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Ask HN: Go all in on startup idea, or stay W2

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Re: Ask HN: Go all in on startup idea, or stay W2

#21

Post by Mnexium »

apollyx_jojo wrote: post #17

The "stay W2 and build on the side" path gets a bad rap, but it's actually the more rational choice for most people. I went the part-time route. What I learned: 1. Constraints breed creativity. Having only 10-15 hours/week forces you to ruthlessly prioritize what actually moves the needle vs. what feels productive. 2. Revenue validation before quitting is underrated. If you can get even $500/mo while working full-tim…

Appreciate the message. I think this is the most practical advice to follow until there is an event/time to fully disconnect from the W2.

I'd love to hear/learn more about your journey. From a 0-1 build mindset but also going from 1 or 0.75-to-first customer and beyond.

I think we see a lot Zucks and AirBnB guys, and with AI 100M ARR in 2 months type stories, but not so much tortoise approach stories.

Re: Ask HN: Go all in on startup idea, or stay W2

#22

Post by Mnexium »

codingdave wrote: post #14

> I don't really have the network to vet my idea Then do not do it. Without a network to vet the idea, you don't have the network to get your initial sales either. You are coding blind, hoping you land in a place the market actually would pay for.

I agree - not having a network to vet the idea is possibly the easiest part to have. It means I dont have the network for sales like you said, the network to raise funding, the network to build upon what I already have.

Not wrong there.

Re: Ask HN: Go all in on startup idea, or stay W2

#23

Post by Mnexium »

VirusNewbie wrote: post #18

Not enough information. Are you making 400k in big tech or 300k at a stable job in a hot location? Are you making peanuts in a remote location, and you'd be happier making slightly more if you were in charge of your destiny? If you spend five years on your project to get acquihired by some mid level public company- is that success or would you be devestated? Do you have the chops to build a business, raise money, fin…

Not in big tech, but comfortable 250k in mid-teir expense remote suburb. The opportunity cost is real and something to truly be factored in. Something I can probably replace after this endeavor but it would require a lifestyle change (moving etc).

I think i'd be happy with the challenge of building a business if there was constant progress and the end of the tunnel was possible (not necessarily guaranteed, but not 0% either).

I think being acquihired by mid-level would be a success. If my path is posting clueless HN to being acquihired in 3-5 - i'd personally love that outcome and it would validate a lot of things (my ability to acheive this, idea validation etc).

Chops question is difficult to answer - with constant progress I have tons of internal motivation, but one "no" and I tend to feel like shit (a character flaw for this line of work imo).

Re: Ask HN: Go all in on startup idea, or stay W2

#24

Post by Mnexium »

austin-cheney wrote: post #10

Honestly, getting VC cash does not look like the challenge it used to be. Look attractive, be confident, and talk about reselling AI... boom cash. The real question is: what do you want to be doing in 5 years? Do you want to be explaining to people why you are cleaning up some pitch deck mess that still doesn't make money or would you rather be slaving away for your current employer with next to no equity? Look, I am…

> Honestly, getting VC cash does not look like the challenge it used to be. Having never jumped in this pool, don't know if I would sink or swim here - but it does seem to be the case that a good story will get funding. I do like to approach things from a practical angle, I don't necessarily need/want millions up front and a more conservative approach to find product-market-fit would be beneficial.

> 5 years - Cleaning pitch-deck vs slaving away? both sound pretty shitty to me :) I think there are pros/cons. Pitch deck route assume I can sustain myself for 5 years but it does come with an opportunity cost. It is ~1m earned w2 income. W2-slave route feels like a boring way to contribute to society/tech and maybe not reach full potential?

Appreciate the post - I do agree with your sentiment.

Re: Ask HN: Go all in on startup idea, or stay W2

#25

Post by Mnexium »

mirmor23 wrote: post #15

(briefly looked at the website). If you find traction for this idea, that's great. I use claude, and its feedback memory mechanism is already too much for me -- it crams a lot of 'project related' but unimportant cruft, and it keeps growing, and purging it is a chore (its own lexicon, lack of why it is relevant etc). My preference is to front end lot of disciplined design work, so it's memory tends to be quite useles…

Appreciate the post and thank you!

I think for me and the idea I saw a fundamental shift in the experience chatGPT provided once it was able to remember cross/post chat things. The APIs do not have this offering and are pretty bare, so being able to put this on top of any LLM API I think is a value add.

I am curious how you are using Claude in your case? Web-ui? Co-Work? Does not seem like API, but would help me.

Re: Ask HN: Go all in on startup idea, or stay W2

#26

Post by Mnexium »

brudgers wrote: post #12

I don't really have the network to vet my idea Then the most important thing, from a business perspective, is building that network. Customers are the best network, again from a business perspective. Although network building in general is often hard, building a network of customers is usually really, really, really hard. Not only do you have to overcome fear of rejection by asking for money, but also you have to act…

I agree and appreciate it.

