Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A two-person startup already uses twenty-eight other tools

acrossapp.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 468 posts

Re: A two-person startup already uses twenty-eight other tools

#61

Post by mxschumacher »

fyfy18 wrote: post #34
matsemann wrote: post #24

Not exactly the same, but I have sometimes wondered how many startups are just burning other startups' money, and would collapse if VCs tightened the belt. For instance, startup X seems profitable but all revenue is from other startups not making money yet. Like a big ponzi scheme of sorts. Most products mentioned in the article are now mainstream, but for lots of them a few years back they were small and only used b…

I don't think it adds up to that much, compared to the cost of developers. Where I live in Eastern Europe, a single mid-level developer would cost at least $5k/mo once you take into account taxes, office space and benefits. In SV I guess you are talking well over $20k/mo. $20k/mo is a lot of software.

non-technical staff need access to tools like Notion, Slack and Hubspot, the bills add up quickly

Re: A two-person startup already uses twenty-eight other tools

#62

Post by thatsnice »

city41 wrote: post #14

What is the benefit of paying for GSuite for such a small team? Also Github? You can now have private repos with up to three collaborators for free.

I pay for G Suite as a freelancer. It lets me use my own domain for email and meeting requests instead of an @gmail account.

Re: A two-person startup already uses twenty-eight other tools

#63

Post by apk-d »

crubier wrote: post #37
edanm wrote: post #29

You also use desks, and chairs, computers and displays. Cups for drinking water. Plates for eating. This is an interesting list, but it thinks of software as somehow fundamentally different from non software products, which is a mistake IMO. It makes it seem like Software is super expensive or something, when in reality, if you think of all inputs into your business, these costs are trivial.

True but you don’t pay subscription for your chairs. You do pay rent, but in many case the sum of SaaS subscription is in the same order of magnitude as the rent.

Is this only true for US-based companies? Where I'm from, I rarely see use of subscription services (especially ones that incur per-seat costs). Developers here tend to earn roughly the same number, but in a different currency, which makes all software and services several times more expensive. This results in preference of OSS alternatives and free tiers whenever possible. We use Discord for communication, Gitlab for source control, vscode for writing code, and... honestly, what else do you even need to run a software company anyway?

At my last startup, the total monthly subscription cost was the $1 Bitwarden tier (granted, we were tiny). And yes, a Ryzen system bolted to a $10 lackrack was entirely sufficient for our hosting needs.

Re: A two-person startup already uses twenty-eight other tools

#64

Post by Roritharr »

moksly wrote: post #41

I’d personally drop gsuite, trello and slack and get a office365 essentials plan. I know, because I did, and it’s so much easier to manage and it’s also cheaper. I’m not going to say the tools are better with Microsoft, because to me it’s really much of the same where I genuinely don’t really like any of the options. But because it’s not worse either, you kind of get used to it. I think if you got the full teams/one-…

I'm currently looking into digital whiteboarding solutions, Miro & Mural seem to be the tools of choice, but both are so expensive that I'd rather hold my nose and wait for Microsoft to invest in the Web Version of Whiteboard instead of spending another 4000$/yr on a SaaS App that gets used by 5 people 2 times a weeks and 30 people once every quarter...

Re: A two-person startup already uses twenty-eight other tools

#65

Post by cbartlett »

greyoda wrote: post #42
cbartlett wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To give them benefit of the doubt, they may have already paid for it, and as it's a one time fee not included it in their monthly costs.

It has a yearly subscription fees if the license is bought for use in a business

From the FAQ

Using a Personal License at Work As licenses are per-user, you're welcome to use your license key on all computers where you are the primary user, including at work.

Re: A two-person startup already uses twenty-eight other tools

#66

Post by baxtr »

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #33

I am the CIO of a mostly remote, cybersecurity startup (50 FTEs). I balance between not single-threading all choices through me and not letting things get too out of hand. That means no one is every really happy. E.g., we use Uberconference for videoconferencing. We thoroughly looked at a bunch of others and chose UC for its functionality, price, and simplicity (every conference gets a simple phone number, no stupid…

> It’s because no matter how smart you folks are as individuals, in the aggregate you are like toddlers.

Love the quote

Re: A two-person startup already uses twenty-eight other tools

#67

Post by luckylion »

mxschumacher wrote: post #61
fyfy18 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it adds up to that much, compared to the cost of developers. Where I live in Eastern Europe, a single mid-level developer would cost at least $5k/mo once you take into account taxes, office space and benefits. In SV I guess you are talking well over $20k/mo. $20k/mo is a lot of software.

non-technical staff need access to tools like Notion, Slack and Hubspot, the bills add up quickly

They do, but it only matters if you're working in a region with very low wages or you have a lot of people that only work for a few hours.

I see those tools mostly like a fast computer, good internet, drinks and snacks etc. They really aren't that expensive compared to the employee but they will help the employee be much more effective.

Re: A two-person startup already uses twenty-eight other tools

#68

Post by GordonS »

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #33

I am the CIO of a mostly remote, cybersecurity startup (50 FTEs). I balance between not single-threading all choices through me and not letting things get too out of hand. That means no one is every really happy. E.g., we use Uberconference for videoconferencing. We thoroughly looked at a bunch of others and chose UC for its functionality, price, and simplicity (every conference gets a simple phone number, no stupid…

It sounds like a few simple rules would help - you don't need complex procedures and forms, it can be as simple as "if you want to buy new software, ask the CIO or CTO, and in most cases they'll say yes/no on the spot".

I can't help but think this is a symptom of being awash with VC cash - I can't imagine this happening in a bootstrapped business.

Re: A two-person startup already uses twenty-eight other tools

#69

Post by lifeisstillgood »

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #33

I am the CIO of a mostly remote, cybersecurity startup (50 FTEs). I balance between not single-threading all choices through me and not letting things get too out of hand. That means no one is every really happy. E.g., we use Uberconference for videoconferencing. We thoroughly looked at a bunch of others and chose UC for its functionality, price, and simplicity (every conference gets a simple phone number, no stupid…

I hear you, but the only times I have seen the balance work is via a "committee" of DevLeads. Senior devs work with the trees everyday but are also able to see the woods. They are at the perfect position to make intelligent future proof decisions, and the second job of senior management is to ensure the DevLeads (or non tech equivalents) across the company are meeting talking discussing and deciding regularly and frequently (no a slack channel is not enough)

Re: A two-person startup already uses twenty-eight other tools

#70

Post by GordonS »

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #33

I am the CIO of a mostly remote, cybersecurity startup (50 FTEs). I balance between not single-threading all choices through me and not letting things get too out of hand. That means no one is every really happy. E.g., we use Uberconference for videoconferencing. We thoroughly looked at a bunch of others and chose UC for its functionality, price, and simplicity (every conference gets a simple phone number, no stupid…

We got the same catty comments from prospective customers about Uberconference.

Eventually we moved to webex, not because it's the best (it's not), not because it's the cheapest (it's not), but because many corporate customers seems to use it internally, and because it's what just about all corporate customers seem to expect.

Post reply on HN