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Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP

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Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP

#371

Post by aaronevans »

tyang wrote: post #167
jacquesm wrote: post #141

To 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…

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.

I think it's a great idea. I signed up because I think the marketing value is worth a lot more than the $8000.

I'm tempted to make a similar counter-offer as a developer. Do some customer development, prove the market, and I'll fund your product development and build it for you.

Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP

#372

Post by aaronevans »

brudgers wrote: post #331
jacquesm wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're missing out on the 3rd option: hmexx could gamble 100K, do 12 of these and finally pick the one winner to spend all the rest of his time on and drop the rest. And of course the founder has a way of getting more runway without becoming a minority shareholder: put more money in.

Yes, and it's the third option that raises the question, does hmexx retain 50% ownership of the other 11 projects? If so, those founders are married to a disinterested partner with veto power. If hmexx can conjure traction with $3k and little further effort, then entry into his incubator could make sense, even for a person with the resources to develop the project on their own, at least from the standpoint of logical…

If my idea (and development) turns into a multi-million dollar proposition and I get booted to the curb, I'll give you my phone number for $8000 so you can offer to invest in my next venture. But I don't guarantee I'll return your call, because my phone will be ringing off the hook.

If I fail, I'll get another job after a couple months and do it again.

Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP

#373

Post by aaronevans »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #117

This discussion is awesome! I would never have believed such a simple conjecture could provide so much illumination around the myths and realities of startups. First, its a great deal, both for hmexx and folks who take him up on it. Frankly I think it could be revolutionary. My reasoning is as follows; Many "products" over the last couple of years have been fairly straight forward web "apps" built on top of existing…

I think that's an interesting take, even if not meant by hmexx. Startup ideas as publishing. $5000 advance, $3000 guaranteed marketing (of unknown value), and 50% royalties. I'd write a book for that rate. Why not an app?

Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP

#374

Post by aaronevans »

panther2k wrote: post #325
derefr wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm now imagining building a marketplace site roughly like eLance/oDesk/whatever else, where the investor can put money in escrow and clients (freelancers) can "bid"--but it's the freelancers who are proposing the jobs in their entirety, not the investor.

http://makermatch.herokuapp.com Just put this together. No escrow or anything and haven't fully implemented bidding but let's see if there's any interest.

Why wait for hmexx, right?

Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP

#375

Post by aaronevans »

panther2k wrote: post #325
derefr wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm now imagining building a marketplace site roughly like eLance/oDesk/whatever else, where the investor can put money in escrow and clients (freelancers) can "bid"--but it's the freelancers who are proposing the jobs in their entirety, not the investor.

http://makermatch.herokuapp.com Just put this together. No escrow or anything and haven't fully implemented bidding but let's see if there's any interest.

Feature request -- What about a user being both maker and investor?

Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP

#376

Post by Tycho »

I will contribute an idea if anyone wants to use it: somebody should make a website for people to arrange adhoc day-trips with strangers. Sometimes at the weekend I think I would like to catch a train to some city in Britain that i've never been to - say Bath, or Durham. But I don't really have anyone to go with, and traveling on your own is a bit dull. If you could sign up to a weekend 'away party' online and head off to the destination with some basic itenary, it would be cool. If everyone is in the same boat then it's not awkward going with strangers. Call it DayTripper.com or something.

Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP

#377

Post by chrisyeh »

Let's walk through hmexx's premises.

Premise 1, that investors overestimate their ability to pick good ideas is undoubtedly true. The best investors are still usually wrong. But the consistent returns that the Sequoias of the world suggest that even if they're usually wrong, they're right enough to make oodles of money.

Premise 2, that an MVP built by a lone founder is just as likely to succeed as a full team on AngelList is almost certainly false. Years of research have demonstrated that founding teams help success. A lone founder can certainly succeed, but is less likely to do so.

Premise 3, that freelancers don't pursue their ideas is absolutely true.

Premise 4, that HackerNews has talented people with good ideas is also absolutely true.

Now comes the key--he's offering $8K (plus the value of his marketing expertise) for 50% of the company.

Let's be generous and assume the marketing consulting is worth $7K. If the average seed investor is paying a $5 million premoney these days, that's a 99.7% discount! Even if a sole founder is 1% as likely to succeed as an AngelList startup, he'll still be 3X ahead.

My conclusion is that hmexx is a marketing genius. He's found a way to buy stock at a 99%+ discount. Also, he's still going to apply a selection process--if Premise 1 were true, he ought to choose at random.

Hmmm, maybe I should invest in him!

Also, just to add to the scrum, I'll double the offer to $10,000!

Re: Proposition HN: I will pay $8000 for you to build your side-project/MVP

#378

Post by makeautocadfast »

MVP? Minimum viable product. I have an idea. I'm not sure you could call it a minimum viable product. Maybe you know.

I'm very good at AutoLISP programming. I' m trying to make a business out of it. Do you know AutoLISP? It is a the programing language of AutoCAD.

Working with AutoCAD. That is the problem. It takes a long time before an AutoCAD drawing is created. And that is not all.

Once the AutoCAD drawing has been created, it must be checked. So creating a drawing in AutoCAD takes a lot of time.

I could write a program in AutoLISP. The program creates an AutoCAD drawing in no time. And there is no need to check the drawing.

Who could be interested in what I'm doing? Who could be my customers? Well. That is easy. AutoCAD users are interested.

I'm now promoting my business. I'm trying to find customers for my business. But I'm not very successful up till now.

I have opened an AutoLISP blog and I have opened an AutoLISP newsletter. Every week I post a different article on them.

I also have written a demo AutoLISP program that I give away to people that are interested. And I have written an AutoLISP paper.

Right now I want to find subscribers for my blog and for my newsletter. Maybe you have some suggestions for me.

You had a proposal. You are willing to invest a total of $ 8,000 in my business. And if we are successful, you will be my 50% partner.

I think it is a fair proposal. I can agree with that proposal. But my business idea. Do you think it is any good?

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