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Persisting as a solo founder

vishnu.tech

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Re: Persisting as a solo founder

#91

Post by eruci »

kashgoudarzi wrote: post #90

Question for the solo founders out there: How much certainty or revenue did you have before quitting your job? I’m in the common dilemma of not being able to leave my job because my business isn’t making money. But my business isn't making money because I’m working 10 hours a day for another company and don’t have time to work on my business.

I had very little certainty of revenue when I quit my job, but I was quite bored with it and got a $20k severance package on the way out. So I gave myself 6 months before I had to look for another job.

Re: Persisting as a solo founder

#92

Post by jahbrewski »

wolco wrote: post #61
jahbrewski wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree with the sentiment of #1, I would argue that sales are more important than marketing at this stage. You can spin your wheels “learning SEO” and “creating content” with very little tangible results. In the beginning, sales + product are just about all that matter.

Sales without marketing isn't the best strategy, it literally turns you into a one man[selling machine where everything is based on your time. Marketing develops channels of customers.

Well, you sort of described the position I'm in :)

Given that, do you have any recommendations for developing channels of customers? I haven't really hired for marketing before - what should I be looking for in that role?

Re: Persisting as a solo founder

#93

Post by tiffanyh »

ilamont wrote: post #22

Solo founder here. Make a product that people want and are willing to pay for. The product may be in what appears to be a crowded field. Identify niche opportunities or cases where an established leader is doing a poor job. It's fine to do some consulting on the side to pay the bills. Of course it will take time away from the product you are building; just be able to recognize when it's too much and scale back consul…

Would you mind posting the link to your business.

I’d love to check it out. I bet others here would as well.

Re: Persisting as a solo founder

#94

Post by compscistd »

ilamont wrote: post #22

Solo founder here. Make a product that people want and are willing to pay for. The product may be in what appears to be a crowded field. Identify niche opportunities or cases where an established leader is doing a poor job. It's fine to do some consulting on the side to pay the bills. Of course it will take time away from the product you are building; just be able to recognize when it's too much and scale back consul…

I’m a full time software engineer for a small company. No amount of googling answers my question: what exactly is part time consulting? At least, in your context

Re: Persisting as a solo founder

#95

Post by jahbrewski »

bushido wrote: post #79
jahbrewski wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree with the sentiment of #1, I would argue that sales are more important than marketing at this stage. You can spin your wheels “learning SEO” and “creating content” with very little tangible results. In the beginning, sales + product are just about all that matter.

Both can be important and it really comes down to who your customer is. For B2B (SME+) - Absolutely invest in Sales. Worth mentioning that it isn't too hard hiring seasoned sales professionals, with existing relationships who are trying to find their next career move etc. They'll often agree to a higher commission payout in-lieu of a base salary. This doubles up as a good way to get feedback from the market. For B2C…

Could you provide any further advice on how to hire sales professionals? I'm starting to feel comfortable hiring tech roles, but hiring for sales still feels like a black box!

Re: Persisting as a solo founder

#96

Post by newera2016 »

Hi Vishnu,

Repeat founder here. But I always have same co-founder. Startup is an emotional experience so my suggestion will be get someone passionate (not money minded).

Can you pls also suggest starting guide for Naval's meditation challenge.

Re: Persisting as a solo founder

#97

Post by newera2016 »

Hi Vishnu,

Repeat founder here. I always do with same co-founder. Startup is an emotional exp. My recommendation is to get a co-founder who is passionate and not in for money.

Also, can you pls post Naval's meditations starting guide?

Thanks

Re: Persisting as a solo founder

#98

Post by vishnu_ks »

Hello Vishnu, I see that you are from Kerala! We have a very active online maker community in Kerala which regularly launches products in HN, PH. Some of them has been accepted to YC as well. I think you should defintely join it! You can DM @keralaph in Twitter for adding you to the WhatsApp group.

Re: Persisting as a solo founder

#99

Post by akulbe »

ilamont wrote: post #22

Solo founder here. Make a product that people want and are willing to pay for. The product may be in what appears to be a crowded field. Identify niche opportunities or cases where an established leader is doing a poor job. It's fine to do some consulting on the side to pay the bills. Of course it will take time away from the product you are building; just be able to recognize when it's too much and scale back consul…

What is your product/service? You don't post anything in your profile. I'm interested to learn more!

Re: Persisting as a solo founder

#100

Post by wenbin »

Thanks for sharing this! @vishnumohandas I wish I could've seen more posts like this when I started out ~3 years ago.

This is my 35th month as a sole founder. A few things I did to fight "loneliness" as a sole founder:

1, Invested in productivity. Life is not easy, so you should treat yourself well :) I spent time building scripts to make dev & ops easy. I rented a WeWork desk (first 6 months), then upgraded to a private office (2 years), then moved out wework (recent 6 months, due to covid-19). I bought SaaS products from other companies - I like spending money to save time.

2, Make it easy for others to contact myself. I put my contact on every page of my website [1]. The happiest moment of my day is always the time when I talk to inbound emails from some strangers. Yes, there will be trolls, but most people are nice & with good intention. Nowadays, I spend at least 1/3 of my time reply emails everyday.

3, Share progress on the Internet. I write a monthly email newsletter to report my progress [2] and some blogs to share my experience & thoughts [3], which help me make some friends on the Internet :)

4, Meet people offline. Quite a few of my former coworkers are doing startups now. We hanged out a lot pre-COVID-19.

5, Unfollow some people on social media (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook…) and avoid seeing news from TechCrunch and other unhealthy VC-focused online media. Avoid status game.

[1] https://www.listennotes.com/

[2] http://listennotes.substack.com/

[3] https://www.listennotes.com/blog/

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