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Ask YC: What would you do with 50K
11–20 of 33 posts
Re: Ask YC: What would you do with 50K
#12$50-100k? I'd for sure quit my current job and live off it for a year while I develop my idea(s).
The only problem is, I don't have $50-100k. Or even $5k. (Feel free to help change that! :o)
Re: Ask YC: What would you do with 50K
#13I wouldn't go for full time. There are 100,000+ of people trying to create sites that generate enough ad revenue to be full time. A very small percentage actually succeed. Try to do it part-time and see where it goes.
In my experience this has been the better path. I worked fulltime on an ad supported site for 3 months, plunking 10k into it(and living expenses), and got about $200 in return.
Another site, which I built in a day, has generated over $10K for me in ad revenue. It's a big crapshoot and going full time probably won't increase your odds too much. Wait til the traffic is big enough, not your desire.
Re: Ask YC: What would you do with 50K
#141) Definitely go for a market-led not technology-led business idea (ie, one where the demand exists, rather than one where you have to invest time and money educating the market).
2) You then need to Position yourself in the market that's demanding it. This requires you to develop a consistent profile in the marketplace, so when people think of 'Generic Need' they immediately associate it with 'poppysan' before anybody else.
3) Above all, believe in your business. If you're confident, you will invest emotionally and be productive. If you're not, the market will see you as a frantic mess to be left alone for a while...and you don't have a while!
Re: Ask YC: What would you do with 50K
#15If your business is ad-supported, you'll need hundreds of thousands of uniques per month to start making any money.
Which means that building such product is the easiest and (by far) the cheapest part. Promoting something consumer-oriented, building your brand, attracting those visitors will cost you hundreds of thousand of dollars, millions even.
The rule of "build it and they will come" does not apply to consumer-targeted internet-entertainment business. Media businesses require either lots of luck, or massive investments into PR (and still some luck). Digg, Reddit, TechCrunch, even CNN - they all had some "lucky event", something out of their control, which contributed to their boost in popularity. Technology takes the back seat, unless you have something truly groundbreaking, like Google had.
Sorry to deliver the bad news, but your $50K are irrelevant, find some well-connected people to support you. Reddit wouldn't have happened without Paul's PR machine.
Re: Ask YC: What would you do with 50K
#16Umm, this is a loan. I assume you'll need to pay it back whether or not you succeed?
If you're the sole bread winner for your family, then potentially accumulating a ton of debt is not something to be done lightly.
Test your idea, whatever it may be, before taking the loan.
Re: Ask YC: What would you do with 50K
#17I wouldn't go for full time. There are 100,000+ of people trying to create sites that generate enough ad revenue to be full time. A very small percentage actually succeed. Try to do it part-time and see where it goes. In my experience this has been the better path. I worked fulltime on an ad supported site for 3 months, plunking 10k into it(and living expenses), and got about $200 in return. Another site, which I bui…
Care to show the website that generated over $10K in ad revenue?
Re: Ask YC: What would you do with 50K
#18If you don't have a solid business plan yet the step one is to write one so you'll have a solid understanding on what you will actually do - it's not a bible so you can change it if it needs to be changed.
When you have a business plan that seems to be working, then you'll have to thing how to implement it, distribute it and so on. These are crucial steps and all beginning enterpreneuers will be far too positive on these so if you think there will be X customers that will pay Y amount of money, divide them by half.
When you have everything planned, you need to think how to finance it - that is when your 50k will come to play.
I would recommend 253% to keep your day job until you have at least one paying customer or are getting some decent money from at least something connected to your project.
Too many projects end like this and it's very, very sad: http://www.snotr.com/video/1133
Re: Ask YC: What would you do with 50K
#19I wouldn't go for full time. There are 100,000+ of people trying to create sites that generate enough ad revenue to be full time. A very small percentage actually succeed. Try to do it part-time and see where it goes. In my experience this has been the better path. I worked fulltime on an ad supported site for 3 months, plunking 10k into it(and living expenses), and got about $200 in return. Another site, which I bui…
I'd suggest the opposite, actually. Not going full time means that you'll go half-assed on the startup.
Re: Ask YC: What would you do with 50K
#20I wouldn't go for full time. There are 100,000+ of people trying to create sites that generate enough ad revenue to be full time. A very small percentage actually succeed. Try to do it part-time and see where it goes. In my experience this has been the better path. I worked fulltime on an ad supported site for 3 months, plunking 10k into it(and living expenses), and got about $200 in return. Another site, which I bui…
Care to show the website that generated over $10K in ad revenue?
Genius. Try 100 things, have one work, then give out that information for free to many people who could build the same thing in a few hours.