111–120 of 138 posts
Congrats! On a related note, can someone on HN can educate me on why MRR is the primary metric? MRR doesn't tell you if the startup is profitable, which is presumably the goal - to make money. If your costs are $3M/month, an MRR of $100K sounds like a terrible deal. Wouldn't it make more sense to report profits?
I noticed MRR is the key measure reported by startups. I've seen some startups in really saturated markets have very high MRR and it made me wonder if they're just spending $.99 of every $1 on ads so really they do not make any profit but high revenue. Can you comment on profit vs revenue?
Successful startups spend more like $1.25 per $1 of MRR.
Profit is for solo founders and bootstrapers.
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They don't. Not cars, not electronics, not house appliances. As was said elsewhere - these are more expensive in poorer countries, not cheaper. Maybe handbags/other apparel, but I don't buy that. As someone coming from a poorer country, I'd check if it really is the same item - usually what happens is that they produce a cheaper version out of cheaper materials and with lesser service commitment that costs almost the…
You cannot generalize every commodity and every 'poor country' like that. There are cars in Colombia that are less expensive in Colombia, and some that are more expensive in Colombia, than the U.S. Similarly, I was shocked to find that scotch whiskey is actually cheaper in Colombia than the US, and it's the same product. The market is more competitive because discount liquor (especially rum) is decently good quality…
Congrats! On a related note, can someone on HN can educate me on why MRR is the primary metric? MRR doesn't tell you if the startup is profitable, which is presumably the goal - to make money. If your costs are $3M/month, an MRR of $100K sounds like a terrible deal. Wouldn't it make more sense to report profits?
For this sort of business fixed and variable costs are low (he is doing it for free, kind of)
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No, it's the equivalent of making ~$18,036 / month. Do you think Mercedes makes a cheap version of an SLK for the "poor Indians"? I make more than the OP and live in his/her part of the world. Luxury items are more expensive than they are in the US. That bigger house you can afford? You're still paying US prices or higher for your furniture and appliances. Same goes for autos, edu, cars, wine, dining, etc. Generally…
Went I left Russia in 2011, I was making 54,000 a year, I took my first job in the USA for about $92,000 a year. It felt like I took a huge pay cut. Like I was making several times less money. Yes, it is easier to buy luxury things in United States, most of the things are cheaper, comparing to other countries (SLK, laptops, phones, etc). But that is not what defines the life. If I remember everything correctly, below…
1. Taxes in Russia are actually higher. You forgot to include 30% Social Security tax, 20% VAT tax and import taxes, that make, for example, cars, clothes and every bit of electronics 50% more expensive. Now, because of the sanctions, it's 100% more expensive.
2. Rent depends on location, prices in Moscow are closer to $1000 range. And in the US you usually get larger, cleaner apartments, with more amenities.
3. Cellular and Internet are indeed much cheaper, but it's small amounts.
4. Healthcare is cheaper while you are young and healthy. If you have cancer, your life expectation will be 1/3 of that in the USA. And overall you will live 15 years less, that is, if you don't get mobilized.
5. Groceries are basically 1:1. Some items, like bread, are cheaper in Russia, but fresh fruit and vegs are more expensive.
I can only imagine your lifestyle in India with $18,036 / month , that's probably the equivalent of making 60k a month in the US? Wish you the best, I'm inspired.
I see some people arguing that 18K in India is the same as elsewhere. Don't pay attention to that. 18K per month in India is HUGE and yes something things are equally expensive as other developed countries (e.g. buying an apartment in crazy expensive cities like Mumbai or Bangalore) but overall, the cost of living is much lower than western countries on average. Source: An Indian-American (I don't like hyphens but in…
I'd literally rather just get two jobs at mid series B startups or one Faang job. I completely don't understand why grinding out 5yrs for $18k a month is even close to worth it.
2 reasons: 1. They want to do their own things, controlling their own time and not work for someone else 2. 18K/Mo in a developing country like India is huge. Assuming that's revenue and profits are say at least 50% (usually higher for SAAS but I am being conservative), that income puts you in top 10% at the minimum.
In what country is 18k/mo not huge? That was my annual salary in my last job! I need to move to America lmao
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2 reasons: 1. They want to do their own things, controlling their own time and not work for someone else 2. 18K/Mo in a developing country like India is huge. Assuming that's revenue and profits are say at least 50% (usually higher for SAAS but I am being conservative), that income puts you in top 10% at the minimum.
Am I misreading or am I just learning the amount folks are earning on this site? In what country is 18k/mo not huge? That was my annual salary in my last job! I need to move to America lmao
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Went I left Russia in 2011, I was making 54,000 a year, I took my first job in the USA for about $92,000 a year. It felt like I took a huge pay cut. Like I was making several times less money. Yes, it is easier to buy luxury things in United States, most of the things are cheaper, comparing to other countries (SLK, laptops, phones, etc). But that is not what defines the life. If I remember everything correctly, below…
As someone who visited both US and Russia last year: 1. Taxes in Russia are actually higher. You forgot to include 30% Social Security tax, 20% VAT tax and import taxes, that make, for example, cars, clothes and every bit of electronics 50% more expensive. Now, because of the sanctions, it's 100% more expensive. 2. Rent depends on location, prices in Moscow are closer to $1000 range. And in the US you usually get lar…
2. Sorry, I would not agree to that. If you want to compare cities, Moscow should be compared to NY or SF, where for $1,000 you will get a corner in a garage, if you are lucky. :D
3. I don't know $200 a month is a large amount of money. In some countries it is a month living. I have not been in Russia for a while, and my knowledge is based on 10 years ago, but you can get a $50 Android phone with like $3/month service, that will have some internet, an be able to make calls and texts. In USA, I believe, the cheapest would be close to $20 a month? The same about internet, you can start with $3/month in Russia for home internet, but in USA it is going to be at least $40?
4. I mean current time is different, obviously. But free health care is a free health care. Based on the relatives (mom, dad, grandfather and grandmother), they got an ok health care. My dad has serious asthma, with oxygen tanks, and he is actually running from doctors more, than he should, they are always reminding him about checking with them in the hospital. My mom has diabetes, she get all the prescriptions for free. My grandfather died of cancer, I mean he got some treatment, probably not the best, but he stayed in the hospitals for a long time. He actually lived in Crimea, when it was part of Ukraine, and at the same time this state was very corrupt (probably now as well, don't know), but he still got a treatment. To be honest, I don't have much knowledge yet about how the treatment of serious illness is going to be in USA, but my guess that they will suck all your money first, and after that get your on medicare. That is my guess.
5. That is hard to compare. In Russia there are still local markets, which aren't exactly the same as US markets. In local markets you can buy groceries (fruits, veggies) from local farmers for cheaper than in the supermarket. In USA markets are all super-organic food, that even has higher prices than in supermarkets. And the cheapest fruids/veggies you can buy are wallmart-like stores, where everything not even fresh. In Russia people do eat meat less often, but veggies and fruits can be way cheaper than in USA.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
One-person software shops usually have recurring costs close to zero, so MRR pretty much equals profit (minus taxes and whatever). But yes, your argument stands for other kinds of startups.
I'd assume a few thousand for servers + softwares, but yah.. it's close enough to $0 you can usually tell if it's profitable. Unlike something like e-commerce where 100k in monthly sales could be... 0 profit, or 70k in profit.
Source: I sell self-hosted software, my costs are mostly the domain names and a few $5/mo servers.