• BC
    13.6k
    like a bull not get his eyes off the ball,Agustino

    Why are bulls so interested in the ball?
  • Jamal
    9.8k
    Most people have this fairy tale idea of the entrepreneur as some kind of invincible hero who always succeeds at whatever he touches - a sort of Midas. But that's not true - he succeeds because he puts in literarily almost non-stop working hours for many many years, and battles through whatever comes his way, whether that is mental illness, fear, lack of finances, etc. - whatever comes his way, he will bear it, and like a bull not get his eyes off the ball, not give up.Agustino

    This is also a fairy tale, one we often hear from entrepreneurs. The successful ones, of course. The ones who give TED talks extolling the virtues of failure and reminiscing about the days when they lived on gruel, and so on and on.

    Working for a company run by others doing what you are good at is a better option for those of us who are not as dynamic as you perhaps are.T Clark

    No, that's just a way to stay in your comfort zone. You never grow that way, so if your life is about feeling safe, sure, do that, but otherwise I wouldn't recommend it because you'll regret it later.Agustino

    This is a careless comment Gus. If you're, say, a civil engineer, then working for an established company is the best way to develop your craft, because it provides the resources, variety of projects, and administrative support to allow you to focus on your specialist tasks. Sometimes, security is necessary to give you the space to progress. Think also of what academia does for scientists: it is not an easy option, but rather the proper context in which they can concentrate on what they're interested in. How useful is it for an engineer to have to worry about business when what they really want to do is build great dams?

    And I say this as someone who, perhaps like you, gave up working for other people and started a business.
  • Agustino
    11.2k
    This is also a fairy tale, one we often hear from entrepreneurs. The successful ones, of course. The ones who give TED talks extolling the virtues of failure and reminiscing about the days when they lived on gruel, and so on and on.jamalrob
    I have not personally known an entrepreneur who had it easy, especially not in the beginning. Even doctors who had worked for 20+ years, when they first started on their own they had quite a rough patch. Though some entrepreneurs have it easier than others, obviously. I would put IT entrepreneurs like us in that category actually - basically no transportation logistics, no inventory management, heavily automated (because online), don't depend on work geographically, etc. It's quite a simple business really.

    If you're, say, a civil engineer, then working for an established company is the best way to develop your craft, because it provides the resources, variety of projects, and administrative support to allow you to focus on your specialist tasks.jamalrob
    Oh, interesting - I actually am a civil engineer by degree. There is a reason why I'm not working as a civil engineer and it's precisely this - it's difficult to start a business as a civil engineer.

    How useful is it for an engineer to have to worry about business when what they really want to do is build great dams?jamalrob
    That's not what I meant. Sure, in the beginning, as an engineer, you need to work for an established company to develop your craft. 5, 10, 20 years. But if you keep working after that in the same conditions, then almost certainly you've stopped growing. Either you must change position, or you must start on your own, a consulting company, a general contractor, etc.
  • Jamal
    9.8k
    I actually am a civil engineer by degreeAgustino

    Me too.

    But if you keep working after that in the same conditions, then almost certainly you've stopped growing. Either you must change position, or you must start on your own, a consulting company, a general contractor, etc.Agustino

    But changing position, taking on more responsibility and so on, can also be done in an established company. In any case, you were dead wrong to respond to T Clark's comment, "working for a company run by others doing what you are good at is a better option ...", by saying "no, that's just a way to stay in your comfort zone". It isn't always.
  • Noble Dust
    8k
    What's the correlation between civil engineer and hobbyist philosopher? :chin: :chin:
  • Jamal
    9.8k
    Please, I'm an amateur, not a hobbyist.

    T Clark and Agustino are the only philosophical civil engineers I know, so I'm guessing it's just a delightful coincidence.
  • Noble Dust
    8k
    Please, I'm an amateur, not a hobbyist.jamalrob

    Seems like a dialect issue; amateur has a negative con' over here in Ammuurica.

    T Clark and Agustino are the only philosophical civil engineers I know, so I'm guessing it's just a delightful coincidence.jamalrob

    Oh right, how many other aspiring career musicians do you find around here, other than old @Terrapin Station, who seems to have disappeared? :rofl:
  • Jamal
    9.8k
    Seems like a dialect issue; amateur has a negative con' over here in Ammuurica.Noble Dust

    Yes, also in the UK, but I like to emphasize the word's etymology, according to which it means someone who does something for the love of it, not for the money.

    Oh right, how many other aspiring career musicians do you find around here, other than old Terrapin Station, who seems to have disappeared?Noble Dust

    Wayfarer is a musician I believe, and I noodle on a cute little curved soprano sax from time to time.
  • Agustino
    11.2k
    What's the correlation between civil engineer and hobbyist philosopher? :chin: :chin:Noble Dust
    More interesting than that, what's the correlation between civil engineering and web development :rofl:
  • Noble Dust
    8k
    Yes, also in the UK, but I like to emphasize the word's etymology, according to which it means someone who does something for the love of it, not the money.jamalrob

    Ah fuck, I just got schooled by the bossman. Whatever, I'll pretend I have a goal-post-moving argument that grabs sufficient attention so-as to prevent common knowledge of my current ass-kicking-in-progress *ca-ching* DONE :100:

    Wayfarer is a musician I believe, and I noodle on a cute little curved soprano sax from time to time.jamalrob

    I do remember Wayfarer as a keyboardist of some sort; I know a few others who tinkle the keys, but I can only remember TS as someone who is/was apparently a semi/full professional musician, other than myself.
  • Agustino
    11.2k
    T Clark and Agustino are the only philosophical civil engineers I know, so I'm guessing it's just a delightful coincidence.jamalrob
    Yeah, I've never met others either.
  • Jamal
    9.8k
    More interesting than that, what's the correlation between civil engineering and web developmentAgustino

    I actually know several guys I studied with who went into programming of one kind or another.
  • Agustino
    11.2k
    I actually know several guys I studied with who went into programming of one kind or another.jamalrob
    Well yeah, programming sure. A lot of civil engineering involves programming too - finite element analysis, parametric modelling, etc. all can't do without programming.
  • Jamal
    9.8k
    I do remember Wayfarer as a keyboardist of some sort; I know a few others who tinkle the keys, but I can only remember TS as someone who is/was apparently a semi/full professional musician, other than myself.Noble Dust

    Ah yes, I see. Me, I sacrificed my glorious musical talents to Mammon and my creative spirit was crushed by the relentless imperatives of capital. :wink:
  • Agustino
    11.2k
    Sleeping is the correlation between civil engineering & web development?
  • Noble Dust
    8k


    God, fuck off; too close to home right now. :rofl:

    I'm currently wrestling with my desire to express the inward musical drive, against the insanity of Mammon himself; do I actually want to sacrifice my precious gift at his feet? Sell my soul to America?
  • Jamal
    9.8k
    Actually it was just my excuse for not practising today :grin:
  • Noble Dust
    8k


    Oh, I never practice. I just write dope shit.
  • Agustino
    11.2k
    Oh, is it?Noble Dust
    Yeah, a web developer is a civil engineer who has gone to sleep :naughty:
  • Noble Dust
    8k


    Huh, how is that so?
  • T Clark
    14k
    What's the correlation between civil engineer and hobbyist philosopher?Noble Dust

    You don't have to be real smart.
  • T Clark
    14k
    Yeah, I've never met others either.Agustino

    Yasir Arafat was a civil engineer, but I guess that doesn't count.
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