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Ask HN: Why did your startup fail and what did you learn?

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Re: Ask HN: Why did your startup fail and what did you learn?

#361

Post by scabarott »

haolez wrote: post #222
scabarott wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't quite understand this. Presumably, you're developers and just created a I assume fairly complex backend product (better than Google Maps). What stopped even just one of you from picking up a book on react-native/electron/whatever and knocking out a workable front-end? Did you exceed your runway, run out of time etc? edit: to clarify, I meant after the third-party didn't work out. Also not critiquing just gen…

I simplified the story a little bit, but two factors contributed to the sad outcome: 1. making a _live routing_ app is tougher than it looks 2. our team was really emotionally exhausted after this (the whole process consumed around 2 years) and some key team members needed some time off But yeah, it could have been possible to make the app ourselves.

I hear you, and appreciate your honesty. Not many founders talk a lot about the technical challenges of building the app itself. A lot of startup stories I read take this as a given, whereas I'm sure it's one of the biggest factors if not the biggest that causes many startups to fail.

Re: Ask HN: Why did your startup fail and what did you learn?

#362

Post by EpicEng »

everybodyknows wrote: post #351
josh_frome wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, "According to the FBI, affinity fraud crimes are especially prevalent in Utah." https://fox13now.com/2017/12/20/fbi-warns-lds-church-members...

Interesting, but the article doesn't give us much sense of how close the victim and perp were in the church hierarchy, My reading is that they probably did not have the same Mormon bishop, who would have felt some pressure to take action. So, yes, the farther away in the social network, the weaker the social pressure. If the link is mere nominal membership in the same faith, that may be worse than no link at all. Mos…

>This is why, for instance, Mormons seldom defraud other Mormons

>If the link is mere nominal membership in the same faith, that may be worse than no link at all

So which is it?

Re: Ask HN: Why did your startup fail and what did you learn?

#363

Post by EpicEng »

pq0ak2nnd wrote: post #323
gfarah wrote: post #163

On my first startup right after university, we were doing an IoT device (hardware + software), our MVP was good enough to make a couple of sales amounting to 550 consumers. At that point the board decided the best way to grow was to bring in “adult supervision” aka a seasoned CEO to run the company. Even though I did all the software, I had only around an 8% stake in the company at the time. The person in question de…

99% of the time? Sounds like 100% of the time since we're only talking about a sample size of one company. Serious generalization. More like "a bird in hand".

>99% of the time... Serious generalization. More like "a bird in hand".

id·i·om

ˈidēəm/Submit

noun

a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., rain cats and dogs, see the light ).

------------

"99% of the time" almost never literally means 99% of the time. C'mon, don't be that guy.

Re: Ask HN: Why did your startup fail and what did you learn?

#364

Post by mmsimanga »

everybodyknows wrote: post #336
mmsimanga wrote: post #219

I come from a coal mining region. For over a 100 years there has only been one mine in the area, a big mine. There is plenty of coal in the surrounding areas. This is Africa. An uncle of mine had the idea that we start a mine. He invited about 20 of us, all related. We started putting aside money to register a company, pay a geologist to prospect for the coal and get mining permit to mine the coal. We all contributed…

People inside our tight social circles are held accountable by social pressure. This is why, for instance, Mormons seldom defraud other Mormons -- it would make Sunday mornings unpleasant for a long time to come. That your uncle would choose very deliberately to alienate his entire family is the astonishing thing. Would be curious to know what his social life is like, now ...

You quite right, those are the reasons we trusted him. Clearly, the love for money was bigger than his love for the family.

We still meet at extended family gatherings. Funerals, weddings but no one stops by to visit him and his immediate family. Which I gather is fine with them because they have renovated their house and bought themselves a new set of wheels.

Re: Ask HN: Why did your startup fail and what did you learn?

#365

Post by stretchwithme »

beaconstudios wrote: post #304
tim333 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find sarcastic positivity often is good eg. "that's a really great idea - you should be president." Let's you take the piss and often they think you're being serious.

or just be professional and divert the topic to something else so you don't have to give an opinion on craziness. The guy was probably just mouthing off anyway and responding literally isn't going to do anyone any favours.

Exactly.

Re: Ask HN: Why did your startup fail and what did you learn?

#366

Post by screwed-over »

Posting anon. My startup failed when my backstabbing co-founder struck a side-deal with our biggest customer to essentially "sell" our IP via consulting directly to them. We were easily acquihire material which would have possibly netted us single-digit millions, but instead my co-founder took the bird in hand and "cashed out" all our internal secrets.

As I learned, lawsuits are expensive and you have to prove things that you may not be able to "prove."

Re: Ask HN: Why did your startup fail and what did you learn?

#367

Post by murukesh_s »

aarongray wrote: post #354
tim333 wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds interesting enough that you might get users by blogging about it / pr etc rather than paid advertising?

Yeah, maybe so, I just haven't had the time to invest in that. My wife took a high stress / high pay job to support us temporarily while I built the app, and she was nearing burnout and it just was taking me too long to scale my customer base after the paid ads failure, so I had to put it down and go back to a 9-5 to protect our marriage. ;-)

ha ha, looks like the single biggest reason for failure (or success) of startups are marriage :-)..

Re: Ask HN: Why did your startup fail and what did you learn?

#368

Post by the_clarence »

mmsimanga wrote: post #364
everybodyknows wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People inside our tight social circles are held accountable by social pressure. This is why, for instance, Mormons seldom defraud other Mormons -- it would make Sunday mornings unpleasant for a long time to come. That your uncle would choose very deliberately to alienate his entire family is the astonishing thing. Would be curious to know what his social life is like, now ...

You quite right, those are the reasons we trusted him. Clearly, the love for money was bigger than his love for the family. We still meet at extended family gatherings. Funerals, weddings but no one stops by to visit him and his immediate family. Which I gather is fine with them because they have renovated their house and bought themselves a new set of wheels.

I guess it depends how tight your family is. I would never trust half of mine on such matter, I would definitely trust my parents though.

Re: Ask HN: Why did your startup fail and what did you learn?

#369

Post by pq0ak2nnd »

EpicEng wrote: post #363
pq0ak2nnd wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

99% of the time? Sounds like 100% of the time since we're only talking about a sample size of one company. Serious generalization. More like "a bird in hand".

>99% of the time... Serious generalization. More like "a bird in hand". id·i·om ˈidēəm/Submit noun a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., rain cats and dogs, see the light ). ------------ "99% of the time" almost never literally means 99% of the time. C'mon, don't be that guy.

Actually, I AM going to be that guy. I have zero tolerance for people who claim to be experts. You had one experience and used an idiom (incorrectly) to sound smart. So tired of smug upstarts like you.

Re: Ask HN: Why did your startup fail and what did you learn?

#370

Post by aarongray »

murukesh_s wrote: post #367
aarongray wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, maybe so, I just haven't had the time to invest in that. My wife took a high stress / high pay job to support us temporarily while I built the app, and she was nearing burnout and it just was taking me too long to scale my customer base after the paid ads failure, so I had to put it down and go back to a 9-5 to protect our marriage. ;-)

ha ha, looks like the single biggest reason for failure (or success) of startups are marriage :-)..

haha yeah you might be right. Startups typically put a huge strain on the founders and their families. I wouldn't advise anyone attempt a startup unless they are in good condition mentally, physically, and relationally.

In my case, I wouldn't have been able to quit my job and attempt this startup in the first place if it wasn't for my wife taking that hard job for a couple years - so I felt like it would have been a bad idea to respond to her good deed by taking advantage of her and burning her out so I could have my dream.

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