Congrats to Joel and team. I remember reading your post [1] on HN from a couple of weeks ago about how you guys barely had 100 signups the first month. You've come a long way since then and totally deserve the success you're seeing. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5387168
I wonder what it would look like if the stack was filled with one dollar bills rather than 100s. I'm sure the visualization would be quite mind boggling.
No matter how good or technically important the person may be, if they're not someone you can casually grab coffee with, it's gonna be really tough to work with them. Since you're at a small startup, this rings even more true. That person is probably not fit for your place (culturally).
Since you love programming, and by extension problem solving, think of the whole situation as a problem to solve. You are having a hard time trying to convince your parents that what you're doing is worthwhile -- to you, it's even more important than the other things you do because you're more passionate about it. There are a few things you could do here (some of them you just have to accept because you have no control).
1. You could work hard on your project, do everything in the power available to you to make it successful and prove them wrong. Possible, but just takes a lot more work and determination than you may think.
2. Fake it and please them. Let them always see you playing guitar or doing something they'd like to see you do. Still keep working hard at school, but in three years you could start doing the things you love. Also, you're still very young so there's a lot of time. And you'll definitely learn a lot in three years.
3. This is actually not as bad as you may think but you can just do what they say and you'll still be out in three years. You could always work on the stuff you want then. Don't automatically discount this idea.
These are just off the top of my head. I'm sure if you think about it pragmatically you'll come up with some good ideas to take the weight off your head. Take it easy.
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