I am starting to figure out having a network and going into an idea would move things 10x or 100x faster, both from a success or failure route. You'd want to get to both as quickly as possible. I think what posting on HN gets me is some kind of signal toward something that I don't already have. A lot of generic but valuable advice here. Still validating in its own way.

I do agree with you - asking people for time is especially difficult "can you give me some advice" ... and then asking people for money is 100x more difficult. Even if they get something for said money.

Re: Ask HN: Go all in on startup idea, or stay W2

#27

Post by Mnexium »

Blackstrat wrote: post #11

Another concern is how to weather the AI bubble. Right now, everyone going all in on "AI" reminds me of the 90s when companies like Exodus Communications, Level 3 Communications and others built out heavily only to see it all evaporate. Yes, eventually what these companies were doing became the cloud but none of them are active participants. I would argue that before jumping into reliance on current AI trends that on…

Insanely difficult and borderline idiotic to ignore what you've stated. Difficult to know where we are on the curve and what will happen next.

I think there are a lot of similarities and parallels to those times happening now, maybe even more with more money and investment depending on it and expanding.

There are a lot of arguments to made on both sides. I guess the one i'd lean on is "Do we not build Amazon, Google and FB b/c dot com happened?" and the companies that I'm trying to build inspired by those guys.

Re: Ask HN: Go all in on startup idea, or stay W2

#28

Post by Mnexium »

jryan49 wrote: post #8

I mean a lot depends on your life circumstances. Do you have a family to support? Do you have any money saved up? How old you are? It's tempting for me to quit and work on something I've wanted to work on for years but... The risk feels too high cause I feel like if I fail, it will be impossible to find a new job where either I made as much as I had before, or a job at all.

I have been conservative forever from a financial perspective. I feel comfortable enough to be out of W2 for a year or two.

but there is a real opportunity cost to leaving a w2 and jumping into an idea like this. Plus the fears that you stated as well are things I think about also.

Re: Ask HN: Go all in on startup idea, or stay W2

#29

Post by Blackstrat »

Mnexium wrote: post #27
Blackstrat wrote: post #11

Another concern is how to weather the AI bubble. Right now, everyone going all in on "AI" reminds me of the 90s when companies like Exodus Communications, Level 3 Communications and others built out heavily only to see it all evaporate. Yes, eventually what these companies were doing became the cloud but none of them are active participants. I would argue that before jumping into reliance on current AI trends that on…

Insanely difficult and borderline idiotic to ignore what you've stated. Difficult to know where we are on the curve and what will happen next. I think there are a lot of similarities and parallels to those times happening now, maybe even more with more money and investment depending on it and expanding. There are a lot of arguments to made on both sides. I guess the one i'd lean on is "Do we not build Amazon, Google…

I'm not trying to discourage innovation. Your idea seemed to be based on an infrastructure solution to current technology. Perhaps I misinterpreted. And as a starting point, it may be a good venture. However, I would be looking for the next wave of opportunities to capitalize on. Obviously, Google succeeded Yahoo. Facebook succeeded the various bulletin board systems like Compuserve/AOL/Prodigy (though I still preferred the Usenet days). Amazon set out to be the Walmart of the web. While I doubt any of these companies will go away, they will become less significant over time. The high flyers today will eventually face significant competition or government action/regulation, though Palantir may get an pass. I had the privilege of working on two major industry changing projects, and though they weren't my ideas, they were still a rush. And code I wrote 30+ years ago that is still in operation. That's something many people never get to experience. I wish you luck. Just keep your eyes on the industry as much as the technology and be prepared to pivot. I hope you wind up with mountains of cash.

Re: Ask HN: Go all in on startup idea, or stay W2

#30

Post by Mnexium »

Blackstrat wrote: post #29
Mnexium wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insanely difficult and borderline idiotic to ignore what you've stated. Difficult to know where we are on the curve and what will happen next. I think there are a lot of similarities and parallels to those times happening now, maybe even more with more money and investment depending on it and expanding. There are a lot of arguments to made on both sides. I guess the one i'd lean on is "Do we not build Amazon, Google…

I'm not trying to discourage innovation. Your idea seemed to be based on an infrastructure solution to current technology. Perhaps I misinterpreted. And as a starting point, it may be a good venture. However, I would be looking for the next wave of opportunities to capitalize on. Obviously, Google succeeded Yahoo. Facebook succeeded the various bulletin board systems like Compuserve/AOL/Prodigy (though I still prefer…

Appreciate and grateful for your kind words :) Happy to hear of your success as an example of what makes this industry motivating.

You are correct my idea is infrastructure atop of current LLM technologies. Competitors exist and it may be that the LLM providers provide their own solution(s) as they have unlimited resources. I will be the first to admit that it is not "ground breaking" but rather boring but useful. I think personally if I have one success I can look at broader trends, but there is a real fear of the unknown.

I am curious on your opinion coming for government regulation just because it does not seem to be happening. I'd love to invest in the cloud companies (AWS, Azure, GCP etc) without being exposed to the broader business.

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