New ask Hacker News story: Ask HN: Founders with commitments and student loans, how is it?
Ask HN: Founders with commitments and student loans, how is it?
3 by barnettx | 1 comments on Hacker News.
A bit of context: college junior majoring in CS, have always been interested in tech and startups. As an international student, I'm projected to graduate from college at $300k USD in debt. I attend a US state school so I'm already on the lower end of cost of attendances for international students. International student loans also have high interest rates of ~10%. My age is atypical for a college junior as I'm already in my mid-20s. I somewhat agree with "22 and 32 you are in your best startup years" in https://ift.tt/L4tNOST having felt a drop in energy in the last few years. Post-graduation I have two options: 1) Founder route in my mid-20s with my loans. If things don't work out, then big-tech/SWE it is to pay off the debt. When I chatted with a YC partner, this is what they mentioned as common though I think most cases are US citizens who can defer loans/lower interest rates/smaller debts so I'm questioning how well it applies to my scenario. 2) Work at startups/big tech to pay off debt in 4-5 years. Founding in my early 30s, ~32. I'm sorta already going down this path, been lucky to secure internships. I'm inclined to 2) but wanted to hear from folks who tried 1) since it isn't such a well-carved path. Founders who started with student loans or existing personal commitments, did you just convince yourself of a different perspective/become more comfortable with debt or was it too stressful to bear. Part of me thinks that every founder has some level of pre-existing commitment, so this mountain of debt is just an excuse. I'm acutely aware that personal finance and how one deals with debt/commitments is a personal matter but am curious to hear the perspective of any who were in similar situations.
3 by barnettx | 1 comments on Hacker News.
A bit of context: college junior majoring in CS, have always been interested in tech and startups. As an international student, I'm projected to graduate from college at $300k USD in debt. I attend a US state school so I'm already on the lower end of cost of attendances for international students. International student loans also have high interest rates of ~10%. My age is atypical for a college junior as I'm already in my mid-20s. I somewhat agree with "22 and 32 you are in your best startup years" in https://ift.tt/L4tNOST having felt a drop in energy in the last few years. Post-graduation I have two options: 1) Founder route in my mid-20s with my loans. If things don't work out, then big-tech/SWE it is to pay off the debt. When I chatted with a YC partner, this is what they mentioned as common though I think most cases are US citizens who can defer loans/lower interest rates/smaller debts so I'm questioning how well it applies to my scenario. 2) Work at startups/big tech to pay off debt in 4-5 years. Founding in my early 30s, ~32. I'm sorta already going down this path, been lucky to secure internships. I'm inclined to 2) but wanted to hear from folks who tried 1) since it isn't such a well-carved path. Founders who started with student loans or existing personal commitments, did you just convince yourself of a different perspective/become more comfortable with debt or was it too stressful to bear. Part of me thinks that every founder has some level of pre-existing commitment, so this mountain of debt is just an excuse. I'm acutely aware that personal finance and how one deals with debt/commitments is a personal matter but am curious to hear the perspective of any who were in similar situations.
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