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Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

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Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#21

Post by Throwey12 »

landemva wrote: post #15

Wondering if potential angel investors hesitate because: idea, market size, you. A dedicated founder in a good market is often fundable.

A little bit of everything. No one knows if this will work because I don't have customers, and it looks like a feature and I can't explain that it will be more than this single product, investors are getting lost. It's impossible to make this startup without a weird path. It's going to be an API in the end, but at the same time I have to show what products are possible to make with it, most think this API is not needed and won't let me put a library in their products, but if you'd talk to potential end customers for these products - they really want it (and I sold multiple products like these). It's a totally weird scheme, so I only pitch the b2c product and then if they are interested tell about this API thing and the vision.

Market is just above 4B$ and is growing well, but it's not like everyone in the world needs this thing.

I have no startup experience, not an amazing dev (barely made an mvp) , never attended Stanford and live in a third world country, so I don't even have connections and rely on highly personalized cold emails.

Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#24

Post by afarrell »

atatatat wrote: post #13
throwaway2a02 wrote: post #3

No, you should not. Chances of it working out are probably slim. You probably don't need funding, as many solo founders can attest. Hiring should be done once the business is already generating an income, and should be scaled based on that income. What happens is that if you do sell your house, (assuming you'll pay rent) things will get a lot more stressful for yourself financially, and this will severely hinder your…

This is an oft repeated trope — here's my issue: I'm B2B, and my clients don't want to hear "get back to you this weekend!" What then?

1. Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPcgEBbNQvw

2. Recognise that you have an opportunity to practice the courage of telling people things that they do not want to hear.

3. Recognise that when you have employees and investors, they'll be relying on you to tell them things they don't want to hear.

4. Recognise that your future self will find it far harder to practice courage if his past self abandoned him to the risk of homelessness.

Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#25

Post by leesalminen »

Throwey12 wrote: post #21
landemva wrote: post #15

Wondering if potential angel investors hesitate because: idea, market size, you. A dedicated founder in a good market is often fundable.

A little bit of everything. No one knows if this will work because I don't have customers, and it looks like a feature and I can't explain that it will be more than this single product, investors are getting lost. It's impossible to make this startup without a weird path. It's going to be an API in the end, but at the same time I have to show what products are possible to make with it, most think this API is not need…

> I can't explain that it will be more than this single product, investors are getting lost.

It sounds like you need someone to translate this effectively from “techno” to “MBA”.

Messaging is the single most important thing when talking about your amazing product with complete strangers. Don’t discount it.

Maybe look into getting a co-founder?

Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#27

Post by cosmodisk »

atatatat wrote: post #13
throwaway2a02 wrote: post #3

No, you should not. Chances of it working out are probably slim. You probably don't need funding, as many solo founders can attest. Hiring should be done once the business is already generating an income, and should be scaled based on that income. What happens is that if you do sell your house, (assuming you'll pay rent) things will get a lot more stressful for yourself financially, and this will severely hinder your…

This is an oft repeated trope — here's my issue: I'm B2B, and my clients don't want to hear "get back to you this weekend!" What then?

Drop them. If some corporate cog thinks having you on a speed dial 27/7 is a good idea, just because they pay, you definitely don't want them as clients. Instead, tell them you are awesome, your product is the hottest shit in town and you work 4 days a week. The language may vary depending on a client, but setting boundaries is part of the game.

Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#28

Post by throwaway158497 »

I am from IIT, living in US, On a FAANG salary, 40+ age. And I still stuck paying mortages on my home. I will stuck for next 10 yrs. Don't fuck life by selling off your house. YOLO, happy to build and learn, don't need cars, confidence etc are because of your age/hormones. After a few years, you will want a partner (because humans are social), may be have kids, your wants/needs will explode then. Do not give up the house.

All 25yrs olds are confident their idea will work. Only some listen to older people like me and accept that they may fail.

Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#29

Post by peytn »

Throwey12 wrote: post #21
landemva wrote: post #15

Wondering if potential angel investors hesitate because: idea, market size, you. A dedicated founder in a good market is often fundable.

A little bit of everything. No one knows if this will work because I don't have customers, and it looks like a feature and I can't explain that it will be more than this single product, investors are getting lost. It's impossible to make this startup without a weird path. It's going to be an API in the end, but at the same time I have to show what products are possible to make with it, most think this API is not need…

Absolutely do not sell your house. Get a cofounder. Nobody’s going to fund a random solo person from a third world country who sells their house instead of using OPM. Like would you fund that person?

Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#30

Post by atatatat »

cosmodisk wrote: post #27
atatatat wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an oft repeated trope — here's my issue: I'm B2B, and my clients don't want to hear "get back to you this weekend!" What then?

Drop them. If some corporate cog thinks having you on a speed dial 27/7 is a good idea, just because they pay, you definitely don't want them as clients. Instead, tell them you are awesome, your product is the hottest shit in town and you work 4 days a week. The language may vary depending on a client, but setting boundaries is part of the game.

Just "business hour" support can take you out of eligibility to (morally) accept a role at another firm.
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