61–70 of 110 posts
Short version: Convince great software developers to work mostly for stock options ($150K for 3 employees) and “harass [them] into programming day and night,“ while selling promises that they will need to back up with working software. Not an original strategy.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, he made a significant observation - the industry was operating at a high price point which was no longer justified due to advances in technology. That's a classic opportunity. The incumbents in the field won't want to drop their prices by an order of magnitude, even if the technology allows it. Especially if they have an expensive in-house sales force. This is a huge advantage for a startup. This happened to copi…
Um, he may have made a significant "observation" as you call it, but it wasn't his idea to research VOIP, to go out and get a device, or even how to implement it in a functional way to enact the advances in technology in a meaningful cost-savings avenue. It's right there in the article: > And I had the good fortune of Tooter, The Machine and my former boss eventually rallying around my vision with their considerable…
For those reading this article and wondering about a niche area that is in need of innovators: LIMS - Laboratory Information Management Systems. Here's the deal. Most manufacturing companies (think Big Pharma, Petrochemical, Chemical, Widget manufacturing, anything really) measure quality. Those quality measurements are probably done in a laboratory. Every laboratory generates data. All that data needs to be managed…
As someone who has sells a LIMS module for DNA sequencing the problem is the people that run theses systems do not like change. You need a scientific background to run these labs, but the work is very routine. The personalities that gravitate towards being a lab manager are the personalities that really, really, really like systems to stay the same. It is a very tough sell to get them to use something new no matter h…
For those reading this article and wondering about a niche area that is in need of innovators: LIMS - Laboratory Information Management Systems. Here's the deal. Most manufacturing companies (think Big Pharma, Petrochemical, Chemical, Widget manufacturing, anything really) measure quality. Those quality measurements are probably done in a laboratory. Every laboratory generates data. All that data needs to be managed…
Additional: Here is a great summary of LIMS High-level Requirements / Features: http://www.limswiki.org/index.php/LIMS_feature and here is a GREAT guide on Lab Information Management from an ISO point of view: https://www.unido.org/fileadmin/user_media/Publications/Pub_...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> ...or, you can study up on something called "survivorship bias" and realize most of the "wisdom" in the article is utterly useless. So true...I was thinking more along the lines of "How I Created A $200 Million Retirement Account By Buying the Right Powerball Lottery Ticket" but I like yours as well.
He did go on to found another successful startup. https://doctorbase.com/about/our-team/
Short version: Convince great software developers to work mostly for stock options ($150K for 3 employees) and “harass [them] into programming day and night,“ while selling promises that they will need to back up with working software. Not an original strategy.
...and for everyone one of these success stories, there are probably 8, 10...12 or more stories of people who totally failed and ended up with $200k in debt still paying it off from failed startups.
There's a side not talking about on Hacker News and it needs to be.
> Then I called him back and asked him, as calmly as I could, if he knew of anyone else at his newly acquired startup that might want to create a software company with me. I reminded him that I was good at selling shit. He introduced me to “Tooter,” who, it turned out, was heading my way to go snowboarding in Tahoe.
He could have sold all his shares before the IPO, but thought it was weird.
[1] https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288847/000119312514...
Man, does TechCrunch know their target demographic: "I’ve always wanted to make a lot of money, have people pay a lot of attention to me and do a lot of exciting things. I just never knew how."
Short version: Convince great software developers to work mostly for stock options ($150K for 3 employees) and “harass [them] into programming day and night,“ while selling promises that they will need to back up with working software. Not an original strategy.
>You just have to believe in yourself against all reasonable logic, as trite as that sounds.