21–30 of 59 posts
Stick with your job as long as possible, there isn't any better bootstrap funding than being employed at a software engineer rate. Sounds like a good transition would be to apply to https://tinyseed.com/
Thanks I had forgotten about tinyseed!
Ask your boss for a leave of absence. You'll have the security of returning to your job, but will also have the time to dedicate to your new project. You say you can't support not having a job, but if push came to shove, could you not work for 3 months and support your family if you cut down on expenses? If you are a dev at a-list startups as you said, you could probably pick up a contract here or there.
For any 20+ years-old readers here, if you ever think/dream about starting a business, you should learn from OP that cash and savings is paramount for freedom and creating a business later on. > product-focused dev with 10 years experience at a-list startups [...] I don’t have enough cash saved up for significant runway. I’m 35 with family and living in the US. The earlier you start, the more you accumulate, the more…
I think we'd have better businesses with longer timeframes if people were just able to stay away from VCs for the majority of development.
There are clear downsides too. You would need to source these contracts yourself and figure out health insurance for your family.
1. Unless you have real traction (2-3x growth every year) or rich connections, your change of getting an investment on a $600/Mo product is almost nil.
2. Your chances of getting a business loan is almost zero as well because most business loans are given against real collateral (e.g. physical/real estate, machines/hardware etc) and most banks in US wont consider a $600/Month software revenue anything real worth a collateral. You are most likely better of getting a personal loan if you have good credit but regardless, you will have to guarantee it personally which means they come after everything you got if you fail to pay it back
3. Your best bet is to keep the job and keep grinding on the side. If you really believe that this can become big, it can become big without you going all in at least in the early days. Get creative. Find a co-founder if possible who is willing to work for sweat equity. If not, do it yourself until the revenue is close enough to your min. expenses. Then quit the job.
I don't mean to say this in a rude way but no one will give you money so that you can quit your job and work on a $600/Month product. You have to take that risk yourself. All the best.
Source: A bootstrapped founder who was privileged to buy an existing side project (doing $2500/Month at the time. used my own personal savings) and grew it to low 7 figures revenue. I have taken small loans (SBA/personal etc much later on) and funded all of it myself for the most part.
As a guitarist myself there is incredible saturation in the market right now for learning guitar, whether it be apps, courses, or other content out there on YouTube/Ticktoc/etc. My first question is why to you is why you think "the path to something like ~$1M/yr seems very clear to me."? My second question is what does your app do to distinguish it from any other of the readily available guitar learning/fretboard apps (from quick google https://guitar.com/guides/buyers-guide/best-guitar-learning-... and https://americansongwriter.com/best-guitar-learning-app/)?
If you're looking to potentially quit your fulltime employment or potentially take some extended time off, that it feels like you should have some pretty solid answers to those questions before doing so.
At $600/mo, there's about a 10X gap between where you're at and revenues you could actually sustain yourself on, and ideally you'd like to hit 5 figures recurring revenue a month before you start seriously thinking what this would mean becoming a "real business". Assuming you have ideas on how to grow that revenue, I'd suggest focusing on some of those strategies. I'd also start making strides in marketing that can start to grow market share and get some exposure.
While I don't want to discourage you, it's also okay if a side project stays a side project. You can continue to invest the side time you have and grow your passive income to supplement your 9 to 5.
For any 20+ years-old readers here, if you ever think/dream about starting a business, you should learn from OP that cash and savings is paramount for freedom and creating a business later on. > product-focused dev with 10 years experience at a-list startups [...] I don’t have enough cash saved up for significant runway. I’m 35 with family and living in the US. The earlier you start, the more you accumulate, the more…
Business Attorney Here. I would speak to an attorney to see your next steps both in terms of setting up your business for success as well as making sure there are no issues with your current employment.