Got fired from this large international company. By the time I was saying farewell to my project team some folks from India told me they wanted to partner with me in case I decided to open my own (web development) company. And that's what I did a couple of weeks later. The partnership lasted 5 years. Lesson learned: networking is everything, not only with levels above but also below. You will need it when you decide it is the right time to build the team you need.
Ask HN: How did you start your business?
81–90 of 145 posts
Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?
#82I was and still am working full-time, but I try to put a new side mvp project out every roughly every 6 months which can (hopefully) generate revenue. Ive been doing this for about 2 years, and am launching hopefully my third "successful" project in April. My most recent project ( https://projectpiglet.com/ ) is an AI financial predictor - I started with scripts in 2013 - 2014, I then rewrote it recently to launch as…
Just an observation: On project piglet, the red price slashing gives me a perception of "desperation". My opinion is get rid of it and just make them nice simple numbers (whatever those prices end up being) without the drastic price slash.
Yeah I can see that, it also might explain why my conversation rate was higher at $50 / month.. lol although we are talking 1.5% vs 2%
Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
Recruiting and resume writing is what entrepreneurs call a "tie shop business." The product is already well-defined, the customers are already well-known, and how to operate the business is already well-known. Even a software consulting firm is a "tie shop business." Developing new technology is the polar opposite of a "tie shop business." The product is new, the customers are unknown, and how to sell the product is…
I expect most users of hacker news aren't creating any businesses at all ("tie shops" or otherwise) but are here for interesting stories and dialogue with others. YC's portfolio and team may be creating new tech, but HN is a bit of a bigger umbrella from what I've seen, and in my several years commenting here your comment is the closest thing to a "you don't belong here" or "stay in your lane" signal that I think I'v…
Want to add to side comments that I've read a few of your posts in Ask HN and generally enjoy them so hope you do feel valued here.
Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?
#84I left my job, took some time out, and then started building my business ( https://dependabot.com ). Financially, it's been tough - after 10 months Dependabot makes $2,100 a month (although that's now growing quite fast). I know I'm the kind of personality that couldn't have started it at the same time as working a full time job, though - I need to be really focussed on one thing at a time.
Looks like a great product. How did you come up with the pricing models? It seems on the cheap side. Have you thought about having something between small and unlimited (at the $50 mark or more) and then the unlimited plan for quite a bit more (or even contact us for pricing)?
Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?
#85I 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,…
A naive question - if you are selling a lake home worth $5m then you are considering that amount as your sale? Let's say you are charging 1% as your fees then $50k is your revenue? Thx
Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?
#86I started a blog on the side in 2015 as I was taking the 30x500 business class, built up an email list, and later wrote a book that teaches folks about the React JS library. I launched the book in 2016. I still have a job at this point, but the book continues to sell, and I have more products in the works.
It's not been fast. There are no hockey-stick graphs. But it's slow steady growth, and still seems to be growing. I am very glad I did not quit my job before I started this thing! I did a podcast interview about the process I went through and some of the earlier false starts here: https://stackingthebricks.com/podcast/ep27-you-can-ship-but-...
Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?
#87I started a first company with some friend. I was in charge of the IT, he was in charge on Sales. However, things were catastrophic as I was selling more than him. A huge conflict occurred and I closed the company.
=> I lost some money in the process, but I learnt a lot.
Then, a friend from Engineering school just graduated. We had previously worked together on side-projects, and we had a common passion for cybersecurity. We decided to launch our company.
After three years of hard work, we are now profitable and really happy about this choice :).
Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?
#88I 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,…
A naive question - if you are selling a lake home worth $5m then you are considering that amount as your sale? Let's say you are charging 1% as your fees then $50k is your revenue? Thx
Knowing the way realtors' mind works (not GAAP) they measure the $5M as "sale".
Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?
#89I left my job, took some time out, and then started building my business ( https://dependabot.com ). Financially, it's been tough - after 10 months Dependabot makes $2,100 a month (although that's now growing quite fast). I know I'm the kind of personality that couldn't have started it at the same time as working a full time job, though - I need to be really focussed on one thing at a time.
Looks like a great product. How did you come up with the pricing models? It seems on the cheap side. Have you thought about having something between small and unlimited (at the $50 mark or more) and then the unlimited plan for quite a bit more (or even contact us for pricing)?
You are definitely right, unlimited is too cheap. OP has a nice thing going on here !
Re: Ask HN: How did you start your business?
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
Depending on how far you take your business while young, you may find it difficult to go back to regular employment, especially in places where people expect you to be reliable and dedicated. I'm not sure young people can take financial risks, unless they're already rich. If they're not rich, I'd sooner advise people to work for long enough to have a safety net of cash, as well as cash to invest in their idea first.…
> I'm not sure young people can take financial risks, unless they're already rich. It's a lot easier to take a financial risk when you have no dependents and no mortgage. I quit my job to start a business in my late 20s, when I was single and had no kids. I will say that another reply's statement is very true: "If I think back to the person I was in my mid-20s, I would not have had the dedication, confidence, people…
During my 20s, I was in graduate school and I had no money. Now I'm in my 30s making good developer money, and while I have a mortgage I also have enough saved to pay it for a long time.
I also have no dependents, which is obviously the big difference maker.