Is this the best idea you could've put your time on? Maybe I don't see the vision, but I have no idea who would by this or for what. AI/slop is cheap and luxury brands will only lean further away from it.
I can build enterprise software but I can't charge for it
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Re: I can build enterprise software but I can't charge for it
#12Interesting definition of "photorealistic". Link to the site in question: https://neoclerks.com/en/
Re: I can build enterprise software but I can't charge for it
#13As a technical founder I empathize with the authors situation and approach, but honestly spending that much time and energy on a product before even getting one sign up is a known failure mode.
Fair point - I should have made it clearer. The demo is at
https://ps.neoclerks.com:8451/player.html?ss=f2ee51d8-2ea3-4...
scan the QR code with your phone, and your phone becomes the microphone. The avatar responds on screen.
Known limitation: Running on my GTX 1060 in Iran with 4G internet, so international latency might be rough. The code itself handles 100-300ms on proper infrastructure.
I get the scam concern given the circumstances. Happy to do a live Zoom walkthrough if you're seriously interested in verifying this is real.
Re: I can build enterprise software but I can't charge for it
#14As a technical founder I empathize with the authors situation and approach, but honestly spending that much time and energy on a product before even getting one sign up is a known failure mode.
You're 100% right. This is a classic mistake.
I should have validated with 5-10 customers before building the full enterprise stack. The monitoring, analytics, multi-tenant architecture - all premature.
My reasoning (wrong in hindsight): I thought the barrier was "enterprise features" not "can anyone actually sell this." I'm a better builder than salesperson, and it shows.
If I could redo it: MVP in 3 months, get 10 paying customers, THEN build the infrastructure.
Lesson learned the expensive way.
Re: I can build enterprise software but I can't charge for it
#15Me: I built this insane 3D multilingual AI avatar platform with real-time conversation, full enterprise stack, 47 languages, and Unreal Engine You: Can bypass US Treasury sanctions and open a Stripe account
It does pattern match to the Spanish Prisoner scam, with extra FinCEN violations thrown in.
Re: I can build enterprise software but I can't charge for it
#16Is this a request to bypass the sanctions?
No, I'm not asking anyone to bypass sanctions.
I'm looking for a partner/co-founder OUTSIDE Iran who would: - Register a US/UK company (legally) - Open their own Stripe account (under their name/company) - I work as a remote contractor/technical co-founder (legal, like any distributed team)
This is the same model as any international startup with founders in different countries. I'm not hiding my location - I'm openly saying "I'm in Iran, need a partner elsewhere."
If this violates HN guidelines, mods can remove it. Not trying to do anything illegal.
Re: I can build enterprise software but I can't charge for it
#17He's Iranian. Github is most likely going to delete his account due to sanctions. Weird to just announce that publicly.
You're right, that's a risk. GitHub has deleted Iranian accounts before under OFAC compliance.
My calculus: Being transparent about my situation is better than hiding it. If they delete my account, at least I tried.
The alternative is pretending I'm somewhere else, which feels worse and creates legal risk for anyone who partners with me.
Open to suggestions on better approaches.
Re: I can build enterprise software but I can't charge for it
#18Do people actually want such a service? What part of interacting with a touch screen displaying an animated character, high end or luxury?
Re: I can build enterprise software but I can't charge for it
#19Interesting definition of "photorealistic". Link to the site in question: https://neoclerks.com/en/
Seems realistic to me
Re: I can build enterprise software but I can't charge for it
#20why enterprise? why not consumer? can you monetize via crypto?
Great question.
Why enterprise: B2B customers pay $500-5000/month. Consumer would be $10-50/month. I need fewer customers to survive.
Why not crypto: Tried that. B2B accounting departments won't pay recurring subscriptions in Bitcoin. Too volatile, compliance issues. Consumer crypto payments might work but harder to scale.
The honest answer: I built what I knew how to build (enterprise infrastructure) without validating the market first. Classic founder mistake (see avandekleut's comment above - they're right).