Short answer no. I would only use this type of project for my own side projects.
Ask HN: Do you trust solo entrepreneurs?
131–140 of 164 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do you trust solo entrepreneurs?
#132I've tried a few solo SaaS endeavors that have not gone well. I think one of my biggest problems is self-inflicted scope creep :)
Need to find something that I can build that
1. Does one thing well
2. Can get to an MVP quickly
3. People will pay to use
Re: Ask HN: Do you trust solo entrepreneurs?
#133For your typical solo founder in their 30s, their odds of dying at any point over the next 10 years is something like 0.2%. And short of them dying, their business isn't going anywhere because keeping a SaaS startup online doesn't cost anything -- if you have the skills to do it yourself. Whereas the odds of a venture backed startup shutting down at any point over the next ten years is something like 30%. So from a r…
>keeping a SaaS startup online doesn't cost anything -- if you have the skills to do it yourself.
It costs time (customer support, security updates, deprecations, third party api changes, etc, etc.) and time is a limited quantity for a person. Eventually other things are a better use of their time from either an economic point of view (other ventures, etc.) or a personal point of view (family, etc.).
Re: Ask HN: Do you trust solo entrepreneurs?
#134As a solo developer I get asked a lot on sales calls "How many paying customers do you have?"/"Are there paying customers?" and other similar questions to evaluate the size of my business. I guess it's fine. It's natural to know the partner you're about to take on has the incentive to continue developing their business and still have an "alive" product in the future.
Those are the same questions we ask any smaller company we are thinking of integrating with. Depending on the cost of migrating off we may even ask to speak with some of their other clients.
Re: Ask HN: Do you trust solo entrepreneurs?
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
The number you read is for dying within the next year. The OP said within a decade.
OP also said "in their 30s" not "at 30". So I'd use 35-45 rather than 30-40, which shifts it a bit.
Since I already have the spreadsheet built for my other comment:
30-39 is 2.1%
35-44 is 2.5%
40-49 is 3.3%
---------
30-49 is 5.3%
Ranges are inclusive of entire year. 30-39 is 30th bday to 40th bday
Re: Ask HN: Do you trust solo entrepreneurs?
#136well, yes, i trust myself. It's not like anyone else has been using technology expertise to pay these bills for the last 20 years...
Re: Ask HN: Do you trust solo entrepreneurs?
#137For your typical solo founder in their 30s, their odds of dying at any point over the next 10 years is something like 0.2%. And short of them dying, their business isn't going anywhere because keeping a SaaS startup online doesn't cost anything -- if you have the skills to do it yourself. Whereas the odds of a venture backed startup shutting down at any point over the next ten years is something like 30%. So from a r…
Ut's literally over 100x more risky
It's clearly not, due to what the sibling commenters have been staying (people discontinuing products for reasons other than dying, etc.) I get the gist of your point but this 100x number is not just hyperbole -- it's silly.
Re: Ask HN: Do you trust solo entrepreneurs?
#138In my case, the answer is "It depends."
A lot of it depends upon who the "solo entrepreneur" is.
For example, there's a certain foulmouthed Finnish engineer, that has had a couple of "out of the ballpark" hits, that, when he first developed them, were pretty much "solo."
Re: Ask HN: Do you trust solo entrepreneurs?
#139I am a solo founder. Swinging for the fences.
Well, like Scarface put it best, I don't trust him but what did he say?
"I trust me."
Re: Ask HN: Do you trust solo entrepreneurs?
#140Personally I don't trust entrepreneurs whether solo or otherwise. They're solely motivated by greed. At least when it's an organisation you will not have to deal with them directly but with their underlings who might be less ambitious.