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Being laid off and unplanned entrepreneurship

deepsouthventures.com

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Re: Being laid off and unplanned entrepreneurship

#71

Post by ilamont »

Had an epiphany like this after an earlier startup project failed, which my cofounder and I had tried to do following the formulaic approaches advocated by various accelerators, investors, and experts (often people with zero experience running a startup, but had been involved as angels after BigCo stock options vested, and then got into mentoring local accelerators).

I hated the startup theater, pitching, networking, and accelerator applications including YC and TechStars and MassChallenge. My cofounder flaked. I wound down business #1, returned most of the investor capital, and then started out on #2, determined to do things completely differently.

For #2, I had 3 criteria:

1) Prototype on my own, without an engineer

2) Don't just talk lean, do lean

3) The product must generate revenue from day 1

While I am not an engineer, I had strong enough digital skills to set up websites and leverage other tools to prototype. Month 1 was building the prototype, month 2 was getting it out to the marketplace and actually getting some early sales ... and then plowing that money back into the business to improve the product. 10+ years later, the business brings in a respectable middle class income, has helped put my kids through college, and, as TFA articulated, lets me "pursue any and all ludicrous business models, with no oversight."

Like a lot of people who bootstrap, I had to consult as well (still do, mainly as a hedge against platform risk). I am eternally grateful to my spouse who not only has an income to help support the family, but also good health insurance (more on this below, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40707068).

Re: Being laid off and unplanned entrepreneurship

#72

Post by hbn »

Like many things with the internet, it seems like if you got in at the ground floor you could do something like this. Now everything on the internet is cordoned off in centralized spaces, and there's a million businesses and random guys trying to figure out any and every possible angle to monetize overlooked markets. No way I can convince businesses to pay me for ads when they can be paying Facebook or YouTube who own practically every eyeball on the internet.

Re: Being laid off and unplanned entrepreneurship

#74

Post by eightturn »

tredigi wrote: post #70
leetrout wrote: post #4

> I didn’t raise any money for these projects. I funded them with my 9-5 salary. Solo. And the reason for that was simple – why on earth would I vehemently abandon boneheaded micro-managing layoff kings in the 9-5 world only to raise money & adopt a board of boneheaded micro-managing layoff kings in the startup world. If I’m gonna build, I’m gonna have free-rein decision making to pursue any and all ludicrous busines…

I respect the part of diving in to build something on your own. I don't respect what he actually built. Leeching off others' work and while doing it blasting out ads which ended up being the first wave of making browsing unpleasant in the early 2000s. Without any actual contributions. And that then paired with "I didn't know how to code, and I hated reading." It's this attitude that software engineering is somehow wh…

I mainly 'leeched' the table, tr, td row design aspect, as I had no idea that existed.. fwiw, I didn't copy anything else (text, images, etc)... that 'scaffolding' was helpful until I discovered Wordpress. And I dislike ads just as much as you. I usually just put 1 or 2 on the page. no popup nonsense or 'blasting' ads, ha. Now, since I sell onions in the internet, I'm the one often advertising on these types of small niche sites, and they tend to perform better than larger properties... either way, my 2c. (author here)

Re: Being laid off and unplanned entrepreneurship

#75

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #52

For me, I found out that us “olds” are not exactly loved (actively hated, more like), and gave up looking for work, after being laid off from one of the top imaging corporations in the world. Pissed me off, something fierce, being treated that way (especially as I figured out it was being supported from the C-Suite). However, I have since realized that it was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I enjoy…

I quit a company that was showing all the signs of trying to get rid of its senior developers so a couple of us jumped ship before the inevitable layoff. I went straight into another place that the recruiter said "preferred to hire more seasoned engineers." In my 5 years there I only remember two engineers that were under 30. Median age probably hovered around 50.

There are outfits that realize that you get better with experience and want to capitalize on that. Unfortunately, they seem to be few and far between.

Re: Being laid off and unplanned entrepreneurship

#76

Post by eightturn »

glitchc wrote: post #73

I'm still stuck on how someone makes it through a history degree without enjoying reading.

when my senior year rolled around, I still didn't know what my major was going to be. I visited a guidance counselor, and she viewed all the classes I had inadvertently taken, and I'd fulfilled 3/4 of a History degree (a Southern History degree, no less - they offer it at my alma, Ole Miss). So I just went with that and read a few more William Faulkner novels : )

Re: Being laid off and unplanned entrepreneurship

#77

Post by thr0w »

> I can’t trust them anymore; I gotta figure out a way to generate revenue myself; from my own business; that I control. Online preferably.

This was it for me. Pouring your whole self into your work, only to be laid off, fired, or skipped for promotion is soul shattering.

$400k ARR solo. I'll never work for anyone again, I'll never feel compelled to be a yes man again, I'll never fake a smile for a drooling idiot of a C*O again.

Re: Being laid off and unplanned entrepreneurship

#78

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

myth_drannon wrote: post #16
verzali wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The opportunities are different, but the attitude of keeping your eyes open to opportunities and figuring out what works is still true.

It is so noisy and crowded that I wonder if it is worth spending time and energy looking for opportunities.

Is it?

Who are the top players in pest-management software? How much of the market do they have? How much of the market wants another application because the existing ones don't cover their niche? How easy/difficult would it be to market to them?

I pulled Pest Management Software out of my ass because about 20 years ago I responded to a similar attitude by mentioning that while gardening I wondered if there was such a thing as pest management software (there is. It's a huge field) and also because last summer I was asked to build a small wireless interface to a mosquito sprayer so -- wait for it -- someone's mosquito control app could automatically monitor the amount that was being sprayed without the driver having to enter any data.

Opportunities are everywhere but you won't find them unless you look.

Re: Being laid off and unplanned entrepreneurship

#79

Post by eightturn »

Jun8 wrote: post #66

Peter, if you read this comment I suggest that you start writing a book immediately , if one's not in the works: your simple but thoughtful writing style is awesome and makes the deep insights you provide even more delightful. I, for one, plunk down money to read 200 pages of this stuff interested with anecdotes from personal life. What are the insights I gained from this particular piece: * self depreciation is funn…

thanks Jun8... writing these small essays is taxing (but rewarding) - I can't imagine what it's like to write a book (unlikely). If I ever do, it'll be similar to how Derek Sivers writes (short chapters)... no persona here, though.. just someone who's been laid off a lot, and channels William Faulkner style of writing..and also, hard to write a book when I've got onions to ship!! : ) (peter here)

Re: Being laid off and unplanned entrepreneurship

#80

Post by grecy »

ilamont wrote: post #71

Had an epiphany like this after an earlier startup project failed, which my cofounder and I had tried to do following the formulaic approaches advocated by various accelerators, investors, and experts (often people with zero experience running a startup, but had been involved as angels after BigCo stock options vested, and then got into mentoring local accelerators). I hated the startup theater, pitching, networking,…

> but also good health insurance.

I'm always amazed how blatantly clear it is that having health insurance tied to employment specifically discourages this kind of entrepreneurship, and the ability to "strike out on your own".

Literally handcuffs keeping people at their jobs.

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