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Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

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Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#191

Post by smt88 »

matte_black wrote: post #155
smt88 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's my point. I don't have any "good" ideas because they're meaningless without the ability to execute. I know my limits, and I know that I can't tell if my ideas are good without intimately knowing the intended market. There are certainly things that I suspect there would be a huge market for. That, I suppose, is my "good ideas" list (or, because I'm not an oracle, my "wish list").

An incredible execution with no good idea is also pretty meaningless, so clearly having a good idea must be some sort of force multiplier and thus have value.

I know a lot of people who laughed at the following ideas because they're so "bad": Uber, Twitter, Bird/Lime, and Instagram.

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#192

Post by alexcnwy »

ilamont wrote: post #43
orasis wrote: post #2

Serial single founder here. Start building and start selling. If you can’t deliver a product to a paying customer solo then you’re not cut out to be a sole founder.

If you can’t deliver a product to a paying customer solo then you’re not cut out to be a sole founder. I really dislike the tone and content of this advice. I am a solo founder. My first venture (as part of a team) failed - even though we had a product, we had no paying customers and there were other issues. It would have been terrible had someone given advice like this right after that happened - "you're not cut out…

If the words of some random person on the internet can dissuade you from being a founder then you're not cut out to be a founder.

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#193

Post by satvikpendem »

Papirola wrote: post #175
satvikpendem wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a somewhat frequent contributor on IndieHackers actually. To promote the page, I basically posted it everywhere I could (without getting banned) and started asking my friends to critique the site. When applicable, I would also answer questions on fora as I am now. In terms of time, I'm not really sure, it's an on and off commitment as I also have a job. Anything other questions or anything you're working on as we…

I'd like to know more about the "not getting banned" part. Reddit communities are notorious for not wanting to be sold to. what's your approach? how do you articulate the post? maybe you could share a link to an actual post as an example? thanks for the insight!

Many subreddits have rules on when you can do self promotion, such as a separate thread or a specific day for posting. That's when I do it. [See this post for example](https://old.reddit.com/r/getdisciplined/comments/a3oz48/meth...). As well, you can see in that post that I don't directly promote my app but instead I ask questions regarding the process by which people schedule their day.

Provide value without expecting value in return. If you look on [/r/entrepreneur](www.reddit.com/r/entrepreneur), you can see some posts where people use their blog posts as a reddit post, which provides value for those who don't read their specific blog. Then, you can link back to your own blog at the end of the post. In doing so, you provide value before you promote yourself, and so any products or services you then promote will be associated with quality to your readerbase.

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#194

Post by zawazzi »

foobiekr wrote: post #182
jelling wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solo founder here. Same advice with the caveat that 98% of people should never be solo founders - you must be able to code and sell - but even if you can you should still get a partner if they double your speed.

Another reason to consider not going solo is that some experienced engineers will consider it a black mark - here's a guy who either believes he can do it all -or- is too greedy/control-freaky to share; this is someone who didn't meet someone better than themselves in their career or simply couldn't recognize that fact. The few solo founders I have personally dealt with have fit that description exactly.

I think it would be a distinct recruitment advantage not to have a cofounder. You could reallocate equity you would have given to a cofounder, to early employees. Cofounder or no, money talks.

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#195

Post by mimixco »

viach wrote: post #190
mimixco wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure I agree. Most revolutionary ideas are unappealing when first presented. The world thought Walt Disney was crazy for making a feature cartoon (Snow White) that went on to be one of the most profitable movies in history. Even after that, they thought he was nuts for starting a theme park. Henry Ford once quipped, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said, 'A faster horse.'"

If you throw 1000 random ideas against the wall, 10 of them could stick, 2 or 3 of which would be solo founded. Look, solo founding works, right?

Really? You think those guys got where they were by throwing out random ideas? The point is that with the right skills and chutzpah, solo founders can make it.

