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ASK HN: I'm very tired.... how do I sell my company?

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Re: ASK HN: I'm very tired.... how do I sell my company?

#21

Post by peteforde »

I have the kind of personality where folks (including almost strangers) seem to feel comfortable "getting it all out" with me, and I do my best to listen and tell them what I really think.

What usually happens is that people get happy and excited, because I seem to get it and I'm not interested in knocking them down. How did I become so wise that I can give great advice?

It's simple, really: I just take all of the key/values they give me, eval() it in my brain, then pretty print it out to them as a JSON hash of logic. Then I tell them what I think they should actually do.

This works wonders because obvious I am not an oracle, I can only spit what they tell me back in a different order. And then I'm confident and opinionated.

Sorry dude, your start-up has already died and you haven't realized it yet. It's not worth anything to you or anyone else; time spent trying to get $50k (absurd!) is you being in denial about the time and effort you've put in so far. It's a distraction from making a clean break to try your next big idea.

Hard to hear? Yes! Harsh? Possibly, but it's because I want you to feel that this is real.

Re: ASK HN: I'm very tired.... how do I sell my company?

#22

Post by peteforde »

peteforde wrote: post #21

I have the kind of personality where folks (including almost strangers) seem to feel comfortable "getting it all out" with me, and I do my best to listen and tell them what I really think. What usually happens is that people get happy and excited, because I seem to get it and I'm not interested in knocking them down. How did I become so wise that I can give great advice? It's simple, really: I just take all of the ke…

Just as a follow-up:

I forgot to say that this is great news! You are free, if you let forgive yourself and let go.

Re: ASK HN: I'm very tired.... how do I sell my company?

#23

Post by mccon104 »

pgbovine wrote: post #16
tgoing wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Short-answers like this make me very nervous.... For me it means that you (or anyone who give those short-answers) do not care so much about the matter.... am I correct? But I'm thinking about tell what is the product.... I can tell that we're making a script to add to any website and we have a handful number of customers. We've been thinking of getting revenues by advertisement, but in order to get significant reven…

For me it means that you (or anyone who give those short-answers) do not care so much about the matter.... am I correct? sorry to sound rude, but you were the one who asked for advice here ... if i were you, i'd be grateful that people chime in with any thoughts at all, regardless of length. you can't expect people to write an entire inspired essay based on your (very short) question

if i were you, i'd be grateful that people chime in with any thoughts at all

that's a bit much don't you think? HN is a community based around learning about/discussing this exact sort of thing. he asked an earnest question and felt he received a half-assed response. so he called it out.

it happens here all. the. time. it's why i love reading this site, trite reponses get torn apart.

Re: ASK HN: I'm very tired.... how do I sell my company?

#26

Post by petervandijck »

petervandijck wrote: post #4

1) lines of code and time don't matter at all. 2) yes, if they're any good. You need to figure out who might get value out of what you built. Those are the people that might by it. Once you've done that, you need to build competition for the buy. Why not tell us what the product is, so we can give better advice? It doesn't sound like you're going anywhere with it in any case.

By the way, I was in a similar situation as well, about 3 years ago. I sold the site after putting 3 years into it. I'm still glad I did, it let me move on.

Re: ASK HN: I'm very tired.... how do I sell my company?

#27

Post by RockyMcNuts »

tgoing wrote: post #8
petervandijck wrote: post #4

1) lines of code and time don't matter at all. 2) yes, if they're any good. You need to figure out who might get value out of what you built. Those are the people that might by it. Once you've done that, you need to build competition for the buy. Why not tell us what the product is, so we can give better advice? It doesn't sound like you're going anywhere with it in any case.

Short-answers like this make me very nervous.... For me it means that you (or anyone who give those short-answers) do not care so much about the matter.... am I correct? But I'm thinking about tell what is the product.... I can tell that we're making a script to add to any website and we have a handful number of customers. We've been thinking of getting revenues by advertisement, but in order to get significant reven…

Sometimes a short answer is the simplicity on the other side of deep understanding.

Do you value an ounce of gold based on the hours that went into mining and refining it, or a Picasso based on the quantity of paint that went into it?

It's worth the value the buyer can get out of it, not what you put into it. Typically that's the expected values of future cash flows, discounted to the present using an appropriate risk-adjusted discount rate.

You can estimate how much cash it might generate under various scenarios, and estimate the probability of those scenarios transpiring, to come up with a value.

If you can persuade someone there is future cash flow, you can sell it. Otherwise, you can get a dime for it if you throw in a couple of nickels.

(disregarding strategic, humanitarian reasons to buy it, or the possibility someone is planning to spend X hours to build the exact same thing.)

Re: ASK HN: I'm very tired.... how do I sell my company?

#28

Post by techiferous »

tgoing wrote: post #8
petervandijck wrote: post #4

1) lines of code and time don't matter at all. 2) yes, if they're any good. You need to figure out who might get value out of what you built. Those are the people that might by it. Once you've done that, you need to build competition for the buy. Why not tell us what the product is, so we can give better advice? It doesn't sound like you're going anywhere with it in any case.

Short-answers like this make me very nervous.... For me it means that you (or anyone who give those short-answers) do not care so much about the matter.... am I correct? But I'm thinking about tell what is the product.... I can tell that we're making a script to add to any website and we have a handful number of customers. We've been thinking of getting revenues by advertisement, but in order to get significant reven…

Notice how your comment missed the mark emotionally. Someone took time out of their day to give you good advice and you implied that they don't care. You took an innocuous statement and painted it black. I know it was an honest mistake--I'm not judging you for it--I just want you to notice that.

Also reread your post. Notice how you are describing depressive symptoms (fatigue and you even mentioned depression). Only you know if you are depressed. But if you are, then be careful about making a big decision. Depressive thinking skews your judgment. Problems seem more permanent and intractable. Your intuition for evaluating costs, benefits, and risks gets distorted.

Re: ASK HN: I'm very tired.... how do I sell my company?

#29

Post by jodrellblank »

pgbovine wrote: post #16
tgoing wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Short-answers like this make me very nervous.... For me it means that you (or anyone who give those short-answers) do not care so much about the matter.... am I correct? But I'm thinking about tell what is the product.... I can tell that we're making a script to add to any website and we have a handful number of customers. We've been thinking of getting revenues by advertisement, but in order to get significant reven…

For me it means that you (or anyone who give those short-answers) do not care so much about the matter.... am I correct? sorry to sound rude, but you were the one who asked for advice here ... if i were you, i'd be grateful that people chime in with any thoughts at all, regardless of length. you can't expect people to write an entire inspired essay based on your (very short) question

if i were you, i'd be grateful that people chime in with any thoughts at all

The only bit you missed was "and if you don't like the answer you have all the words so you can fork it and improve it yourself".

Insert rolleyes emoticon here.

Re: ASK HN: I'm very tired.... how do I sell my company?

#30

Post by tansey »

jacquesm wrote: post #24
fizx wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend not telling.

I'd tell, after all HN constitutes a possible audience of buyers.

And he would have just told those potential buyers that he is tired of running his company and desperately wants to get rid of it, thus giving them lots of leverage in negotiations.
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