Ask HN: I died 2 times, coma, learned how to walk again, code, now I need advice

#1

Post by michaelabe » Fri, Mar 11, 2011, 7:44 AM UTC

I went through 2 aneurysms (I know unlucky), went through 2 brain surgeries, then got hit with mitral valve regurgitation which steamed from having endocarditis (rare virus that sits on the heart). Then was in a coma because of the aneurysm, when I woke up I needed to learn how to walk again. Before that I went through physical abuse, poverty, lived on my own (boarding schools, houses I rented etc) since I am 13, hustled, did drugs, and all kinds of other stupid things. Why am I telling you this on HN? Because this is part of the journey of an entrepreneur, I've been starting businesses since I am 16 as an escape to a poor reality and a bad environment, I am not from the US (from Israel) but came here (live in Palo Alto because of the amazing freedoms and opportunity that this country provides and of course to leave my junk behind. After failing many times and teaching my self how to code/design software, I am finally on a path to something that works.

I have a product with traction, revenue (I had to find a business model early on since I know no one I can raise money from). Now I am at a point where my startup is growing but I need to scale it way faster before someone comes in, its a wide open market for something that has huge revenue potential (we are making already 15K a month without trying because of our limited team of 2).

I came here because I wanted to ask for your help, how does one raise money when he knows no one, I realized that the tech industry raises money purely or mostly based on connections/introductions, I don't have that at all what should I do to get in that door?

Thank you in advance and sorry if the spelling is not perfect :)

btw I am 25 yo if you are curious because usually the above sicknesses come to older people.

Re: Ask HN: I died 2 times, coma, learned how to walk again, code, now I need advice

#2

Post by cemetric » Fri, Mar 11, 2011, 7:51 AM UTC

Hello, first let me tell you; Your perseverance will definitely help you in business. You're a strong person, I hope you can leave all bad experiences behind you and can take all experience from them that you can.

Second, it's all about networking, online, offline, doesn't matter, tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook exist for just this, networking. Start by creating a LinkedIn profile, or update your existing one and start connecting, write people. Also look for "networking events", I don't know if they exist in your neighborhood but here you can find them, these are events organized especially to get to know other people in the business (any business) you exchange cards and start conversations, these are excellent opportunities. I can go on about this but you get the idea I guess... Make yourself known, connect, socialize, in the end you will find the people you need, or they find you.

Re: Ask HN: I died 2 times, coma, learned how to walk again, code, now I need advice

#3

Post by latch » Fri, Mar 11, 2011, 8:05 AM UTC

You could always apply to YC. I mean, isn't that the entire point of it?

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2312566 & http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2310110

Re: Ask HN: I died 2 times, coma, learned how to walk again, code, now I need advice

#4

Post by michael_dorfman » Fri, Mar 11, 2011, 8:18 AM UTC

Dude: you died twice, were in a coma, learned to walk and code again-- you should be giving us advice.

My question: do you have a scalable customer acquisition model? Put another way-- if someone dropped a chunk of money in your lap, do you already know (in detail) how you would spend it to increase traction and revenue?

If so, sink as much of the 15K/month you are making into that.

Oh, and apply for YC.

Re: Ask HN: I died 2 times, coma, learned how to walk again, code, now I need advice

#5

Post by maxbrown » Fri, Mar 11, 2011, 8:23 AM UTC

While the long-term value and the use/abuse of AngelList is highly debated (see http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/26/angelist/ among others), one purpose of the site is to provide exposure to people with great ideas who don't necessarily have the connections to get them intros. It's at http://angel.co, probably worth checking out. Good luck to you!

Re: Ask HN: I died 2 times, coma, learned how to walk again, code, now I need advice

#6

Post by adlep » Fri, Mar 11, 2011, 8:42 AM UTC

Curious: How did you get here? Do you have some relatives that sponsored you? Make sure that you CAN legally stay and work in the US before asking for money and starting business in here. If you don't have regulated status, you can always try to find company that will be willing to sponsor you through their H1B work permit program.

Re: Ask HN: I died 2 times, coma, learned how to walk again, code, now I need advice

#7

Post by vrikhter » Fri, Mar 11, 2011, 9:48 AM UTC

Drop me a line vladik dot rikhter at gmail. Happy to chat and put you in touch with a few VCs and angels that I know.

Re: Ask HN: I died 2 times, coma, learned how to walk again, code, now I need advice

#8

Post by raarky » Fri, Mar 11, 2011, 10:24 AM UTC

so, whats your startup then? :)

Re: Ask HN: I died 2 times, coma, learned how to walk again, code, now I need advice

#9

Post by quizbiz » Fri, Mar 11, 2011, 10:25 AM UTC

Fellow Israeli immigrant here. Feel free to ping me. email in profile.

You should seriously consider applying to YC.

Be'hatzlacha

Re: Ask HN: I died 2 times, coma, learned how to walk again, code, now I need advice

#10

Post by makeramen » Fri, Mar 11, 2011, 10:28 AM UTC

If you're already making 15k a month, I would say just bootstrap. How much faster do you need to scale? All the YC startups this round got 150k, but you're looking at 15k*12=180k a year, that's already more than YC can offer you.

If you really need next level funding, then I would think just emailing/tweeting around would easily get you some good responses esp with your story and already proven market for your product.