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Ask HN: How many of you built a profitable startup while having a day job?

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Re: Ask HN: How many of you built a profitable startup while having a day job?

#11

Post by whirlycott1 »

geoffw8 wrote: post #10
whirlycott1 wrote: post #8

I started StyleFeeder in January, 2005, built it into a profitable company of 8 people and sold it to Time Inc in January 2010. From January, 2005 through May, 2006, I worked on StyleFeeder on the side - while I had a pretty demanding day job, mind you - as I built up the basic business... until I had invested so much time and effort into it that I was maxed out and needed to find a way to work on it full time with t…

Hey - we're building a similar site (fashion search, UK based), and yours has always been one of our comparison sites. Nice job, didn't realize you were a HN'er :)

Good luck to you with your new venture! I'm easy to find online and will be happy to answer any questions if you like.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you built a profitable startup while having a day job?

#13

Post by _delirium »

Maro wrote: post #2

You mean "profitable side-project"? "Startup" usually means a company that fulfills a few of the below: - something the founders do full-time - less than 3 years old - in a bootstrap phase or burning VC money - in search of a business model (not yet profitable) - has the potential to grow

The "bootstrap" part can include initial phases being funded by a day-job or consulting though. People don't always quit their jobs right at the beginning, but might if it starts taking off.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you built a profitable startup while having a day job?

#14

Post by Duff »

Maro wrote: post #2

You mean "profitable side-project"? "Startup" usually means a company that fulfills a few of the below: - something the founders do full-time - less than 3 years old - in a bootstrap phase or burning VC money - in search of a business model (not yet profitable) - has the potential to grow

I think that you're talking about a very specific type of startup business.

People start and build businesses while employed all of the time. Some of those businesses require that the owners devote their full energies to them at a certain milestone.

Others do not -- plenty of software and consulting roles do not require 100% commitment, particularly if you have a flexible employer and can bootstrap. Many college professors have side gigs, for example.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you built a profitable startup while having a day job?

#15

Post by swalberg »

I built an online payroll service for Canadian families who hire staff like nannies or home care workers, or small businesses that wanted a very simple payroll solution. At the same time I had a day job.

I wasn't raking in money but I had customers and my revenues exceeded my small expenses.

Over the summer I sold the company and went to work for the acquiring company. In retrospect, this was probably the best move for me (I had considered taking investment to move to it full time.)

Like one of the answers above, I don't think I could have grown the business significantly without spending more time on it, and for me (day job, 3 young kids) this was the only way I could have done it.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you built a profitable startup while having a day job?

#17

Post by daliusd »

What's the point of this question? There are people who did that and that's possible. patio11 is one example and I must say very good one.

I am example of person who has not managed to do that in 3 years but I have learned a lot and my trial contributed to my well-being in many positive ways. Some of those are like salary growing faster than planned and some are small but pleasant things like Nokia N950.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you built a profitable startup while having a day job?

#19

Post by digitalengineer »

vaksel wrote: post #6

Doing a startup is 90% waiting, and 10% doing. It's perfectly possible to do one on the weekend. Especially since coding is a tiny iota of actually doing one, most of it boils down to marketing anyways

I must be doing something wrong then. I'm constantly running out of time. I'm always thinking about who to meet, who to talk to, what to change in order to become better. Not to mention optimizing text, updating the blog, doing the paperwork... I don't understand the 'waiting' part really.

Re: Ask HN: How many of you built a profitable startup while having a day job?

#20

Post by ry0ohki »

I'm not sure if they are considered startups per say, but I've started two profitable companies while working a day job (to the point where I could quit my day job!) http://www.AUsedCar.com and http://www.BudgetSimple.com . I should say I also created a failed startup during that time. The biggest difference between the successes and the failure were that the successes did not require me to answer phone calls, make sales etc... In other words, completely passive income businesses are the easiest to do with a day job.
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