101–110 of 361 posts
I think it's fine motto for startups that are going to be fueled with angel money.
For bootstrapped startups I think it should be: "Make something people want (to pay for!)."
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The most realistic founding story so far is Bezos explanation for how he founded Amazon. It was always a business-first mindset in an area of high growth. That one short video filmed in 1997 should be a masterclass by itself.
Anyone has a link to the above video?
I wish he could have invested more in the idea - I think it's an amazing concept but the creator pulled the plug too early. Sales cycles in B2B can take months, and in healthcare they can take years. Especially the doctor's feedback, she described the possibility of changing her habits slowly as she got used to using the tool. Unrelated: "I always have the best interests of my patients in mind, but, you know, it’s no…
It is easy to be an armchair expert, but I saw that this is not a viable idea: almost nobody would pay for it, for 99% of the cases patients and doctors already know the medication that is good enough and good for them (ibuprofen for me, acetaminophen for my friend because Ibuprofen upsets her stomach etc). And remaining 1% will most likely require serious medical attention, not just rando site. Let alone the fact th…
Maybe try selling the tech asset, you might be able to more than recoup your investment :)
I think the general takeaway is:
1. have an idea 2. make some mockups with plain HTML/CSS 3. run it past your target market to see if they'll pay for it 4. if so, build it
This works even better if your target market is willing to fund the development costs.
I still feel like there's an idea somewhere in here – maybe with medicine, or maybe with supplements, nutrition, etc. You could position yourself as a knowledge base and use the data as a marketing funnel for related products. Examine.com has an interesting business model along these lines. (If I was about to start an anti-anxiety medication, I'd sure as hell pay to know which one worked best.)
Oof. The site was practically named after WebMD, and the founder didn't do any market research on that competitor to gauge how viable the business was before quitting their job? This person probably should have known that their main competitor made $0.50/user before they quit their job. Also: >It had been a bit of a working assumption of mine over the past few weeks that if you could improve the health of the patient…
This. It is very hard to get real world experience. $40k is cheap compared to a bootcamp that won't teach him even 1/10th of this life experience.
Btw, actual figure is not $40k, but one should consider it close to $100k+ if you factor in that he used up his "make my parents support shelter, food, living expenses, car". Depending on the cultural background, they wont be doing this many more times. If you consider how much he lost on the (bay area) salary he otherwise would have earned, add another $100k
At least you gave it a go; even if it didn't work out, you don't have to wonder "what if?" for your entire life, and I think it's pretty cool that you built something you were passionate about; at the very least, stuff like this is pretty good resume fuel, right?