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Ask HN: You're a recent grad that's working full time on your startup. How?

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Re: Ask HN: You're a recent grad that's working full time on your startup. How?

#11

Post by mcav »

[deleted] wrote: post #8
mcav wrote: post #2

I graduate in May and plan to move to full-time. I'll be able to work on my startup because my parents have [thankfully] agreed to help me out while I try to bring it into the black. Since I've been working on it a lot during college, I hope to start making a profit not too long after graduation. I'm currently living with some college friends in a house and intend to live there for now, unless (A) money runs out and…

[deleted]

Thanks. If I end up needing an actual job/career, you're right -- I'd have to get out of here in order to find anything enjoyable. But I think as a startup founder, the situation's different -- I'm not directly dependent on the job market here, so I'm not immediately inconvenienced by a lack of good CS jobs.

Re: Ask HN: You're a recent grad that's working full time on your startup. How?

#13

Post by mdolon »

cperciva wrote: post #4

In my case it's a combination of (a) graduating with money in the bank due to generous scholarships, and (b) having low expenses due to living in my parents' basement. YCers, of course, are given a theoretical 3 months of living expenses and then usually get other investment at the end of the YC program -- so there's no mystery there (at least for those people for whom $5k == 3 months of living expenses).

Bingo! I too live in my parents' basement - it has it's perks and a few downfalls as well. Aside from saving money, I've found it easier to code at all hours of the night and day while in the basement. There's also an added sense of privacy which seems to give me some mental comfort as well. On the downside, I've now become part of the super-nerd stereotype: jobless and living in my parents' basement. =)

On a side note, I've also found it increasingly difficult to keep in touch with old friends post-grad. The majority of my time is now devoted to my projects rather than hanging out or attempting to reconnect.

Re: Ask HN: You're a recent grad that's working full time on your startup. How?

#14

Post by mdolon »

tokenadult wrote: post #6

I see a common theme here in the first few submitted replies. What does an ambitious young person do if the parents are a) dead and gone, b) sick and dying, c) impoverished, or d) stingy? (I ask as a parent of would-be start-up founders, trying my best not to fit into those categories, but never knowing for sure when I might fit into category a).

Get a part time job, find friends with an extra room and live on the bare essentials. If you don't have the comfort of parents who can help you out then it is all the more pressing for you to MAKE your startup succeed (if that's the route you want to take).

Re: Ask HN: You're a recent grad that's working full time on your startup. How?

#15

Post by trapper »

I started my first company by getting supported by my partner, working all day & night :). I had a deadline of 6 months to release which I met. We lived like students (still in a student flat), and by no means had any disposable income. It was exciting and daring, and paid off.

My advice, find a brainy girl/boy who believes in you (and can add value in their own way) and talk it over :)

Re: Ask HN: You're a recent grad that's working full time on your startup. How?

#16

Post by azanar »

mdolon wrote: post #13
cperciva wrote: post #4

In my case it's a combination of (a) graduating with money in the bank due to generous scholarships, and (b) having low expenses due to living in my parents' basement. YCers, of course, are given a theoretical 3 months of living expenses and then usually get other investment at the end of the YC program -- so there's no mystery there (at least for those people for whom $5k == 3 months of living expenses).

Bingo! I too live in my parents' basement - it has it's perks and a few downfalls as well. Aside from saving money, I've found it easier to code at all hours of the night and day while in the basement. There's also an added sense of privacy which seems to give me some mental comfort as well. On the downside, I've now become part of the super-nerd stereotype: jobless and living in my parents' basement. =) On a side no…

On the downside, I've now become part of the super-nerd stereotype: jobless and living in my parents' basement. =)

You're probably just being facetious, but you're not jobless; you just don't have a job that involves working under contract for someone else. ;-)

Re: Ask HN: You're a recent grad that's working full time on your startup. How?

#17

Post by azanar »

tokenadult wrote: post #6

I see a common theme here in the first few submitted replies. What does an ambitious young person do if the parents are a) dead and gone, b) sick and dying, c) impoverished, or d) stingy? (I ask as a parent of would-be start-up founders, trying my best not to fit into those categories, but never knowing for sure when I might fit into category a).

Agreed with mdolon's thoughts, but another thought occurred to me while reading through this:

* As a parent, it is likely you have more and varied business connections than your son/daughter. Do you know anyone you could introduce them to who might be able to help them along both monetarily, as a seed or angel investor, and/or as an advisor if (a-d) were to happen to you? This doesn't even have to be a direct contact, perhaps a contact of a contact, or however many levels of indirection you are comfortable with. Just a thought; the help you can provide is not entirely in what you know.

Re: Ask HN: You're a recent grad that's working full time on your startup. How?

#18

Post by wheels »

I've had two phases of my life where I went without income. The first was getting established as an open source developer, the second was starting a startup (both, interestingly, feel like they have a lot in common).

After college I worked full time for one year. I kept living with college roomies and saved up about $10,000. I used that to work full time on open source for 10 months, and move to Europe (where I stayed).

When I started Directed Edge 6 years later, I did something similar, but had more saved. I got my living costs back down to college student levels to ensure that we had a long runway.

It's easy to stretch money out if you get used to it and easy to save enough money to live on for a year if you've got an IT job. The freedom of knowing that you can survive for a year on $10k while living well, mind you, is pretty awesome and it certainly gives you the flexibility to do something you think is worthwhile.

Re: Ask HN: You're a recent grad that's working full time on your startup. How?

#20

Post by aditya »

code_devil wrote: post #9
tokenadult wrote: post #6

I see a common theme here in the first few submitted replies. What does an ambitious young person do if the parents are a) dead and gone, b) sick and dying, c) impoverished, or d) stingy? (I ask as a parent of would-be start-up founders, trying my best not to fit into those categories, but never knowing for sure when I might fit into category a).

I think it's ideal to have some sort of part time job. In my case, I have a full time job and can't leave it for two reasons: 1) I am on H1b-Visa [More Important than #2, so didn't even think about applying for YC this summer, though I would love to] 2) I need $$$ :-) I typically try to wake up early(6am), hit the gym, put in my 8/9 hrs at work so I am free by 5-6 pm. Now I have potentially 6 more hours till 12:00 am…

you know that you can always switch to a part-time H1b to make more time, right? Also, apply to YC if you are interested and ready to commit, the visa thing is hard but not insurmountable (especially if you raise money). IIRC, The buxfers did it!

It's very easy to go down the road of, oh no there are so many obstacles, but if you're relentlessly resourceful, you can make it work :)

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