The government should fund startups, via money printing. Instead of say pay people to stay unemployed.
Yes, but where's the pork in that?
Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP
201–210 of 395 posts
Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, but I prefer sharing my identity on a 1-on-1 basis during project discussions, rather than put it in the proposition.
[thread flagged] To me, this is a red flag. The offer is set before the entire HN community. It has substantial financial and legal implications. You are competing with YC. Your track record is relevant to the ranking of this thread on HN.
> The offer is set before the entire HN community. It has substantial financial and legal implications.
So? If you're not going to take the OP up on his offer then what business is that of yours? Or are we little children that need your protection?
> You are competing with YC.
And YC can't deal with that competition? It has to be shouted down so nobody knows about it?
> Your track record is relevant to the ranking of this thread on HN.
Not one bit. The ranking is only dependent on the number of upvotes, not based on his/her track record.
Really, you have 0 business flagging a thread like this. It's one of the more interesting experiments that I've seen here and if stuff like this gets flagged then HN has truly lost its charm.
Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP
#203Premise 3 is true for me. Too intensive is how I usually state it.
Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP
#204im in.
Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP
#205"I'll take over and spend an additional $3000 to acquire enough users/customers for us to evaluate the project's likelihood of success."
... So if selected you're taking over the branding and sales of said company? If so how is pricing settled on?
Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly. This is great, out-of-the box thinking by the OP. Anyone who want to do something like this (esp. the OP and jacquesm), please connect with me on LinkedIn: Terrence C. Yang, mentor, angel.
Despite my 'naysaying,' I recognize the value of the idea as an MVP. However, I believe that the HN community is well served by vetting this particular offer.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Either make a better counter offer using your rep as your backing or go build something. Saying 'nay' is easy, improving on the concept is a bit harder but can easily be done if you're so inclined. You are essentially saying that people here can't make up their own minds if they want to take a chance on something or not.
If the OP is full of it then I'm pretty sure he/she will be hung out to dry and someone may be out a month and will have gained $5K. Whether that was an acceptable risk to take is up to them.
Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP
#207To the naysayers in this thread: You have several options here other than just saying 'oohhh, this is mean and nasty'. - match the offer with a better one, so all those that would take up the OP would flock to you instead - build your MVP, keep 100% and then do your own marketing. $5000 for 50% difference but you get to do all the work. Either one of those would be so much more effective than just berating the OP or…
The precedent of a questionable value proposition by an anonymous member raises the question, are caveat emptor funding offers beneficial to the HN community? Logical assumptions lead to a plausible candidate - but that's not identity.
I've taken substantially larger chances on some HN members, anonymous to me at the time and I think everybody came out ahead, sometimes even considerably ahead.
What you would do or not do is entirely besides the point.
If you don't think this is a valid proposition, then don't do it.
Who cares who the 'candidate' is, I'm sure that anybody that enters into this will want to know before they commit to two months work, at the same time I don't begrudge the OP his choice to be anonymous for the time being.
Being (in)famous can be an upside or a downside when making an offer like this.
There are a few toxic names in the start-up scene and I'm sure that google will be able to turn up enough red flags based on name alone in those cases.
Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP
#208If this was answered, I can't find it.
- At $5k / 50%, who is covering the costs of creating a separate entity (LLC formation)?
- What happens in the event that the project is completed in time, but the addl $3k spent to acquire enough customers doesn't yield any positive results?
- Who owns the IP in case after all is said and done, it falls into a dead pool? IP in code that didn't survive as a startup is still valuable.
- How many side-projects are you funding and are you expected to be directly involved in each one?
Some people look at getting paid $5k to complete a side project as plus. I guess to some it is. Taking 2 months to build means you were paid $2.5k per month (around $15 per hour) assuming 40hr work weeks.
Customer acquisition is the most time consuming, costly and difficult part of any startup. Is $3k really realistic to determine if the market is there?
Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP
#209[deleted]
Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP
#210Pre-emptive FAQ: Isn't this a horrible deal? Incubators typically inject more money for far less equity! I earn $10K a month, I could easily save up $8K in a few months, and do this myself for 100% equity. True. If you can get into YCombinator, for example , you should obviously go for it. I can't compete with that. If you're earning $150K+, or you've already been working on your side-project for a year, this may not…
To those who responded by email. Please give me a few days. I may need to set-up a mailing-list/blog/twitter to broadcast info before getting to you individually as the response has blown past my expectations.
I'd be very interested to hear rough numbers on how many emailed, how many you considered interesting, and how many of those you end up funding/going ahead with. And I'm sure everyone will want a post mortem in 6 to 12 months :-)