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Ask YC: Do I have a chance?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Ask YC: Do I have a chance?

#21

Post by GrandMasterBirt »

socmoth wrote: post #17
davidw wrote: post #2

Why not try doing it without an investor? Does it absolutely require one? Could you get something going that would generate revenue and then grow it?

yeah, for your age, you don't need an investor until you need lots of servers. So get lots of users then investors will be easy.

You need investors when you need heavy funding. For now just live with your parents or wherever and make a prototype. From there you might be able to convince an investor that this is the next big thing. If you are hosting a website, then start it up, and show it off.

Hell I am 24 and I am not waiting for an investor to make my company a reality. If it fails, who cares, I got many years to try again :)

Re: Ask YC: Do I have a chance?

#22

Post by extantproject »

davidw wrote: post #2

Why not try doing it without an investor? Does it absolutely require one? Could you get something going that would generate revenue and then grow it?

Right. Don't put the carriage before the horse. If you have living expenses taken care of and time to spend then you can create something. It does not take investment to get started. Don't think about it too much and just make something.

... or as Guy Kawasaki put it (http://www.changethis.com/1.ArtOfTheStart):

"GET GOING. Start creating and delivering your product or service. Think soldering irons, compilers, hammers, saws, and AutoCAD -— whatever tools you use to build products and services. Don't focus on pitching, writing, and planning."

i.e. make something first.

Re: Ask YC: Do I have a chance?

#23

Post by extantproject »

GrandMasterBirt wrote: post #21
socmoth wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah, for your age, you don't need an investor until you need lots of servers. So get lots of users then investors will be easy.

You need investors when you need heavy funding. For now just live with your parents or wherever and make a prototype. From there you might be able to convince an investor that this is the next big thing. If you are hosting a website, then start it up, and show it off. Hell I am 24 and I am not waiting for an investor to make my company a reality. If it fails, who cares, I got many years to try again :)

Right on.

Re: Ask YC: Do I have a chance?

#25

Post by henryw »

You should do it, but don't expect to get funding. Make your site support itself. Since you are young, you can sink this if it doesn't work out and move on. This may sound pessimistic, but if you are going to fail, fail fast, so you can keep trying more things.

Re: Ask YC: Do I have a chance?

#26

Post by apgwoz »

Baltropreneur wrote: post #20

You don't have to be in the valley to build a successful Internet company! Boston, NYC, Boulder, DC, Philadelphia.. all have current hot startups. There is money to be found too in these areas; more in the valley of course...

which startups are you referring to in Philly?

Re: Ask YC: Do I have a chance?

#27

Post by rob »

dfranke wrote: post #19

Your ages will be a strike against you; expect problems with that for another two years or so at least. It's not a fatal strike, though, so definitely give it a shot. Apply to YC. Above all, keep building.

Umm... there are plenty of 17/18 year olds (probably younger) who make thousands online every month, all without the need for "investors". No offense to YC, but a lot of people on this site seem to think they need to quit their job, lock themselves in a dark closet for 6 months, apply for money, and build a stupid site without making any money at first. Meanwhile there are people (teens, dads, grandmas) building high-quality content sites and making the big $$$ via ads, all without needing "investors".

Re: Ask YC: Do I have a chance?

#28

Post by rokhayakebe »

tsetse-fly wrote: post #14
noodle wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

online social alarm clock startup? already done: http://www.chumby.com/

Chumby is much more than an alarm clock; it's a cool extendable toy that people would buy. I was referring to: http://sleep.fm/

What is your argument against sleep.fm, what have you built that solves a problem?

I am not attacking you or defending sleep.fm but since you brought it I thought you could share your views.

Re: Ask YC: Do I have a chance?

#29

Post by [deleted] »

rob wrote: post #27
dfranke wrote: post #19

Your ages will be a strike against you; expect problems with that for another two years or so at least. It's not a fatal strike, though, so definitely give it a shot. Apply to YC. Above all, keep building.

Umm... there are plenty of 17/18 year olds (probably younger) who make thousands online every month, all without the need for "investors". No offense to YC, but a lot of people on this site seem to think they need to quit their job, lock themselves in a dark closet for 6 months, apply for money, and build a stupid site without making any money at first. Meanwhile there are people (teens, dads, grandmas) building high…

[deleted]

Re: Ask YC: Do I have a chance?

#30

Post by aswanson »

tsetse-fly wrote: post #9

The bubble is in full effect. There seem to be a lot of people that think their projects somehow require funding. Your online social alarm clock is not a startup. Stop imagining how you're going to make money off of crappy widgets. Get out there, be curious and build things that solve actual problems.

Get out there, be curious and build things that solve actual problems.

Amen. You have the makings of an engineering commencement speech in there.

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