-bullshit-advice Think about all the times ideas like million dollar homepage and pet rocks pops up. People are quick to judge but never seem to see that what they think will succeed or fail is purely an opinion. You can't predict whether something will be a success or not fo…
Comment linking /dont-give-bullshit-advice
on “Is this game good enough to succeed in AppStore? ”Submitted The 2-step trick to getting sweet-ass job referrals as a story · 117 points
HN discussion
