Open-source it.
I don't really advise running any business 100% solo, but I have done it for a while until my company has grown a bit. At that time and now (with my current new project), my strategy is to open-source it if something happens to me. Then, any customer or close person can take it from where I left it.
Ask HN: Solo founders, what’s your got-hit-by-a-bus strategy?
21–30 of 52 posts
Re: Ask HN: Solo founders, what’s your got-hit-by-a-bus strategy?
#22None. The company has trouble staying alive with me alive. It will be gone when I'm dead. Heck, the one that got acquired died even with me in an advisory position. There will always be competitors. Some may spawn or be inspired later. Someone eventually does the same thing but better. It's probably overengineering to try to keep a company alive longer than me. The primary responsibility is keeping my kids alive shou…
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Re: Ask HN: Solo founders, what’s your got-hit-by-a-bus strategy?
#23Much less than a bus can kill a one person startup.
Re: Ask HN: Solo founders, what’s your got-hit-by-a-bus strategy?
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Once we are dead, our legacy is what is left of us. Since it all amounts to nothing, might as well try to make a dent in history. Maybe we'll be one of the ones people are still quoting two thousand years later without even realizing it ([... do]lorem ipsum dolor sit amet).
Nobody even thinks about your legacy after you’re dead. Nobody has that much time. They’re all worried about themselves.
Then why are people like Steve Jobs held in such esteem?
Re: Ask HN: Solo founders, what’s your got-hit-by-a-bus strategy?
#25Look before you cross.
I grew up in a somewhat vehicularly lawless society where mopeds going the wrong way down a one-way street are an everyday phenomenon. I legitimately look _thrice_ before crossing: expected traffic side, other side and back once again. I am paranoid about getting hit by a bus/car/... I'll likely be done for by a falling piano.
I grew up in a society where traffic in relatively orderly, and we were still told as kids that same pattern: traffic side, other side and back
Re: Ask HN: Solo founders, what’s your got-hit-by-a-bus strategy?
#26There was a very similar question posted two years ago, and it has a great reply by patio11:
> There are, roughly, three very different rationales to have business succession planning in place, and at the scale of a solo operator they have very different best options available:
> 1) I want to avoid negatively impacting paying clients in the event of a bus factor issue.
> 2) I want to avoid negatively impacting "the community" in the event of a bus factor issue.
> 3) I want to ensure my heirs receive the residual value of the income stream.
It's too long to repeat it here, but the the the rest of the comment by patio11 with his answers to 1, 2 and 3 are in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21908638
Re: Ask HN: Solo founders, what’s your got-hit-by-a-bus strategy?
#27Who cares? You're dead, bro
Re: Ask HN: Solo founders, what’s your got-hit-by-a-bus strategy?
#28My stuff would end up being dormant or shutting down. I don't feel the need for continuity with my LLC nor my Android apps. If I'm dead, oh well. The Android apps are open source, so someone can recreate them.
Re: Ask HN: Solo founders, what’s your got-hit-by-a-bus strategy?
#29I just posed a slightly different question here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31474258
Re: Ask HN: Solo founders, what’s your got-hit-by-a-bus strategy?
#30My product is self hosted “IoT” hardware.
It doesn’t need the internet to work, by design, and is standards based. (Mobile App is optional)