What Will My Girlfriend Think is a non-trivial issue for some people, too. This was mentioned at a conference in Tokyo this week.
My advice, for Japanese salarymen and other folks who have to worry about this: it may be easier to sell her on the startup as sort of an extended interview process for Google than it is to sell her on the startup qua startup. (Substitute Microsoft or another "solid, stable job appropriate for the kind of guy who is dating me" if required for your area.)
Ironically, this was pretty much my tact with my parents up until this year, when (prior to going full-time) my mother said "So are you still planning on quitting the bingo thing and joining Google? Because that sounds stupid. You should totally go for the business instead." There is no easier idea to sell someone on than the one they thought up for you, right?
"solid, stable job appropriate for the kind of guy who is dating me"
It's certainly more difficult, but you could try to find a girl who wants you rather than 50% of your future earnings. You'll probably have a better time with her as well.
A little aside about being (and not being) salarymen:
My current landlord probably would never have rented my apartment to me if she had met me in my current state. However, when I first started living here, all I had to do was slide over my business card. The logo on it implies "This man will be no problem for you. He is of the finest character or he would never work here. If he is hospitalized, our CEO will walk his rent to your door and apologize for the inconvenience. Should you have any other issue with him, one call to us and he will wish he had been hospitalized. Guaranteed by the good name -- and virtually limitless capital reserves -- of $COMPANY."
Salarymen do not typically make a lot of money, but in a very status-conscious society, salarymen at particularly well-known companies didn't just draw a high card, we drew a straight flush. And we've got the next best thing to a signed promise from God Almighty that that status will never degrade in any material fashion.
I was once introduced to the mother of a young day I was seeing at the time. She was less than enthusiastic about me, mostly because of the one inalterable way in which I will never be ideal Japanese husband material. However, when I mentioned what I did for a living, you could practically see the gears turn in her head: "My grandchildren will go to only the best grade schools. They will always have enough money to pay for cram school. They will test into the best high schools, then universities, and then they will get jobs as salarymen just like their father and they will be set for life. Don't let him get away!" (She actually may have said that last bit out loud.)
I have a lot of sympathy for your point regarding materialism, but I have never begrudged the lady in question that thought process.
So anyhow: I have all manner of practical ideas on how to market a startup like it is really a soulless Japanese megacorp.
I hate to be harsh but I'm inclined to think the type of guy who wouldn't follow his dream because his girlfriend told him not to is not the type of guy who will be able to weather the amount of rejection and emotional stress that goes along with starting a business.
Perhaps it's not so much about "told him not to" than the fact that in many places, going off and doing your own thing is not normal, so it's pretty much guaranteed to be a point of contention, if not outright conflict.
I don't think Italy is nearly as bad as Japan from this point of view (I don't know Japan at all, though), but there's certainly more of a mentality among many people that it's for the best if you get a Permanent Job with a Stable Company.
Economy: Many successful startups have succeeded in a down economy (Microsoft and Google were started in recessions). The truth is a down economy is good for a startup because it weakens larger competitors who need large amounts of money to support their existing infrastructure.
Uncertainty: Job security is a myth. Even if you work for a big company that's secure against going out of business there's nothing to say you won't lose your job tomorrow because of some cost cutting initiative. So you really shouldn't let this become a factor.
Indecision: If you aren't passionate about what type of business you want to start you shouldn't start it. So if this is a problem you should just stay in your existing job.
Debt: If you have good credit you can get a small business loan to ensure you have a consistent salary until you can get customers or VC money. If you have bad credit AND debt you probably shouldn't be starting a business
Family: This is legit. If you have a lot of family obligations you shouldn't start a business
No Benefits: Private benefits actually aren't that expensive. I just checked ehealthinsurance.com and they quoted $79 a month for me. As for 401(k) and such you're making a bet on your new business that it will pay out big for you so you shouldn't really be worrying about retirement for that 2 year period where you're trying to start-up
On the last one, private benefits are only cheap in certain cases. If you have kids, the cost goes up a lot, and if you or your family has used the health insurance in the past 12 months, the cost skyrockets (and many insurers won't take you). You don't even have to have leukemia or AIDS or anything to be disqualified or get charged really high rates; it could be as simple as, your kid has gotten two antibiotic courses in the past year, or you had a kidney stone.
