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How I built a startup while working full-time in Finance

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Re: How I built a startup while working full-time in Finance

#61

Post by EREFUNDO »

tensor wrote: post #49
badclient wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook-based link-sharing games are loser projects you need to avoid. Mark Zuckerberg had a professor at Harvard who tried hard to convince Zuck to stop wasting time on this stupid facebook idea and get more serious about his degree. Your advice to the developer sounds similar to the advice given to Zuck by his professor.

That's probably good advice. A startup is a bit like gambling and recommending that a student finish their studies rather than bet it all at the casino is solid advice. Zuckerberg made a rash decision and got lucky. there were many similar sites at the time and anyone claiming to know which, if any, would become the big social site isn't being very honset.

The professor was giving a generally good advice for average people. (though of course I do not consider anyone going to Harvard to be average)But the professor is also ignorant of what is going on with the internet (trend) and never saw what Zuckerberg was seeing. But Mark was also lucky because part of the success of Facebook is the continued screwing up of MySpace. I remember Sean Parker saying that Facebook would never have succeeded if MySpace corrected all the little issues they had with users because they already have the network. Network is difficult to break, no matter how good your features are and how much money you have, just look at Google+.

Re: How I built a startup while working full-time in Finance

#62

Post by ImprovedSilence »

jcampbell1 wrote: post #30

I am surprised that an ex-finance guy would start this type of company. The music industry is a startup death trap with more than 99% of startups failing. Of all the possible industries to make money, why would someone voluntarily join an industry with declining revenue, nasty lawyers, and a million other competitors?

Despite your quoted facts, there is still ENORMOUS room for disruption in the music scene. At least in my opinion, but my biggest problem is broadcast radio, and the fact that there are SEVEN BILLION people in the world, there is no way only five of them are making music I want to hear. I think broadcast and internet radio need to blend together somehow. (yeah yeah, mobile phones, data, pandora, it's happening) But I digress... I like seeing sites getting launched, way to go to make things happen. But sign up with FB, and pollute my FB wall, Imma pass on this app. I think plenty of others don't have my mindset though, so you may gain some traction.

Re: How I built a startup while working full-time in Finance

#65

Post by ScottBurson »

tensor wrote: post #59
badclient wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Until that happens, we cannot claim that luck has nothing to do with it. I never claimed that. This argument's always been about "how much", not whether. I believe luck has a small part; you seem to argue that it has a huge part. I argue that in light of all the explicit decisions that facebook made, the role of luck is smaller than you appear to suggest. You state that other facebook competitors also took explicit d…

You are correct, I believe the risk of dropping out to do a startup is large enough as to be considered reckless. We can argue about Facebook all day, as many have before, but even that in itself lends support to the notion that it was mostly luck. We cannot agree on and point to any specific idea, or combination of ideas, that lead to Facebook's success over others. More, we cannot show that Zuckerberg actually held…

> I believe the risk of dropping out to do a startup is large enough as to be considered reckless.

Ridiculous. If it doesn't work out, you go back to school. Getting back in won't be hard. Just be sure you haven't spent yourself too far into debt.

Re: How I built a startup while working full-time in Finance

#66

Post by doktrin »

jsavimbi wrote: post #57
reason wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have basically speculated the intentions of three people, the relationships they have with one another, and the outcome of their company all from this one line. Pretty impressive. It sounds like you've watched The Social Network one too many times. Constructive criticism would be of much more value. Further, it seems you are completely ignorant to the contributions that skilled businesspeople can make to a startu…

> you are completely ignorant to the contributions that skilled businesspeople can make to a startup In this case, can you please list the contributions that you think were made by the non-technical, strategic members of this team, and why you think they should share in 80% to 90% of the company vs. the 10% to 20% that our esteemed colleague who actually built the feature did? And I call it a feature because a one-pa…

> tl;dr: Exactly what value did the layperson add to this thing?

They made it happen. The site would simply not exist were it not for the dream/passion/drive/whim/fantasy of the OP. In a more deserving context, the following story could be referenced :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_of_Columbus

That said, I'm not going to defend the merits of the site itself. It looks awful, adds seemingly no value and isn't something I would think of actually using.

However, we should not trivialize the act of bringing ideas to fruition. That's what it's all about, after all.

Re: How I built a startup while working full-time in Finance

#67

Post by eli_gottlieb »

icode wrote: post #32

This reminds me of a startup mantra from the 90s: Eat like a fly, poop like an elephant. So far there is nothing. A website with a music player and a share-on-facebook button. But the blog post sounds like Andy already turned this thing into a billion dollar company and now bows down to the mere mortals to share the wisdom he gathered. On his heroic journy to fame and riches.

>But the blog post sounds like Andy already turned this thing into a billion dollar company and now bows down to the mere mortals to share the wisdom he gathered. On his heroic journy to fame and riches.

Well yeah. He worked in finance. That's how they think in finance.

Re: How I built a startup while working full-time in Finance

#69

Post by jakeonthemove »

lusr wrote: post #9
andyokdj wrote: post #7

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.

I think people underestimate how much you can get done if you commit to at least 1-2 hours during the week EVERY DAY, and at least another 12-16 hours on the weekend. Working during the week is critical, even if it's difficult, simply because it keeps the momentum going and motivation fresh (in my experience of trying it every other way). It's also a deceptive 30-80% additional capacity than what you have merely work…

Yeah, but doing it after you come home tired from a stressful job is not that easy - even if you have the drive, your brain is too tired to think clearly...

Re: How I built a startup while working full-time in Finance

#70

Post by jakeonthemove »

Very interesting, thanks for sharing. Although I think you should've delved into the details of working on your own project after coming home from a stressful job - it definitely isn't easy - even if you have the drive and are excited, your brain is tired and it's just super hard to work at your full capacity.

Hope everything works out though, good luck!

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