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Parenting a Start-Up and Niños (Kids) – My 2nd Guest Post
Oct 15 2007

Check out my guest post at Austin Startup called Parenting a Start-Up and Niños (Kids).  I had fun pulling it together! Let me know what you think.  Just for grins, here is a copy of the grid I created comparing a High Tech Startup with Kids:

So, being the good little high-tech entrepreneur that I am, I made a grid to outline the differences.

High-Tech Startup Kids
Time 8 to 16 hours per day; 5 to 7 days per week (unless you are Tim Ferriss, author of the 4 Hour Work Week) 24 hours per day; 7 days per week (unless you have a live in nanny or grandparents)
Resources Not many, but you have the option of raising funds and hiring people to help you out Less than “Not many” with no option to raise funds, but you can hire help if you already have money
Rewards
  • Public recognition
  • People kissing your _____
  • Reasonable salary (and maybe even benefits) if funded and/or your product/service is quickly accepted by the market (i.e., paying customers, advertisers)
  • Private recognition (even if your kid is Al Gore and he wins the Nobel peace prize your name probably won’t show up in the news)
  • If things turn out well and your kid is reasonably well adjusted, you have bragging rights and the satisfaction that they have the ability to positively affect the world around them.  Oh and they just might take care of you when you are older.
Risks
  • You fail miserably and your name is in the news as being a ‘loser’ for a few months and you could quite possibly end up broke.
  • If you do something illegal you can end up in jail but after doing your time you can continue building your Martha Stewart Classic Living empire.
  • Your kid turns out to be a serial killer and they want to interview you non-stop on CNN and FOX News.
  • Your kid hates you but still calls you for money.

If you cracked a smile or dared to chuckle, you might also be interested in:

To NDA or Not to NDA?  That is the question.

Those Darn Fortune Cookies (I was almost mentioned on the FRONT page of the New York Times business section.  Yeesh!)

Are We There Yet? When Will We Get There?!

I hope you are all having as much fun as I am with my start-up!

In case you are wondering what my first guest post was about, look no further than Entreprenuership: A Blessing or a Curse? on Wendy Piersall’s eMoms at Home blog.  Yes that’s my old curly-haired avatar not my NEW one. 😀

Author: | Filed under: entrepreneurship, parenting | 5 Comments »

5 Comments on “Parenting a Start-Up and Niños (Kids) – My 2nd Guest Post”

  1. 1 Liz Fuller said at 7:30 PM on November 2nd, 2007:

    great grid – proves that if you are brave enough to raise a kid – you shouldn’t be afraid of anything!!

    I found you on the Carnival of Working at Home on the Internet
    http://workingathomeinternet.com/WP/2007/11/02/working-at-home-blog-carnival-fifty-seventh-edition/

  2. 2 Aruni said at 8:47 PM on November 2nd, 2007:

    Thanks for stopping by Liz! I guess that is true…I didn’t think about raising kids as being brave, but I know on several occassions bravery has been required! 🙂

  3. 3 Liz Fuller said at 9:01 PM on November 2nd, 2007:

    Hi Aruni
    I’ve raised four kids into adulthood so my comment comes from experience – loving someone so passionately and making yourself so vulnerable to them – takes bravery among a host of other character traits and talents.

    Starting a business can be similar – you put so much of your heart into it, and make yourself so vulnerable to the outcome; it takes courage, and a willingness to face risk – and to bravely face the consequences whether they be success or failure.

    I enjoy your perspectives and your blog and have subscribed to it in my reader.

  4. 4 Aruni said at 11:18 AM on November 3rd, 2007:

    Hi Liz – Thanks for sharing your perspective and for subscribing! I always tell people I’m responsible for 3 ventures…one is my business and 2 are my kids so I can see the similarities.

    That is quite an accomplishment to have raised 4 kids!

  5. 5 Working at Home on the Internet said at 3:04 PM on February 13th, 2008:

    […] Gunasegaram presents entrepreMusings » Parenting a Start-Up and Niños (Kids) – My 2nd Guest Post posted at Entrepremusings, saying, “I decided to compare starting a high-tech company and […]