21–30 of 74 posts
one of the seo masterminds of our time tried to build a site that featured new bands. the backlinks were a work of art.
i guess it ranked well for a bunch of bands nobody had ever heard of but that doesn't help you when people are searching for "hootie and the blowfish"
How much work did the technical co-founder do compared to you and how much % did he get?
he got between 10-20% equity and we were doing a comparable amount of work (10-20hr per week) up until I quit my job. now I'm putting in more hours.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I worked most nights during the week for a 1-2hrs and every weekend, sometimes spending full days working on the weekends. I found the time when I could and delegated work to my cofounders who did the same. It was just a lot of hard work and extra hours. I sacrificed some social life but still managed to enjoy New York hugely over the past year.
Can you elaborate on the level and detail of planning you had to do to be effective in 1-2 hour chunks? I think it would be really interesting for the productivity obsessed to maybe even see a mockup of the task lists you would generate to get a sense of how detailed of a list was good.
Two jokers drop out of Goldman Sachs after a very short employment stint and hire some kid to build them a Facebook-based link-sharing game that targets emerging artists who have no money on the most garish website I've seen in quite some time and all he gets credited with is Lead Engineer. Not even Mr. Lead Engineer.
If non of the above doesn't embarrass you from turning down below-market deals with non-technical, inexperienced dreamers than nothing will. You need to recognize that your skill set is a finite commodity and the more time you spend on loser projects like these, the less in-demand you become. On the other hand, everyone knows that you'll do almost anything for cheap and you'll end up as the "coder dude" while the co-founders debate the merits of shitty internet-generated logotypes and branding as they plan their trips to SXSW.
tl;dr: Facebook-based link-sharing games are loser projects you need to avoid.
"If you are ever consumed by an idea, focus on that idea and see where it takes you. Your obsession with it likely means that it embodies your passions and values."
Earlier quoted context omitted.
he got between 10-20% equity and we were doing a comparable amount of work (10-20hr per week) up until I quit my job. now I'm putting in more hours.
Based on the title of your post I was assuming to read something like '..and I picked up Ruby on Rails, a few tutorials, and just started coding..' How much technical knowledge did you have before starting this project? And how much did you learn in the process? Doesn't it feel awkward to say you have 'built' it?
I'd define building as putting pieces together to create something of greater value. I came up with the idea for the site and compiled the team and resources necessary to ship an MVP. Our tech co-founder built the site, our designers built the feel, and our bizdev co-founder built up the content. I managed this process strategically and am heavily involved in each aspect. We all built it together.
> I obviously needed to find someone technical to build the website, whether a freelancer or a cofounder. Two jokers drop out of Goldman Sachs after a very short employment stint and hire some kid to build them a Facebook-based link-sharing game that targets emerging artists who have no money on the most garish website I've seen in quite some time and all he gets credited with is Lead Engineer. Not even Mr. Lead Engi…
Goldman guy meets up buddies working M&A, figures a way to flip his stupid-co to Big Corp for millions.
This stuff happens every single day. Those crazy M&A deals you see of crappy startups? They are not typically done by nerd_programmer_dude.
I am all for extreme precaution when picking cofounders, especially nontech ones, but it also helps to know what the best non-tech cofounders are able to achieve.
As for the product: It's a neat idea. I think it'd be cool if you actually gave people on Facebook and promoters in general a small cut of some sort of revenue. It'd give users two incentives, both monetary and social (being known for discovering great undercover bands). Have users compete to be the best 'agents'.
Don't mind the haters – it's the growing trend 'round here on HN. If you're not a CS guy, you don't deserve much, basically. That's even more so for people working in business. But you've done far more than the people here can claim to have done.
Best of luck!
Edit: What made you settle for that one idea? Was it the only one you had, or did you choose it from a list of others you were entertaining? I imagine working in an industry like Finance you haven't got much time to play around with ideas left-and-right, so there's a bit more calculation in picking an idea to move forward with.