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#196

Post by zwetan »

matte_black wrote: post #155
smt88 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's my point. I don't have any "good" ideas because they're meaningless without the ability to execute. I know my limits, and I know that I can't tell if my ideas are good without intimately knowing the intended market. There are certainly things that I suspect there would be a huge market for. That, I suppose, is my "good ideas" list (or, because I'm not an oracle, my "wish list").

An incredible execution with no good idea is also pretty meaningless, so clearly having a good idea must be some sort of force multiplier and thus have value.

it is exactly the opposite imho

the idea can already be there, already implemented and even already successful

and an incredible execution can just take over

you don't take over on ideas, you do take over on implementation

few examples: hotmail and then boom gmail took over, IE6 and boom Firefox took over, etc.

in fact implementation is so much more important that you have to keep doing it right otherwise someone else take over

also you can not keep an idea secret forever, once you release your product, everyone know about it and get a shot at their own implementation of your idea

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#197

Post by d0m »

iscrewyou wrote: post #112
warent wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with this except switch the order. First, start selling. Then start building. It is so easy to waste so much time building something nobody wants, and you won't know until it's too late if you try to sell it afterward. Selling first will inform your decisions on what to build.

Can I ask an honest question respectfully? I don’t have a company or a startup. But I’ve always wanted to start one. So I’m always curious when I see a response like yours. How do you sell first? There isn’t a product to show. How do you find Customers? Is it the philosophy that the customer doesn’t know better and you have to tell them what they need, all the while understanding what your capabilities are. Like unde…

Once you find a real pain points, people will beg you to buy/use your product, even if all you have is a crappy version rushed out.

To be clear, some startups require to have a super polished version to be successful. But even then, there's often a way to have customers pilot an early version or cheaply test the market.

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#198

Post by burtonator »

gameguy43 wrote: post #103

You don't have to have superpowers. You just have to have some product sense, some engineering chops, and the ability to take 6 months off (not everyone can afford this, and that sucks) to build the thing and see if you can get people to look at it and buy it. You'll learn all the other stuff along the way (taxes, marketing, and eventually: hiring). Just give it a shot. If you run out of savings and have to go back t…

I'm trying to launch a startup now...

https://getpolarized.io/

What I've been mostly focusing on is product market fit and growth.

I think I have the product market fit down but the growth aspect is what's challenging me right now.

I don't want to just buy growth now as I'm not convinced (yet) that our user base will actually pay.

Additionally, I have to figure out a way to get a steady supply of new users through some growth channel and that's the area where I'm still lagging.

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#199

Post by [deleted] »

iscrewyou wrote: post #112
warent wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with this except switch the order. First, start selling. Then start building. It is so easy to waste so much time building something nobody wants, and you won't know until it's too late if you try to sell it afterward. Selling first will inform your decisions on what to build.

Can I ask an honest question respectfully? I don’t have a company or a startup. But I’ve always wanted to start one. So I’m always curious when I see a response like yours. How do you sell first? There isn’t a product to show. How do you find Customers? Is it the philosophy that the customer doesn’t know better and you have to tell them what they need, all the while understanding what your capabilities are. Like unde…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How to found a company as a single founder?

#200

Post by sh87 »

erobbins wrote: post #184
rjf72 wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had the exact same experience with "sell first" on various user applications. Pitch something to people and they're lukewarm. Make the product, in my case first and foremost for myself, and they end up gushing over it in practice. Always brings me back to Henry Ford: - "If I'd ask people what they want, they'd have said faster horses." - "The customer can have their car painted any color, as long as it's black."…

I hate that quote. They wouldn't have wanted faster horses, they'd have wanted something faster (or lower maintenance, or cheaper) than a horse.

For most people who ride horses, a faster horse is the only sensible next step.

That quote quite succinctly points out a bunch of human behaviors.

Just ask the next person you meet about their solution on high rent, bad traffic, etc. to get a sense of what I'm talking about.

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