As for the suggestion in the article, pooling among small businesses, it's been floated a number of times, and some states have tried to set up those kinds of pools, but so far it hasn't really worked: http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/26/smallbusiness/healthcare_poo...
It seems like this is a course more of the pre-obligated entrepreneurs are taking. With a stable income it is possible to start a company on the side, and hopefully it will become a sole source of income, but you will likely never see anywhere near the explosive growth a dedicated startup would have.
In my opinion, a "Tim Ferris" style business is going to be worth more its weight in gold compared to a business that require constant manning and may not work out in five years.
It just require an almost inhuman amount of efficiency and dedication to incremental improvement.
A "Tim Ferris" style business also might not work out in five years.
I love mostly-passive income (it is the bulk of my current income), but that doesn't mean that the income source needs to start out passive. Just have a plan for stepping away since freedom is really the only thing worth buying with money.
There are a lot of jurisdictions in the world where this is impossible due to common restrictions in the employment contracts. California, yes. Many other places, no.
"Private benefits actually aren't that expensive. I just checked ehealthinsurance.com and they quoted $79 a month for me."
The issue here has less to do with the cost of private health insurance, than with whether private health insurance provides the same protection as employer-sponsored health insurance. I have seen this issue come up several times on Hacker News (unfortunately can't find links to the stories I remember). Someone has private health insurance, develops a chronic illness, and loses their health insurance as a result.
Even healthy people get a coverage offer at $1,400/month (for a family, granted, not an individual). That's quite a bit of change for someone who never needs to see a doctor (granted again, the kids have annual visits).
I don't think debt and bad credit should hold anyone back either. If you're bootstrapping you just have to include your debt payments as part of your expenses. And bad credit sometimes can take years to fix, so you may miss your opportunities if you wait for your credit to get better before starting.
You know, I think it's a good thing that people are afraid to start a business, up to a certain point. Success requires so much determination that anybody put off by reasonably small barriers to entry probably wouldn't make it anyway.
Articles like this seem to have a misplaced emphasis. Rather than soothingly anyone's fear about entrepreneurhood, starting a business should only be "sold" in the way the marines sell themselves - "the few, the proud...".
At least in the US where the entrepreneurial spirit is very much celebrated, there are probably many more people who want to start a business who shouldn't than there are people who should start a business and are afraid. Each of the fears listed in the article is absolutely justified for some people.
Starting a business involves investing a lot of time and/or money. While money is something you can always earn back, a person only has certain amount of time in their life. You could be advancing your career and/or on a real vacation in time you spend on a business that fails. If you're 30 and business takes ten years to "try", are you willing to "be a failure" at 40? Ask yourself that now.
It's not a matter a matter of X things that stop a person who would otherwise do just great in business. It's a matter of X things that a person needs before they can reasonably contemplate beginning a business. Skills: reasonably organized, pro-active, self-motivated, persuasive, willing to fail again and again. Just having some of the skills and vague entrepreneurial bent is not enough...
My advice, for Japanese salarymen and other folks who have to worry about this: it may be easier to sell her on the startup as sort of an extended interview process for Google than it is to sell her on the startup qua startup. (Substitute Microsoft or another "solid, stable job appropriate for the kind of guy who is dating me" if required for your area.)
Ironically, this was pretty much my tact with my parents up until this year, when (prior to going full-time) my mother said "So are you still planning on quitting the bingo thing and joining Google? Because that sounds stupid. You should totally go for the business instead." There is no easier idea to sell someone on than the one they thought up for you, right?