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How to start a company with no free time

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Re: How to start a company with no free time

#101

Post by rezashirazian »

ggregoire wrote: post #24

I'm surprised by the points 1 and 3. I started a company 2 months ago as solo founder and I work everyday on the product (a SaaS for small/mid companies). I really have no free time to do marketing yet or promote my idea. I just focus on having a MVP. 1. "Decline invitations from VCs to drink a coffee" I've never received any attention from a VC, like probably most founders when they started their first company. It s…

I Agree, this is not a good article. Somewhat generic solutions for improbable problems.

Re: How to start a company with no free time

#102

Post by karthikb »

_Adam wrote: post #96
javiramos wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a mechanical engineer, this is the key to efficient work. Never CAD anything until you have done mental experiments, paper drawings, and thought through all the possible issues.

I'm a software engineer dabbling in mech design. I always do mental experiments and paper drawings, but I find that until I actual model it in SolidWorks I don't know for certain it will work. In your mind, do you see a "mental picture" of the model before you CAD it?

You'll get better at visualizing with practice. Making sketches lets you nail down the big picture without the tool and all of its detailed needs getting in the way.

Re: How to start a company with no free time

#103

Post by BadCookie »

ladytron wrote: post #60
BadCookie wrote: post #25

I can't help but think the author has her priorities completely messed up. A brand new baby and a husband with cancer, and she decides that starting a company is the best use of her time? Sorry, but it's beyond bizarre to me. Just because you can do something by sacrificing your health and your time with your family members doesn't mean that you should.

Who are you to judge her priorities? Watching an infant can be brain numbingly tedious, and so can sitting in waiting rooms for hours at a medical office. Maybe the startup gives her husband a positive distraction to focus on instead of his treatment and it gives them something good to talk about. You have no idea. A startup might be the perfect antidote to balance out her other duties to her family. Remember that al…

Obviously, she can do what she wants with her life, but by writing about her decisions, she has invited people to comment on her experiences. I've dealt with a newborn. It is soooo stressful and exhausting. I have dealt with serious health problems. Even more stressful. I have almost a decade of startup experience (though not as a founder). Also stressful. For 99.9% of people, and maybe more, combining the three is a recipe for disaster. Apparently she got lucky and it worked out, but I really hate this message that people can "have it all" because life doesn't work like that. There are always trade offs.

Re: How to start a company with no free time

#104

Post by rezashirazian »

blizkreeg wrote: post #28
ggregoire wrote: post #24

I'm surprised by the points 1 and 3. I started a company 2 months ago as solo founder and I work everyday on the product (a SaaS for small/mid companies). I really have no free time to do marketing yet or promote my idea. I just focus on having a MVP. 1. "Decline invitations from VCs to drink a coffee" I've never received any attention from a VC, like probably most founders when they started their first company. It s…

She's likely well connected, certainly better than most first-time founders. Don't feel dejected. Even Travis Kalanick had to tweet and hope someone responds (like mere mortals) to find his BD person.

I have a feeling this whole article is an attempt at a super meta/reverse psychology maneuver to grab VCs attention.

Re: How to start a company with no free time

#105

Post by jpace121 »

_Adam wrote: post #96
javiramos wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a mechanical engineer, this is the key to efficient work. Never CAD anything until you have done mental experiments, paper drawings, and thought through all the possible issues.

I'm a software engineer dabbling in mech design. I always do mental experiments and paper drawings, but I find that until I actual model it in SolidWorks I don't know for certain it will work. In your mind, do you see a "mental picture" of the model before you CAD it?

Not the OP, but I swear by cardboard, hot glue, and play doh.

I make lots of rough scale "prototypes" with the above tools to get started, and spot lots of problems this way.

Re: How to start a company with no free time

#106

Post by CaveTech »

smustin wrote: post #79
roryisok wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have two kids, and my coding time is suffering. How the heck did you code while up with your kid at 3am? What was the kid doing??

I didn't code while taking care of my kid. My kid has childcare during the day! People love to assume that women are all just staying home watching their kids all day...

Who are you even replying to? No one assumed anything about you and jump in anyways with a negative spin.

Re: How to start a company with no free time

#107

Post by jimbokun »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #18

I find my productivity gets hung up sometimes between the 'doing' and the 'learning', this is particularly painful when I consider the 'learning' to be non-useful later. A common case for me is 'use this library/package to complete the task to do this thing', I want to write the code that uses the package, the package API is opaque, it speaks in a language that makes sense if you have been playing with a dozen differ…

Right!

Yes, there is a cost to writing code instead of using a pre-existing solution. But there is also a non-zero costs to using pre-existing code!

In the end, using the pre-existing code will be a win in most cases. But reading docs is not nearly as much fun as reading code, so the emotional and procrastination barriers can be higher.

Re: How to start a company with no free time

#108

Post by old-gregg »

Great post and I agree with everything, but:

As always, carefully vet someone else's experience against your own reality:

  >If you’re not raising money you will accomplish very 
  >little for your business by meeting with VCs and 
  >networking.
Unless you are an enterprise software start-up, in which case your first customers may come via introductions by coffee-drinking VCs who may realize that you're solving a real problem for their portfolio companies. [1]

  >Building your product and finding product market fit 
  >is going to yield much higher dividends for your 
  >company than networking.
Unless you're networking with your target audience, in which case going out and talking to real people with real problems actually directly contributes to you finding the product market fit faster.

[1] Good VCs have great reputations for a reason.

Re: How to start a company with no free time

#110

Post by beepboop2045 »

timewarrior wrote: post #51

It seems difficult to believe the point 1, where she is being chased by VCs. The author has never built a startup before. All her previous roles have been mid/entry level roles in big/mid size companies. This articles seems like an attempt to create pent up demand. I do agree with the points mentioned in the article though.

She's not talking about VCs hounding her down to throw money at her, she's talking about VCs wanting to grab coffee so that they can gather information about the space. I think if you are starting a startup publicly, and live near low-level VCs this will happen to you.
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