11–20 of 55 posts
A key detail I was not aware of is 'business cards get switched to personal cards when not pain on time'. That's a bit one that we should all be aware of (though I don't have a business card yet, good to know).
"millions of users" - is that serious, or sarcastic? I couldn't tell. If you have millions of users, I'd suspect you can find a way to monetize them a bit more than what you already are to get that $150k debt down faster - perhaps even a direct appeal ala Wikipedia. While credit checking for hiring does happen, it doesn't happen everywhere, and you can likely explain your situation reasonably such that it doesn't bec…
I wasn't being sarcastic. It is just not an easily monitizable space. It is $150 total, but the way credit was signed up, almost all of it is guaranteed by me. I am looking into consolidation (and partial forgiveness), that might make it entirely mine and that might just be worth it. Take full responsibility and take full action.
re: monetizing - wikipedia isn't easy to monetize either - which is why they do the appeals. Without knowing your situation, I can't presume to tell you what to do, but you may find a sizeable chunk of people willing to help donate to offset your debts, perhaps in exchange for a guarantee of continued service.
re: 150k - I hope you're able to get that reduced (via forgiveness, consolidation, whatever) quickly - perhaps to $100k soon. There are a number of stories of people getting through debt quickly on various personal finance blogs. Perhaps some of those may serve as motivation from outside the tech-o-sphere.
Best wishes to you on that difficult journey.
How did your credit line get expanded without you knowing it? A key detail I was not aware of is 'business cards get switched to personal cards when not pain on time'. That's a bit one that we should all be aware of (though I don't have a business card yet, good to know).
Sounds like you need cut bait and run and to declare personal bankruptcy. In 3 years of reasonable payments you will have all your debt gone (or if you have no assets outside a house and cheap car, chapter 7 even, with your debt gone near instantly). Chapter 13 doesn't last a long time, and was designed for your case. The point is not to take a productive citizen and hang upon a yoke of debt for much of their life. I…
http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050420/...
http://gigaom.com/2010/08/06/max-levchin-says-embracing-fail...
Levchin's 24 hours might be extreme to follow, but we can definitely learn from his relentlessness. As for $150k in debt, creditors nowadays are pretty used to arranging settlements. You might be able to arrange some payment plan with them and reduce the debt to under $70k. A big part of it is interest and fees that they tackle on so they would rather remove that and work with you than watch you default. So given you get a job (startup jobs don't check your credit as much) you might be able to fix it in 1-2 years without declaring bankruptcy.
I know how demoralizing it can feel but you are definitely not the only one and will emerge stronger after you get over it. Look forward to seeing blog posts/interviews about how you struggled and overcame your debt when you rise again.
"millions of users" - is that serious, or sarcastic? I couldn't tell. If you have millions of users, I'd suspect you can find a way to monetize them a bit more than what you already are to get that $150k debt down faster - perhaps even a direct appeal ala Wikipedia. While credit checking for hiring does happen, it doesn't happen everywhere, and you can likely explain your situation reasonably such that it doesn't bec…
Take out equity loan against house, pay off your credit card. Be ready to walk away from your house if you have to.
With all due respect, I don't think those are the correct lessons to be learnt. The lesson is: don't take on debt. Get investors. If you can't get investors, bootstrap, do some gigs on the side, and use that money to run the company. Then, get investors. If you can't get investors, well, repeat until... If you do this for a long enough time, and the idea, product, company, team and timing is right, you will be able t…
By agreeing to personal debt, you pledged personal money that you didn't have. I guess different people have varying levels of risk, but I don't invest money I don't have.
How did your credit line get expanded without you knowing it? A key detail I was not aware of is 'business cards get switched to personal cards when not pain on time'. That's a bit one that we should all be aware of (though I don't have a business card yet, good to know).
The trick is that many credit card companies will be happy to extend credit to you personally (your SSN), and agree to print a fancy "company name" on the card, so it makes you feel important. Wrong approach.
It's simple to tell: if you provide your SSN, you lose. If you only provide your company's EIN, fine (and read the small print).
