How We Bootstrapped a $20K Website into a $4M/year Business • Hacker News Board

Re: How We Bootstrapped a $20K Website into a $4M/year Business

#131

Post by marcamillion » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 10:24 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #114

marcamillion wrote: post #69

I love this story. This is also why I bristle when many in the Valley - PG included - keep disparaging non-technical people when they want to start a tech company. I never understood this. For a group of people (programmers) that presumably have been ostracized, shunned, and picked on in their formative years, why do so many in the valley do this to 'MBAs'. It's ignorant at best. The fact is, as has been shown time a…

You're attacking a straw man here. We've funded lots of companies started by people who weren't programmers. In the YC FAQ, we recommend that such people find cofounders who are, if they can. But we don't insist even on that. http://paulgraham.com/identity.html

I never meant to attack you personally - it was more the sentiment that is often espoused in many comments & stories that appear on HN. You can even see some in this thread!

Some of that sentiment appear in your essays (and perhaps comments) - which people may take out of context.

Re: How We Bootstrapped a $20K Website into a $4M/year Business

#132

Post by marcamillion » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 10:26 PM UTC

n9com wrote: post #129

Posting turnover of $4M without discussing your costs means this article lacks credibility. It would have been better to state your actual profit. Is it 4m/year revenue with 1m in profit, or is 50k in profit... makes a big difference.

Given the stage of growth they are in - early stage of likely hyper growth - their profit doesn't make much of a difference right now.

They are likely reinvesting everything into the business, thereby leaving them with little to no profit.

Re: How We Bootstrapped a $20K Website into a $4M/year Business

#133

Post by kolbe » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 10:34 PM UTC

marcamillion wrote: post #122

kolbe wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is such macho-induced cliche drivel that I feel like you're caricaturing one of these 'MBAs'. First you try to belittle geeks for having been friendless, then call them ignorant. Then you break out the whole 'number one' nonsense, and even utilize a pound sign. And my favorite part is when you turn to the tautology of the 'unshakeable will to figure it out and get it done'. Ha. Yeah, people who do can do X are t…

Again...sweeping generalizations...which you have proved just now.

When you come here and completely fulfill all of the other presumptions what are we supposed to think? You think saying nerds were friendless, then spouting off meaningless one-liners about it is a way to entice people into moving beyond generalizations?

Re: How We Bootstrapped a $20K Website into a $4M/year Business

#134

Post by marcamillion » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 10:43 PM UTC

kolbe wrote: post #133

marcamillion wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again...sweeping generalizations...which you have proved just now.

When you come here and completely fulfill all of the other presumptions what are we supposed to think? You think saying nerds were friendless, then spouting off meaningless one-liners about it is a way to entice people into moving beyond generalizations?

If a nerd can't talk about generalizations about nerds...who can?

Re: How We Bootstrapped a $20K Website into a $4M/year Business

#135

Post by jaggederest » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 11:07 PM UTC

marcamillion wrote: post #128

physcab wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why do so many in the valley do this to 'MBAs'. Because every technical person has a story about: - "Idea people" telling them what to do and taking all the credit. - A non-technical manager setting unreasonable deadlines. - A non-technical manager trivializing a complex task. - "Oh we'll just get him/her to write some code". - Being treated as if their talents are a commodity. - Being treated as if they cannot com…

I think the correct term for those people are "douchebags"...not "MBAs".

A = douchebags

B = MBAs

B ⊆ A

Re: How We Bootstrapped a $20K Website into a $4M/year Business

#136

Post by tejay » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 11:11 PM UTC

nthj wrote: post #80

tejay wrote: post #4

Wow, fantastic. Cool story too. So, how often was your developer in Canada at the movies when you called? Haha

Clients who won't pay for retainers (with optional SLA attachments for emergencies, if required) shouldn't make public quips about their contract developers being at the movies. The market is such that I do not have to be available 24/7 for $100/hour, billable in 15-minute increments, no matter how much startup CEOs wish this wasn't the case.

> The market is such that I do not have to be available 24/7 for $100/hour, billable in 15-minute increments, no matter how much startup CEOs wish this wasn't the case.

Agreed.

Think that, in any market, for any talent, this would be a ridiculous arrangement for any manager/CEO to propose of a remote hire.

I think the author of this blog probably mentioned that anecdote as a comedic way to highlight the challenges of having product built remotely.

As someone part of a team who advocates for / tries to enable developers to work remotely (and employers to hire remotely), frankly, I'm happy to hear (and get excited by) stories of such arrangements working out for all parties!

Re: How We Bootstrapped a $20K Website into a $4M/year Business

#137

Post by dannyr » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 11:12 PM UTC

marcamillion wrote: post #69

I love this story. This is also why I bristle when many in the Valley - PG included - keep disparaging non-technical people when they want to start a tech company. I never understood this. For a group of people (programmers) that presumably have been ostracized, shunned, and picked on in their formative years, why do so many in the valley do this to 'MBAs'. It's ignorant at best. The fact is, as has been shown time a…

"This is also why I bristle when many in the Valley - PG included - keep disparaging non-technical people when they want to start a tech company."

"I wish we all, on HN (at the very least), would stop painting with a broad brush and bashing large swathes of people."

Pretty conflicting statements. Asking HN not to disparage people while disparaging people in Silicon valley himself.

If a non-technical founder wants to build a photo-sharing app, how would she/he even build a minimum viable product without learning how to code or getting a technical partner?

It depends on the business. Some ideas like MyClean don't need much technical skills to start.

It's pretty disappointing that this is the top comment on this thread.

Re: How We Bootstrapped a $20K Website into a $4M/year Business

#138

Post by aymeric » Wed, Apr 17, 2013, 11:45 PM UTC

For people interested in starting a similar business, there is a subreddit on this: http://www.reddit.com/r/EntrepreneurRideAlong/ where someone shows how he builds a service business from scratch.

Re: How We Bootstrapped a $20K Website into a $4M/year Business

#139

Post by mladenkovacevic » Thu, Apr 18, 2013, 12:08 AM UTC

jeremyt wrote: post #41

mladenkovacevic wrote: post #33

What are people's thoughts on applying this kind of "craigslist for services" business model to a number of verticals (not just cleaning or any other single market)?

Like http://thumbtack.com ?

Yeah that's pretty close to what I was thinking. Or the Taskrabbit as mentioned by jonathanjaeger.

I noticed you are a technical co-founder at Thumbtack. I had an idea for a similar service that helps people with particular skills make themselves available for hire to their neighbours. Were there many business or technical challenges trying to reach so many localities across many different types of services?

Re: How We Bootstrapped a $20K Website into a $4M/year Business

#140

Post by usaar333 » Thu, Apr 18, 2013, 12:21 AM UTC

marcamillion wrote: post #132

n9com wrote: post #129

Posting turnover of $4M without discussing your costs means this article lacks credibility. It would have been better to state your actual profit. Is it 4m/year revenue with 1m in profit, or is 50k in profit... makes a big difference.

Given the stage of growth they are in - early stage of likely hyper growth - their profit doesn't make much of a difference right now. They are likely reinvesting everything into the business, thereby leaving them with little to no profit.

Speaking of growth, how does everyone view their growth rate, which is 10% month over month? By the standards of a VC-backed company at their current revenues, it feels low. But I'm guessing this is considered quite high for bootstrapping?