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I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

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Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#161

Post by icedchai »

crispyambulance wrote: post #147
Barrera wrote: post #15

The main reason this didn't work is that the founder didn't identify a customer willing to spend money . A lot of startups fail because they never identify a customer. Or even a problem. This one failed because before writing a line of code the founder did not take the next step and ensure that the prospective customer was willing to spend money on a solution. This is why so many failing startups try to pivot to two-…

To be fair, those "ducks-in-a-row" questions are NOT easy to answer and it's easy for someone to fool themselves with a BS answer. Moreover, there are plenty of ridiculous ideas that someone would never think anybody would "pay for" that make tons of money in spite of themselves. In the end it's all about taking calculated risks. Should the OP have learned more about the market he was trying to operate in AT SOME POI…

Yes... All things considered, he got away pretty cheap. I know guys who spent most of their life savings and millions of investor money, working on an incredible opportunity that didn't pan out.

Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#162

Post by Workaccount2 »

synergy20 wrote: post #120
standeven wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Find a technical co-founder, join some other accelerator, and develop the MVP. Not many investors will drop $500k into an idea.

I'm fairly technical myself, mostly I need someone good at frontend(vuejs), where I need help to design nice UI for the (embedded device) product. I spent my own time learning vuejs but, not as fast as I wanted so far, I am a low level developer coding in c/c++ basically. I have been thinking about hiring a (cheaper) overseas vuejs3 developer for a while using my own money, the reality is that, hiring is more challen…

I see "embedded" and get scared.

Hardware is an order of magnitude (or nine, twelve) more difficult than a software startup. Expensive rev'ing, long turn arounds, supply chain mayhem, overseas production, profits thinner than the paper they are printed on.

The hardware graveyard of kickstarter is chock full of dreamy eyed hardware guys for good reason.

Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#164

Post by treis »

epmaybe wrote: post #142

Can someone provide an example of where this would provide value? I'm not sure I understand. The examples I see in the article (picking the 'best' pain medication or antidepressant) aren't all that interesting to me. Like, of course naproxen wins, it has the longest half life of all of the listed medications...and the comparison of SSRI are well known at this point. I find it hard to believe that a board certified ps…

>I find it hard to believe that a board certified psychiatrist (Susan) wouldn't know which medication has better efficacy in which scenarios.

The field of medicine is constantly changing with new drugs and studies coming out all of the time. So no Susan might not know that and if she does she learned the new information from somewhere.

The problem that the guy in TFA has is that the business he wants to build already exists. Uptodate provides phsyician references, Cochrane does a lot of meta/review studies, and I'm sure there's others.

Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#165

Post by CIPHERSTONE »

elpakal wrote: post #46
ilamont wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's right. A lot of founders don't make it to #3 in your list, or they only get the "make something people want" part. It's not enough. Build something people want and will pay for . Not just say they want. Not just say they'll pay for. Make something that they see and will immediately take out their cash/cc/paypal/venmo and pay for on the spot .

I’m not sure I agree with you about your extra > and will pay for. People want Reddit, people want FB and Insta. Do they pay for those? I’m not saying those are good or realistic models to follow but I think the scale of your product needs to be taken into account with your statement. ie landing millions of users can forgive the lack of a business plan _at that scale_ whereas a SAAS platform targeting B2B customers s…

>>People want Reddit, people want FB and Insta. I think in OP's case his issue was that his content required funding to keep up to date and his user base couldn't support those costs with ads. With FB, Reddit etc. the end users generate the content.

Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#166

Post by synergy20 »

wilihybrid wrote: post #140
synergy20 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a half-baked product in the making for 4 years but never had enough time (and skill) to fully make it, every time I asked potential customers all of them wanted it right away except I could not finish it. Tried to apply for HN to no avail. I just need some investment(500K should do it in one year) to hire one or two developers to help to ship the product really, but I don't know how, which is why I'm back to w…

What does "apply for HN" mean in this context?

applying for its startup program

Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#167

Post by synergy20 »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #162
synergy20 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fairly technical myself, mostly I need someone good at frontend(vuejs), where I need help to design nice UI for the (embedded device) product. I spent my own time learning vuejs but, not as fast as I wanted so far, I am a low level developer coding in c/c++ basically. I have been thinking about hiring a (cheaper) overseas vuejs3 developer for a while using my own money, the reality is that, hiring is more challen…

I see "embedded" and get scared. Hardware is an order of magnitude (or nine, twelve) more difficult than a software startup. Expensive rev'ing, long turn arounds, supply chain mayhem, overseas production, profits thinner than the paper they are printed on. The hardware graveyard of kickstarter is chock full of dreamy eyed hardware guys for good reason.

Understood, my model is to buy existing solid hardware in volume based on orders received and load them with my own software(and UI) for certain vertical markets. Making hardware is a totally different market where cash burning is real and fast, small players simply can not afford.

Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#168

Post by 6510 »

> So I built something people wanted. Consumers wanted it, doctors wanted it, I wanted it. Where did I go wrong?

You wanted to sell to practitioners directly. Your market is suppliers. They are in the position to sell it to doctors by the thousands for next to nothing.

Go make some phone calls.

Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#169

Post by achillesheels »

JAlexoid wrote: post #130
chefandy wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not an MBA or anything, but IMO startups glossing over their early business practices indicates luck rather than hiding good practices. That touches on another big, counterintuitive trap: listening to successful founder’s personal-myth-derived advice on generating success. Important skills attributed to founders— e.g. recognizing opportunity and talent, vision, etc.— are meaningless without simultaneously having the…

I think people forget how much luck has to do with all of it. Location, timing, access and mistakes on the side of market players - are all a matter of luck. Google could not have started in 1998 in Russia. Microsoft would not have been Microsoft, without landing the MSDOS from IBM. So on and so forth.

Really? Google is a product of luck and not centuries of the willfully successful extensions of men, e.g. Leland Stanford, on this continent?

What, in your estimation, can be controlled then?

Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#170

Post by achillesheels »

andi999 wrote: post #27
Barrera wrote: post #15

The main reason this didn't work is that the founder didn't identify a customer willing to spend money . A lot of startups fail because they never identify a customer. Or even a problem. This one failed because before writing a line of code the founder did not take the next step and ensure that the prospective customer was willing to spend money on a solution. This is why so many failing startups try to pivot to two-…

Well, successful business means paying customers, that is almost a tautology. You could also say they didnt identify how to make money. The big question is how do you get people to give you money for your services/product. Classically people answer this with emphasis on the idea.

I believe the answer rests in offering a solution to a problem that is worth more time than money to solve on one's own, or a new solution that creates more opportunities for a customer to grow their profitability.
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