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Ask HN: 5-7 months of living expenses left; terrified. Advice?

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Re: Ask HN: 5-7 months of living expenses left; terrified. Advice?

#11

Post by jhancock »

gravitycop wrote: post #9
jhancock wrote: post #6

5-7 months savings is above average I would guess. Here's what I recommend: 1 - Get out of NYC fast!! Find the cheapest place you find comfortable and your 5-7 months savings will get you 12+ months. This does not need to be in the U.S. 2 - So you like coding? Ok, but what if for the next 5 years the world won't pay too well for coding? Are you prepared to get into other things? 3 - Don't Panic! Seriously. This is li…

1 - Get out of NYC fast!! How is he supposed to get funding, if he does that? http://paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html 2. Bad Location Startups prosper in some places and not others. [...] It's an interesting question why cities become startup hubs, but the reason startups prosper in them is probably the same as it is for any industry: that's where the experts are. Standards are higher; people are more sympathetic…

My advice is based on my assessment that the economy is at the beginning of a long and deep "downturn" (call it what you will). I don't think people should completely give up on coding or startups. But some of them should become side projects.

How is he supposed to get funding? I am guessing he won't get funding no matter where he is located. Yes, that's a wild guess since I know nothing about his startup. But its the best guess I have.

I do agree with PG's "location matters" advice. But it is also advice based on history. The world is changing and the historical value of certain locations might change with it.

Re: Ask HN: 5-7 months of living expenses left; terrified. Advice?

#12

Post by ksvs »

recession wrote: post #4
ksvs wrote: post #3

One thing you could start doing now is lining up potential alternative jobs. You could even start working part-time somewhere else. One good thing about startups is that they can be flexible about things like that. And the founders who recruited you can hardly blame you.

How do you find (decent) part-time work in technology? That may be what I have to do, but I have no idea how to go about it.

Depends what kind of programming you do, but the standard method is consulting. There are a lot of people and companies with projects they need implemented, and will pay by the hour for someone to build it.

Re: Ask HN: 5-7 months of living expenses left; terrified. Advice?

#13

Post by cperciva »

I'm worried about that 1-in-20 (?) chance that we don't manage to line up funding in time

You should be worried -- and if I were you I'd re-evaluate your odds. My guess is that a startup which would print money would still have more than a 1-in-20 chance of failing to get funding at the moment.

Assuming you definitely want to continue with this startup (and think about that carefully -- sometimes there's a reason why startups don't get funded), I recommend doing everything you can to lower your costs. Yes, including moving out of NYC: While gravitycop makes a good point about location being important for getting funding, it sounds like you're not the person who is going after the funding right now (based on the comment about having 'no control')... and while VCs care where a company is based, they aren't going to care much if a few employees live in the suburbs.

Re: Ask HN: 5-7 months of living expenses left; terrified. Advice?

#14

Post by daveambrose »

recession wrote: post #4
ksvs wrote: post #3

One thing you could start doing now is lining up potential alternative jobs. You could even start working part-time somewhere else. One good thing about startups is that they can be flexible about things like that. And the founders who recruited you can hardly blame you.

How do you find (decent) part-time work in technology? That may be what I have to do, but I have no idea how to go about it.

I may have something for you here in NYC. Shoot me an email.

Re: Ask HN: 5-7 months of living expenses left; terrified. Advice?

#15

Post by tptacek »

If your current startup is 5-7 months away from a funding event (which may get less and less likely as the recession grinds on), consider that you may just be in the wrong startup: 3 months could be enough time to jump start something else that could actually be cash flow positive.

The standard answer, to consult, is probably the right one, and you are being wildly pessimistic about your chances of finding a sustaining consulting project. But once you start down that road, your current startup will suffer for it.

Re: Ask HN: 5-7 months of living expenses left; terrified. Advice?

#16

Post by ars »

What will you do after 5-7 months? If your money did actually run out what would you do?

Whatever that is - do it now, not in 5-7 months.

For example: say you'd stop paying rent, and get evicted, where would you go? Whereever that is - go there now. What else would you stop paying for? Phone? Cable? Pretend you have no money, and act that way.

As a side suggestion to where to live, see if you can live in the startups building (do they have an office they can give you?), and put your stuff in storage.

Re: Ask HN: 5-7 months of living expenses left; terrified. Advice?

#17

Post by nickfox »

Take a deep breath and relax. You've chosen to be an entrepreneur because you can't stand working in the 9-5 slave trade. Good choice. You are taking a big risk. It's exciting, it's scary, it makes you feel alive! What a great feeling.

Let's take a worst case scenario. The company fails, you lose your apartment and car and are unemployed with no money. What then?

Well, you have a million choices. You are young, smart and live in America. You wake up the next morning at your parents house and go get a job at Home Depot or 7-11 to make ends meet (or back to wall street if you can stomach it), you start saving and planning your next venture and work your way from there. You've gained valuable experience and you are living your dream, something that most people never do.

In the mean time, enjoy yourself. Feel the fear, which you will, and forge ahead. In your spare time keep working on improving your skills. Listen to CDs by Anthony Robbins for encouragement and strength. It sounds like you are doing great and remember, the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. Don't fear failure, that's just part of the ride.

Re: Ask HN: 5-7 months of living expenses left; terrified. Advice?

#18

Post by asnyder »

vaksel wrote: post #10

cut your living expenses...have a car? sell it for a beater. Have high rent? Move to Bronx or Brooklyn or Queens or Jersey City(if your work is close to penn station). Or if your parents live locally, move in with them(I did this). Switch to a ramen diet....stop going out, stop buying shit. Stretch every penny. You won't believe how little you can live on, if you cut out all the bullshit. Start working on your contac…

It's likely he doesn't have a car, most New Yorkers don't. I'd also recommend switching to a fruits and vegetables diet, instead of ramen. There are enough dedicated fruit stores in New York that make fruits and vegetables cheaper and healthier than ramen. In New York, an example of this kind of store would be "Three Guys From Brooklyn", or "Circus Fruits". With these sorts of stores you can easily bring your food expenses below $60 a month while maintaining a healthy diet.

Re: Ask HN: 5-7 months of living expenses left; terrified. Advice?

#19

Post by YuriNiyazov »

Relax. I have no problem living in New York on $3K/month gross pay. That's 36K/year. Since you are working at this startup for essentially free, you should be able to convince them that you actually can only afford to work there 3-4 days/week as opposed to 5-7 which is what you are probably doing right now. If you free up some time, you will be able to find some temporary/part-time consulting work doing database admin and website updates. Meeting people that need this type of work need is relatively easy - craigslist, twitter, meetup, etc. as other posters have indicated. The only thing that you might compromise on is how much sleep you are getting, but from the sound of it, that's not a major issue for you right now.

Re: Ask HN: 5-7 months of living expenses left; terrified. Advice?

#20

Post by mikeyur »

I'd try to contact other startups and see if they need freelance work done. Instead of looking for another job, continue doing what you're doing and work part-time elsewhere.

Email other startups and ask if they're hiring, tell them about your situation and if you can pull your weight and do what's required I'm sure you'll have a job in no time.

Can't think of any startups off the top of your head? Use startupwarrior.com and map some that are close to you and start calling/emailing.

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