Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 243 posts

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#131

Post by throwaway_chan »

kkarakk wrote: post #82
throwaway_chan wrote: post #71

Sorry to hijack someone other's question. I have a question of my own. I co-founded a company with one of my family friend around last year and made the silly mistake of trusting blindly by not signing a partnership agreement. I completed the whole development of the project and there has been inflow of cash but since then there has been radio silence from their part. So i have registered my own company and ready to…

go talk to a lawyer so you don't get sued. how can you prove YOU didn't take the money and run?

The bank account is in his name and the payment gateway is attached to it. It is clearly visible how much money is coming and to whom.

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#133

Post by throwaway_chan »

sky_rw wrote: post #84
throwaway_chan wrote: post #71

Sorry to hijack someone other's question. I have a question of my own. I co-founded a company with one of my family friend around last year and made the silly mistake of trusting blindly by not signing a partnership agreement. I completed the whole development of the project and there has been inflow of cash but since then there has been radio silence from their part. So i have registered my own company and ready to…

Get a lawyer and get a contract ASAP. This gets harder every single day that passes. Also IANAL but if you wrote it all with no agreement you probably have the rights to all the code you developed, unless you biz partner's last name is Winklevoss.

I even thought of that idea, but this mean getting my parents involved which i don't want to. I have zero idea how laws and business work.

I have nonissue with code , because i have all of it. And i am thinking about deploying them as my own business.

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#135

Post by throwaway_chan »

throwaway_chan wrote: post #133
sky_rw wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get a lawyer and get a contract ASAP. This gets harder every single day that passes. Also IANAL but if you wrote it all with no agreement you probably have the rights to all the code you developed, unless you biz partner's last name is Winklevoss.

I even thought of that idea, but this mean getting my parents involved which i don't want to. I have zero idea how laws and business work. I have nonissue with code , because i have all of it. And i am thinking about deploying them as my own business.

I just want to do this project that i dreamed about.

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#136

Post by cschep »

kowdermeister wrote: post #47
tvjunky wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This, plus, just start. There are lots of things you won't know, always. You'll need to dig in and figure out what you need to know. Outsourcing is a good option for things if you have the money. However, you need to understand what you're paying for.

"just start", sounds like a minefield if you want to take money from day zero.

you either just start, and fumble through and make it or never start. there is no such thing as perfectly figuring it all out and then starting. I desperately wish there was, but it doesn't exist.

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#138

Post by drenvuk »

coder543 wrote: post #100
drenvuk wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MVP or fake page with credit card info or email information that says you're sold out. If you can convert random users to paying customers then you're on to something. Otherwise your project is most likely going to flounder. Some people may think it's dishonest but without verifying you're going to spend weeks to months working on something that will never be used.

That might work for physical product, but when you claim your software download is sold out , people tend to give you funny looks. You can definitely put up a product page where users can enter an email address and start building up a mailing list, but obviously mailing list recipients are not guaranteed to pay you money.

The purpose is to get some kind of signal that you're on the right track. Many times I've seen would be founders just go off of a hunch without a buy in from any possible users of any degree. Even their voluntary email sign up is far more of a sign than what the founders know users want.

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#139

Post by NightlyDev »

metafunctor wrote: post #94
ChefboyOG wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is completely rational and works well for some people, but speaking from experience, there is another side to this coin. If you are the sort of person who enjoys the making side of things, and aren't naturally gifted at selling, this can be a trap. I've seen so many solo founders try to validate a product by selling before building, only to get talked into different features and use cases until they're stuck bui…

Selling/customer development is a skill you can learn—and absolutely must learn if you want to hack it as a single founder. The real trap is staying in your comfort zone.

Definetly not something you have to learn. If you build something customers really want then the product will probably sell itself, and no selling or marketing will be needed.

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#140

Post by WalterSear »

iscrewyou wrote: post #112
warent wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with this except switch the order. First, start selling. Then start building. It is so easy to waste so much time building something nobody wants, and you won't know until it's too late if you try to sell it afterward. Selling first will inform your decisions on what to build.

Can I ask an honest question respectfully? I don’t have a company or a startup. But I’ve always wanted to start one. So I’m always curious when I see a response like yours. How do you sell first? There isn’t a product to show. How do you find Customers? Is it the philosophy that the customer doesn’t know better and you have to tell them what they need, all the while understanding what your capabilities are. Like unde…

It only works for some kind of products and some kind of buyers, obviously. You can't sell someone a can of tomatoes based on a demo.

But, if the value you can provide is immediately obvious to the customer, rather than an incremental improvement on their existing situation, then you can get them to express interest before you have a finished product to provide them with.

Post reply on HN