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Ask HN: Sell my startup for $14M because I can't raise $2M?

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Re: Ask HN: Sell my startup for $14M because I can't raise $2M?

#111

Post by SyneRyder »

weaksauce wrote: post #93
justboxing wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so Felix Dennis is the 'Old Wise Person' refereed to elsewhere in this thread with the same quote? Or is this another one of those quotes like the ones attributed to Einstein i.e. no-one know who said it.

It was in his book "how to get rich" or something similar to that title. Half memoir half advice. It's actually a pretty good read... title notwithstanding. I am not sure if he was he originator of that saying though.

The Audible version is extremely good. The narrator makes it sound like Monty Python, which seems to be an accurate tone for the book. It isn't a parody, but it's definitely irreverent and thoroughly entertaining.

Re: Ask HN: Sell my startup for $14M because I can't raise $2M?

#112

Post by jonnathanson »

weaksauce wrote: post #93
justboxing wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so Felix Dennis is the 'Old Wise Person' refereed to elsewhere in this thread with the same quote? Or is this another one of those quotes like the ones attributed to Einstein i.e. no-one know who said it.

It was in his book "how to get rich" or something similar to that title. Half memoir half advice. It's actually a pretty good read... title notwithstanding. I am not sure if he was he originator of that saying though.

I don't think he coined the phrase, but his book is a strong read for sure.

Re: Ask HN: Sell my startup for $14M because I can't raise $2M?

#113

Post by daxorid »

secondmod wrote: post #54

- Outsource non-critical tasks using upwork or odesk for under $1k - Raise some from http://www.indie.vc/ and then, upto 30% of your ARR as debt. Repayment done as x% of your rev. If you think, these two steps will charge you up to build & grow this business to 10m or 100m revenue biz, then don't sell. Else, $12m is pretty much FU money. Buy 250 bitcoins, buy bunch of rental properties, invest in your health & fitnes…

> Raise some from http://www.indie.vc/

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/indievc/indievc/master/Ter...

300% capital payback, at the end of which they still retain half of the equity option.

Good Lord, you're better off financing with credit cards.

Re: Ask HN: Sell my startup for $14M because I can't raise $2M?

#114

Post by viraptor »

chatmasta wrote: post #88
jaggederest wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it only caches when they are requested by the user - google acts more like a proxy. Essentially they're preventing the remote server from grabbing HTTP headers/cookies from gmail users but not preventing them from tracking when it is loaded, chronologically.

The google servers download every image, regardless of whether or not the user later opens it or not. So since every image is downloaded, and subsequent downloads come from google cache, the pixel becomes an ineffective way of tracking open rate.

You can only get the image from cache if it's the same URL. You can still vary those between recipients.

Re: Ask HN: Sell my startup for $14M because I can't raise $2M?

#116

Post by mseebach »

alain94040 wrote: post #4

Owning 100% of $14M is better than owning 10% of a $100M exit after 5 more years of hard work.

You'll have gone through some pretty insane fundraising rounds and extreme growth then near-collapse to pull those numbers off.

Raising 2M at 14M puts the OP's stake at 87.5%. Long long way to 10%.

Re: Ask HN: Sell my startup for $14M because I can't raise $2M?

#117

Post by halbritt »

mrfusion wrote: post #53
jonnathanson wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Even if you'd eventually make $50m, your life wouldn't change much from a net worth of $14m to $50m. You could buy a nicer jet?" I know you're kidding around here, but all kidding aside, whether your net worth is $14M or $50M, you can't afford a jet. (I mean, nominally speaking, you can front the sticker price -- but you'll get eaten alive on fuel and maintenance over the jet's useful lifespan, and the jet as an ass…

Would a small helicopter make more sense?

Privately owned aircraft are referred to as "that hole in the sky into which the money goes."

Re: Ask HN: Sell my startup for $14M because I can't raise $2M?

#118

Post by DenverR »

thisanonguy wrote: post #10
codegeek wrote: post #5

Do you not have enough revenue from current clients to be able to expand your team and hire more people for dev/deployment/support ?

The launch cycle is usually about 6 months from signature to first user onboarding. We expect it will take about 12 months to get full organization saturation. We've looked at upfront pricing, but it has been hard to get for a new budget-line product.

shoot me an email drayburn[at]nvp.com, happy to jump on the phone and discuss

Re: Ask HN: Sell my startup for $14M because I can't raise $2M?

#119

Post by jonnathanson »

osteele wrote: post #84
jonnathanson wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Even if you'd eventually make $50m, your life wouldn't change much from a net worth of $14m to $50m. You could buy a nicer jet?" I know you're kidding around here, but all kidding aside, whether your net worth is $14M or $50M, you can't afford a jet. (I mean, nominally speaking, you can front the sticker price -- but you'll get eaten alive on fuel and maintenance over the jet's useful lifespan, and the jet as an ass…

I dined once with a billionaire and a couple of multimillionaires. The billionaire owned a jet. The multimillionaires were envious of him because they only owned jet timeshares . (If you own your own jet, it's always where you want it, you can decorate it the way you want, and you can leave your stuff in its bedroom and living room. It's like having a pied-à-terre in a city instead of renting a hotel room each time y…

My experience tells me you're lowballing the crew salaries; your pilot alone draws at least $200k. You probably don't pay for the rest of the crew, but you do pay monthly fees for storage, private airstrip clearances, and ad hoc (big) costs each time you fuel it up, 'rent' an attendant, and cater the flight.

Re: Ask HN: Sell my startup for $14M because I can't raise $2M?

#120

Post by abarrettwilsdon »

If you have sufficient revenue (or pilots that could lead to it), you could look for alternative financing. Venture debt offerings are increasingly common from firms like Lighter Capital and Landscape Capital. There's also an emerging wave of invoice financing companies like VendorTerm that lend against individual contracts
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