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Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

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Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#41

Post by web007 »

Throwey12 wrote: post #21
landemva wrote: post #15

Wondering if potential angel investors hesitate because: idea, market size, you. A dedicated founder in a good market is often fundable.

A little bit of everything. No one knows if this will work because I don't have customers, and it looks like a feature and I can't explain that it will be more than this single product, investors are getting lost. It's impossible to make this startup without a weird path. It's going to be an API in the end, but at the same time I have to show what products are possible to make with it, most think this API is not need…

> I don't have customers > I can't explain that it will be more than this single product > It's impossible to make this startup without a weird path

What the hell is wrong with you?

You have no customers and an idea you can't explain. What makes you think you can build this unexplainable cusomerless thing into a business, let alone LITERALLY mortgage your future for it?

As others have said: No. Under no circumstances should you sell your house to fund... whatever this is. Bootstrap it nights and weekends if you feel passionate, maybe go find a co-founder if you can explain it coherently.

Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#42

Post by nthngtshr »

I don't think it's the craziest idea, and in some circumstances I would probably do that, e.g if I had an extra house or two.

But even in that case I would try to take advantage of the frothy market before selling a house. Raising money is hard and takes a lot of effort even for people with connections and good credentials. But if you succeed it's probably going to be more money and much less financial risk for you.

The best advice I can give to you is try to join a startup accelerator. It sounds like I used to be in the same position as you are (no FAANG, no fancy degrees, not knowing any founders / investors, also a foreigner. I didn't have a house to sell though, lol). Joining a startup accelerator changed that very quickly for me and helped me raise money.

Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#43

Post by Throwey12 »

nthngtshr wrote: post #42

I don't think it's the craziest idea, and in some circumstances I would probably do that, e.g if I had an extra house or two. But even in that case I would try to take advantage of the frothy market before selling a house. Raising money is hard and takes a lot of effort even for people with connections and good credentials. But if you succeed it's probably going to be more money and much less financial risk for you.…

Which one did you join?

Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#44

Post by Throwey12 »

web007 wrote: post #41
Throwey12 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A little bit of everything. No one knows if this will work because I don't have customers, and it looks like a feature and I can't explain that it will be more than this single product, investors are getting lost. It's impossible to make this startup without a weird path. It's going to be an API in the end, but at the same time I have to show what products are possible to make with it, most think this API is not need…

> I don't have customers > I can't explain that it will be more than this single product > It's impossible to make this startup without a weird path What the hell is wrong with you? You have no customers and an idea you can't explain. What makes you think you can build this unexplainable cusomerless thing into a business, let alone LITERALLY mortgage your future for it? As others have said: No. Under no circumstances…

I'm mostly failing to pitch investors, potential customers are excited.

Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#46

Post by option_greek »

I'm on my 8th Startup and I can assure you every one of them looked like they are definitely going to work out and I should YOLO the heck out of them.

But reality is obviously different. Not YOLOing and keeping my day job let me work on the next one without too much stress and let me improve my skills as a founder.

Finally my 7th one (which I started with a group of friends) is going some where and I'm working in parallel to launch 8th (with same guys) while we are trying to improve traction for 7th. I can confidently say now that startups are less about technology and more about getting to solve customer problems. Often even the idea isn't going to be original but as long as its helping some one, there is a chance to make a product out of it.

Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#47

Post by serjester »

atatatat wrote: post #13
throwaway2a02 wrote: post #3

No, you should not. Chances of it working out are probably slim. You probably don't need funding, as many solo founders can attest. Hiring should be done once the business is already generating an income, and should be scaled based on that income. What happens is that if you do sell your house, (assuming you'll pay rent) things will get a lot more stressful for yourself financially, and this will severely hinder your…

This is an oft repeated trope — here's my issue: I'm B2B, and my clients don't want to hear "get back to you this weekend!" What then?

If you’re at the point where answering support emails is interfering with your day job, you’re doing pretty well. OP is a long ways off from having this problem.

Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#48

Post by f6v »

Have you seen all those startups raising money for the most ridiculous things? It seems like getting funding isn’t such a big deal if you know how to sell stuff. So what makes you think you can successfully sell to customers if you can’t sell the business idea to investors?

Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#49

Post by hsn915 »

atatatat wrote: post #13
throwaway2a02 wrote: post #3

No, you should not. Chances of it working out are probably slim. You probably don't need funding, as many solo founders can attest. Hiring should be done once the business is already generating an income, and should be scaled based on that income. What happens is that if you do sell your house, (assuming you'll pay rent) things will get a lot more stressful for yourself financially, and this will severely hinder your…

This is an oft repeated trope — here's my issue: I'm B2B, and my clients don't want to hear "get back to you this weekend!" What then?

Do you think all B2B providers responds to issues and resolve them within an hour or two? Most of them take their sweet time. Don't try to be a people pleaser or a yes man. You will just get taken advantage of.

Set boundaries / expectations ahead of time. Tell them you will acknowledge an issue within 24 hours and provide a solution within 7 days _if_ it's important.

Whatever works for you.

You should reserve the right to outright reject feature requests without providing a convincing reason beyond "it's not within our scope".

Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my house to fund my startup? Anyone with the same story?

#50

Post by f6v »

Throwey12 wrote: post #44
web007 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't have customers > I can't explain that it will be more than this single product > It's impossible to make this startup without a weird path What the hell is wrong with you? You have no customers and an idea you can't explain. What makes you think you can build this unexplainable cusomerless thing into a business, let alone LITERALLY mortgage your future for it? As others have said: No. Under no circumstances…

I'm mostly failing to pitch investors, potential customers are excited.

There’s a huge difference between “potential customers are excited” and “customers are paying for the product“.

And the other thing: it’s seems like you put part of the blame on not being born in the USA and not graduating from the Ivy League. That’s not a pre-requisite for success though. If you don’t have connections, maybe it’s you and not the place where you live or your social class.

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