Ask HN: Do I give up now?
I&#x27;ve heard failure is good, but 10 years is a long time. That&#x27;s how long I&#x27;ve been failing for now. I&#x27;ve worked on failed project after failed project, and now at 25, I&#x27;m wondering what the fuck I&#x27;ve been doing with my life - my youth.<p>When I was 15 me and my friend started a little hosting website. It was really fun. I learnt to program, and we even made a little bit of money. In the excitement I began to learn about business, startups and programming. I thought it was going to be so easy to make money. I mean, if I could make a bit of money on the web at 15 without knowing anything about business or programming, I&#x27;m going to be great at this startup stuff by 20 right? Well, clearly, I&#x27;m not.<p>And I read a lot. And I think even more. I just have no idea why I&#x27;m not succeeding. Because for the last 10 years I&#x27;ve worked 16-18 hours a day, every day, with absolutely nothing to show from it. Well, aside from the lack of a social life and the book on my coffee table by Eric Ries. I really should book that holiday.<p>Maybe I&#x27;m just not as smart as I like to think? But how would anyone know? I mean, I do okay on IQ tests.<p>Maybe I&#x27;ve just been unlucky? But 10 years of bad luck? Anyway, one must fail to succeed.<p>And even if I say so myself, I don&#x27;t think my ideas suck. And even if they did, I&#x27;ve worked on other peoples ideas too.<p>So when do you give up HN? Because 10 years later I&#x27;m suck in a day job as a programmer. Something I never wanted to be, I just wanted to build a business.<p>I&#x27;ve built my own prison and I&#x27;ve lost some of the best years of my life behind a text editor and a dream. Not to mention the money and friends I&#x27;ve lost along the way.<p>I think maybe I&#x27;ve had too much wine. It&#x27;s Friday night and I have a project to work on after all.