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Ask HN: Starting over after business failure

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Re: Ask HN: Starting over after business failure

#31

Post by throwaway875u58 »

rhlsthrm wrote: post #30
throwaway875u58 wrote: post #29

This was me a few years ago. My end goal was to build up savings in the 3-5 year time frame. My off-ramp was to: 1) Take on consulting clients This allowed for a shift in day to day/finding an alternate source of income asap. Depending on opportunities available, you might want to skip this step. 2) Identify interesting startups in the area + get a software dev job. This allowed me to hone up my rustier coding skills…

What's the best way to get consulting clients? I want to start building a pipeline now in case I end up in a similar situation.

What worked for me was through word of mouth/utilizing the relationships I'd built up while trying to build a business.

Re: Ask HN: Starting over after business failure

#32

Post by throwawayfail »

Serial fail-er here.

Start consulting with companies that have made it a little further down the road and learn from them.

Remember that not everyone has solved the same set of problems.

Find companies that have problems that you already solved with your business, and help that company by applying what you've learned.

They'll benefit from your experience and fresh approach, and you'll see what you can do with a different set of tools (more capital, better product, better team, etc.)

After working with a few companies for a few quarters, you might have a fresh outlook on whether to solve a new problem or join an established company.

Re: Ask HN: Starting over after business failure

#33

Post by mndg »

legitster wrote: post #13
itake wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the big companies are freezing hiring. This doesn't seem like practical advice.

But running your own business is a surefire way to get to the top of an applicant list.

Have you failed at a startup & business and experienced recruiting as a business owner/founder / have you had skin in the game here?

Having failed 4Q19 at my startup, and tried finding work elsewhere, employers have rejected me left and right.

I'm no longer positioning myself as a founder/business owner, instead choosing a more traditional function, and deleting any reference to me being a founder / having done practically every single function.

Research out of U Oregon confirms my experience. https://business.uoregon.edu/news/job-prospects-former-start...

Re: Ask HN: Starting over after business failure

#35

Post by contingencies »

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Instead of focusing on making more money, focus on spending less. This reduces pressure, increases health and time to think and be creative. In my adult life I have spent years in low expense scenarios learning and creating. Forget the herd, do what you want to do. Move to a cheap place (avoid anywhere with a 'digital nomad' community) and go swimming, surfing, rock-climbing or cycling every day. Even if you have zero savings one remote gig or an occasional bout of local work will keep you going.

Re: Ask HN: Starting over after business failure

#38

Post by optemization »

I failed a business after nearly three years. I thought that it was a great idea and invested $50,000 of my father's money. I got lucky in many ways because I started it in college and didn't have rent or family matters on the line. That said, closing it down really sucked. I feel like there are still some loose threads between myself and teammates — we never closed the loop on some things, so make sure you do that. Otherwise, it will bother you for a long time.

To bounce back, I focused on the opportunities that this experience has instead brought me. I realized that I got deeply involved with the entrepreneurship community on campus. I channeled all my energy to help others start companies and avoid the mistakes that I have done. This, in turn, led to more work opportunities at accelerators and organizations that support startups.

After working for about a year I gained new perspectives and experiences which pointed me to a new idea that I am currently pursuing. The "circle of startup" if you will :)

One of the best frameworks that starting my first company helped me develop is finding "problem/solution fit". Of course, that depends on your past business and experience. Personally, I became more sensitive to noticing problems and realizing that I could solve them with technology.

Re: Ask HN: Starting over after business failure

#39

Post by optemization »

rhlsthrm wrote: post #30
throwaway875u58 wrote: post #29

This was me a few years ago. My end goal was to build up savings in the 3-5 year time frame. My off-ramp was to: 1) Take on consulting clients This allowed for a shift in day to day/finding an alternate source of income asap. Depending on opportunities available, you might want to skip this step. 2) Identify interesting startups in the area + get a software dev job. This allowed me to hone up my rustier coding skills…

What's the best way to get consulting clients? I want to start building a pipeline now in case I end up in a similar situation.

I just started actively consulting two months ago. So far, 8 projects and five clients.

Before doing this, I built a pretty strong startup network in New York City. Through starting a company and running an entrepreneurship club at New York Univesity, I got to know a lot of relevant people on the scene. entrepreneurs, investors and community builders. Once I was sharing with people that I was working on. I got introductions to potential clients. My biggest client right now is a person whom I knew from the first year at the University.

If you are good at hosting events or bringing up ir target audience together, I would suggest looking into that.

Re: Ask HN: Starting over after business failure

#40

Post by endymi0n »

legitster wrote: post #16

Work a job as normal and boring as you can find. Boring is, boring. But boredom is a good way to build up energy for a future run at a startup. Also, one thing you lose working in a startup for a long period of time is perspective on what "normal" problems are. Which is why so many startups look like they only target other startups. The best ideas come from working in an industry long enough to understand the specifi…

Big +1 here from my side, and here's a bit of scientific background: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201407...

Some of my anecdotal evidence: Left an exploded and then imploded startup (where I was one of the first employees), completely burned out and was approached by a guy for a startup.

Sounded good, but my creative energy was gone and my wife told me to go to hell if I wanted to start a company with a newborn on the way.

Went to a super boring corporate job instead that had three big benefits:

1) Nice and cushy 9 to 5 with great money to lick my wounds

2) As OP said: Energy came back and I realigned with normal people and normal problems

3) I left after 11 months with a nice bore-out and so many great examples of what not to do in a company that it had my fire lighted and ready to go.

Turned out the guy who wanted me for the startup had waited for me and together we built the largest streaming search engine worldwide over the past 5 years.

That in turn was a serious roller coaster ride with its own story again, but that wasn't your question, right? :)

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