Ask HN: What stops you from starting today? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What stops you from starting today?

#21

Post by vgurgov » Wed, Aug 18, 2010, 1:30 PM UTC

raju wrote: post #4

I guess I have a few issues - 1. Immigration - I am an immigrant which makes launching your own company hard. I have a few years before my permanent residency comes through 2. Point #1 can be very demotivating. I have some ideas, and I keep playing with projects [Nothing worth releasing, or even having much potential, mind you] but not knowing if and when I can actually do something about it proves very unsettling, a…

H1B sucks i know :( Sort of legal "voluntary" slavery. Maybe startup is not for you and you should focus on your core job, master at it and look for career grows? For that you might want to stop reading HN too much and focus on relevant sources.

Re: Ask HN: What stops you from starting today?

#22

Post by brlewis » Wed, Aug 18, 2010, 1:36 PM UTC

vgurgov wrote: post #11

chime wrote: post #6

I hate you for asking me this because it is such an emotional issue for me. I've been asking myself the same question for over a year now. The answer has almost always been savings. I have a wife/house/car/loans and need at least $3000/month. The good thing is that I see the light at the end of the tunnel. July 2009, I thought I'd start in Feb 2010. Feb 2010, I thought I'd start in July 2010. Right now I'm aiming for…

Start part-time. Figure out how to reduce time you waste on your full-time job. Get some angel money - you will need some prototype for that though. Reduce your monthly spending and pay off loans first. Join early stage startup that is willing to pay some salary since the beginning. Just some obvious advices on top of my head. OR Maybe startup isnt for you? Thats just fine, its not for everyone and millions enjoy hap…

You count part-time as having started one's dream company?

Re: Ask HN: What stops you from starting today?

#23

Post by chime » Wed, Aug 18, 2010, 1:38 PM UTC

vgurgov wrote: post #11

chime wrote: post #6

I hate you for asking me this because it is such an emotional issue for me. I've been asking myself the same question for over a year now. The answer has almost always been savings. I have a wife/house/car/loans and need at least $3000/month. The good thing is that I see the light at the end of the tunnel. July 2009, I thought I'd start in Feb 2010. Feb 2010, I thought I'd start in July 2010. Right now I'm aiming for…

Start part-time. Figure out how to reduce time you waste on your full-time job. Get some angel money - you will need some prototype for that though. Reduce your monthly spending and pay off loans first. Join early stage startup that is willing to pay some salary since the beginning. Just some obvious advices on top of my head. OR Maybe startup isnt for you? Thats just fine, its not for everyone and millions enjoy hap…

A typical web-app startup isn't for me at this point indeed. I don't want to create a company from get-go. I want to create the science (hardware+software+new algo) first, spend 6-12 months working on it with my target users, and then once it is functional, make it a product. I can't do this part-time. I have to do this full-time but I can work part-time (consulting etc.)

I will have sufficient savings soon. For me it's not a question of if but when. It is the wait that's killing me. And then I see questions like this that make me feel even more impatient. But I truly appreciate such questions. Keeps me steadfast.

Re: Ask HN: What stops you from starting today?

#24

Post by dagw » Wed, Aug 18, 2010, 1:43 PM UTC

TODAY I'm meeting a friend I haven't seen for a quite a while at the pub after work, and it would rude to cancel on such short notice. After that I probably should be getting to bed since I have to work tomorrow.

Re: Ask HN: What stops you from starting today?

#25

Post by philbarr » Wed, Aug 18, 2010, 1:43 PM UTC

jwdunne wrote: post #7

Salford in Greater Manchester (UK) is the antithesis of startup hub :(

You're kidding right? Manchester's heaving with activity. Just look at CWJobs (ok, I know that's different to startups, but it shows dev activity in the area). Also, I live 40 miles north of you in Preston, and there's very little here. Doesn't stop me dreaming of my own startup one day.

That said, my excuse is: Before I got into software dev I tried to get into the music business. Unfortunately, that's much more about salesmanship than it is about music - you have to convince bar owners and club owners to put you on, you have to advertise your gig, you have to try and make a profit and pay your band, rent a van, etc. etc. It put me off being a musician (that and arrogant singers/drummers :) ). I don't want to be put off being a software dev too. I need some way of working past my disdain for that side of things. Then I'll be fit to start my own business.

Re: Ask HN: What stops you from starting today?

#26

Post by lionhearted » Wed, Aug 18, 2010, 1:44 PM UTC

I'm doing it. I wrote an ultra rough spec one month ago, tried selling before building, found that only 1 person out of 20 or so that I thought it would be relevant was interested, am refining again. It's been about a month, we should launch in a week or so. This probably won't be a huge company, just looking to make around $75/active hour for 20 hours per week for the next year or so whilst longer range projects grow slowly.

Re: Ask HN: What stops you from starting today?

#27

Post by vgurgov » Wed, Aug 18, 2010, 1:48 PM UTC

brlewis wrote: post #22

vgurgov wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Start part-time. Figure out how to reduce time you waste on your full-time job. Get some angel money - you will need some prototype for that though. Reduce your monthly spending and pay off loans first. Join early stage startup that is willing to pay some salary since the beginning. Just some obvious advices on top of my head. OR Maybe startup isnt for you? Thats just fine, its not for everyone and millions enjoy hap…

You count part-time as having started one's dream company?

Sure. I see no problem in starting something part-time, why not? If you dont have enough savings and want to bootstrap it might be the only option. And its not bad! I was always inspired by DHH talks on coding basecamp and rails for like 10h/week. Personally I start all my projects part-time.

Re: Ask HN: What stops you from starting today?

#28

Post by generalk » Wed, Aug 18, 2010, 1:51 PM UTC

brlewis wrote: post #22

vgurgov wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Start part-time. Figure out how to reduce time you waste on your full-time job. Get some angel money - you will need some prototype for that though. Reduce your monthly spending and pay off loans first. Join early stage startup that is willing to pay some salary since the beginning. Just some obvious advices on top of my head. OR Maybe startup isnt for you? Thats just fine, its not for everyone and millions enjoy hap…

You count part-time as having started one's dream company?

You don't? If that's the only way to get off the ground, then yeah, that might just be the start of your dream company. Better part-time than never.

Re: Ask HN: What stops you from starting today?

#29

Post by vgurgov » Wed, Aug 18, 2010, 1:55 PM UTC

lionhearted wrote: post #26

I'm doing it. I wrote an ultra rough spec one month ago, tried selling before building, found that only 1 person out of 20 or so that I thought it would be relevant was interested, am refining again. It's been about a month, we should launch in a week or so. This probably won't be a huge company, just looking to make around $75/active hour for 20 hours per week for the next year or so whilst longer range projects gro…

Congtrats! Way to go! You never know if its going to be huge or not btw ;) Good luck with that!

Re: Ask HN: What stops you from starting today?

#30

Post by noverloop » Wed, Aug 18, 2010, 1:58 PM UTC

I'm in the middle of an examination period. I do have a product that still needs a few weeks of work until it's launchable but the project is on hold atm.