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Ask HN: How did you start your business?

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Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?

#61

Post by jorgeer »

Fradow wrote: post #21

Neither. After getting my degree, I continued a student project for 1 year that went nowhere. Eventually, I realized it wasn't going anywhere, so I decided to look for a job. I went to a hackathon, summarily said I was looking for a job on stage at the end. Instead, someone I already knew came talk to me about their startup idea (which had PoC already live, a solid business plan and good proofs the project could be v…

Very close to my story! Only that it was the student project that worked out. We started out with 5 students living off student loans. After a year we were finished with school, and went unpaid for another year. Started with a micro salary by then, and 2 of the original founders had left.

Now, 5 years after we started we are 7 full time emps, though not yet profitable.

Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?

#62

Post by throwawaysweden »

cabinguy wrote: post #57

I started buying broken laptops on eBay, fixing them, and reselling them with my best friend. We started with $600 each on credit cards. That turned into a large refurbished computer sales business. So large that I started shopping for a vacation home (lake home). Well, the process of buying a vacation home was frustrating. This was back in 2002 and most real estate brokerages did not have websites, and if they did,…

Wow, that's a cool story!

You perhaps should be on Mixergy.com giving your story to a wider audience?

I've introduced quite a few people to the founder of the show over the years, and I'd be happy to do the same for you.

Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?

#64

Post by a_shane »

I started freelancing 5-6 years ago, doing copywriting projects mostly. Website copy, monthly blog posts, that kind of stuff.

After a few months I realized that none of the clients I was working with had an actual digital marketing plan in place; they were just farming out copy projects because they "knew the needed to have a blog."

I pitched all of my existing clients and spent the next year building up a side roster of additional clients who relied on me for their digital marketing strategy, copy, and social media management. This pivot away from being just copy-based to strategy and execution/management earned me enough recurring monthly revenue that I was making more from my side project than my 9-5, so I quit.

I've been running my company, Starling Social (https://www.starling.social) for just shy of three years now. I have a Copywriter, an Account Manager, and it's looking like I'll need to hire an Ads Specialist in the not-too-distant future. Life is pretty great.

Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?

#65

Post by acidburnNSA »

cooervo wrote: post #54
spodek wrote: post #36

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75% of carbon emissions come from our energy supplies. Not taking any long flights is another amazingly potent way to reduce footprint. It's hard to pinpoint a best way to help but there are certainly a lot of good ways.

Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?

#66

Post by pbnjay »

abrichr wrote: post #40
Radim wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quit in 2009, age 28. It was not that hard financially -- I moved to southern Thailand, worked on the PhD and Gensim there. Thailand is a pretty cheap country to live actually.

How did you negotiate doing a PhD remotely?

Most programs have a year or two of coursework, then it's just research and writing. So if you're ABD ("All But Dissertation") it wouldn't be a big deal if your advisor is on board. You can do committee meetings over videochat.

I was ABD and took a job, and finished my dissertation in the evenings. I basically just had to fly back to school to defend.

Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?

#67

Post by mixmastamyk »

cabinguy wrote: post #57

I started buying broken laptops on eBay, fixing them, and reselling them with my best friend. We started with $600 each on credit cards. That turned into a large refurbished computer sales business. So large that I started shopping for a vacation home (lake home). Well, the process of buying a vacation home was frustrating. This was back in 2002 and most real estate brokerages did not have websites, and if they did,…

> When the used laptop market turned into the used VCR market…

Meaning, it died? How did you handle the payments in those days?

Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?

#68

Post by gk1 »

I left my job to become a consultant. I had some savings that were only going to last me a few months but I found a way to stretch that to 6 months, which is how long it took me to start getting consistent work. That was 5 years ago and I'm still consulting and loving it.

I've written about this: https://www.gkogan.co/blog/how-i-learned-to-get-consulting-l...

Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?

#69

Post by cabinguy »

throwawaysweden wrote: post #62
cabinguy wrote: post #57

I started buying broken laptops on eBay, fixing them, and reselling them with my best friend. We started with $600 each on credit cards. That turned into a large refurbished computer sales business. So large that I started shopping for a vacation home (lake home). Well, the process of buying a vacation home was frustrating. This was back in 2002 and most real estate brokerages did not have websites, and if they did,…

Wow, that's a cool story! You perhaps should be on Mixergy.com giving your story to a wider audience? I've introduced quite a few people to the founder of the show over the years, and I'd be happy to do the same for you.

Thanks. I'd probably be up for it.

Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?

#70

Post by throwawaysweden »

cabinguy wrote: post #69
throwawaysweden wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, that's a cool story! You perhaps should be on Mixergy.com giving your story to a wider audience? I've introduced quite a few people to the founder of the show over the years, and I'd be happy to do the same for you.

Thanks. I'd probably be up for it.

How do I reach you? Feel free to contact me at alex@skillfully.se

Full disclosure: I'm interested in pitching you some AI / dev services, but I'm happy to do the intro regardless!

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