from Hacker News

Fear of Flying

by yoseph on 12/29/12, 7:22 PM with 19 comments

  • by malandrew on 12/29/12, 10:41 PM

    Does it not strike people as somewhat ironic when something like this is written by an investor, a person whose MO is to basically spread risk across a portfolio of companies instead of an entrepreneur like Elon Musk who has actually done what is described in the post time and time again?

    Don't get me wrong, I really like DMC, but it strikes me as somewhat contradictory for a piece like this to be written by anyone but a person who consistently/repeatedly spreads risks a lot of what they have on bigger ventures. Once you have an exceptional network and reputation, there are few positions, besides maybe being a lawyer, that come with less risk in Silicon Valley than that of an investor.

  • by greghinch on 12/30/12, 5:24 AM

    This is definitely a cultural thing. In discussions with the folks I'm working with (in London), failure is still the big fear. In Europe it seems, one failure marks you for life. In fact I had this exact discussion, I (Bay Area based), have definitely felt much more the fear of success. My take is that when you are afraid of success, you are probably picturing a much different version of what success is than someone who is more afraid of failure.

    At the end of the day, fear is fear, we all have it, you either keep going or you let it stop you.

  • by tzaman on 12/29/12, 11:47 PM

    If I take this article a bit more literally - I was afraid of flying too (with airplanes), then I decided to put an end to it and took skydiving lessons; Yeah the ones where not only you climb to the sky with a plane, but you jump out of it on about 13k feet (4km). Liberating is pretty much the word that describes it, and I'd also like to think about the same sensation (minus a bit of adrenaline) when you actually succeed (however you define success is up to you) in business.

  • by eduardordm on 12/29/12, 9:25 PM

    Does it really has to be that way? Is it flying or crashing the only possibilites?

    Maybe not. Maybe soft landings are possible, just don't put everything you got in just one shot.