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My Startup has 30 Days to Live

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Re: My Startup has 30 Days to Live

#191

Post by mindcrime »

unimpressive wrote: post #102
ooutpa wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh come on. Just because Paul wrote something does not suddenly make it fact. The word 'startup' is at least a few hundreds years old, most likely from the word 'upstart' - the action of starting up. Startup as defined in the Merriam Webster dictionary: A fledgling business enterprise. Startup as defined in the Oxford dictionary: A newly established business.

We're talking about startups in the Silicon Valley Business vernacular, which has some strange definitions for common words. (See: Disrupt)

We're talking about startups in the Silicon Valley Business vernacular,

Are we? I'm not in Silicon Valley, and what happens there is of little consequence to me. I, for one, only care what startup means in my vernacular.

For what it's worth, I consider a "startup" any business that's intended to grow into a very large business, where the definition of "very large" is somewhat fuzzy. But I don't think you have to have intent to achieve that in any certain period of time, in order to qualify as a startup.

Re: My Startup has 30 Days to Live

#192

Post by mindcrime »

fxthea wrote: post #113
dkrich wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's your definition of a startup. Most people (myself included) think of a startup simply as a new, fledgling business. Every business starts with nothing. Your aspirations, whether they are to become billion-dollar or just side income are irrelevant. They can lead to some bone-headed decisions along the way though.

I don't think he's arguing about semantics of startup vs. small business. I believe he's trying to explain that new businesses fall into a path where they think they are a "startup" thus must take VC funding. He's trying to explain that there's also the "small business" route where you just bootstrap and fund your business from customer revenue.

He's trying to explain that there's also the "small business" route where you just bootstrap and fund your business from customer revenue.

But funding from customer revenue does not automatically imply "small business". If you manage to generate a reasonable margin off that revenue, but you reinvest the profit back into the company, you can grow that way, as opposed to growing by taking outside money.

Re: My Startup has 30 Days to Live

#193

Post by mindcrime »

nhangen wrote: post #134
Kurtz79 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with what you are saying about the "burnouts", but I think a bootstrapped business (unlike a startup) it's not necessarily focused on growth. You could start a bootstrapped business and only grow to the point where is sustainable in the long term, and just provides you with a decent level of income so that you can work on something you like and under conditions that suit you.

I don't know. I guess I've just always viewed bootstrapping as choosing revenue for financing rather than investors. I don't think boostrapping is the same as what some like to call a'lifestyle business.' My company is bootstrapped, but we're still very focused on growth.

I don't know. I guess I've just always viewed bootstrapping as choosing revenue for financing rather than investors. I don't think boostrapping is the same as what some like to call a'lifestyle business.'

Exactly.

My company is bootstrapped, but we're still very focused on growth.

Same here. We intend to build a billion dollar business, but we are (so far) bootstrapping. That doesn't, however, mean we'll never take outside money, but there's no need to right now. Once we prove the model and get some initial traction, it might make sense to do it just to fund expansion, but that's a decision for another day.

Re: My Startup has 30 Days to Live

#194

Post by porker »

samspenc wrote: post #167
alsostayinganon wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Created a throwaway account because I'd like to stay anon.

Do you mind sharing a little bit about the market space you were (are) in? Just curious more than anything.

Please do - don't need to know your company, but I'm wondering what the heck I've overlooked that would have growth like that :) You make me feel old!

Re: My Startup has 30 Days to Live

#195

Post by clarky07 »

kirillzubovsky wrote: post #128
6d0debc071 wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you know you're screwed, and you've made a couple of million bucks, why aren't you just closing up the company and going home to have a money party? That probably sounds quite harsh if it's something you love, but a million bucks is like economic freedom for life, and you can try again with a different idea later where there's less active competition. Sounds to me like you did pretty well for yourself.

In this day and age, a million bucks is not even close to an economic freedom. @webwright has a good post on what he calls "Fuck you money", the amount you'd need to retire rich. Well worth the read. http://www.tonywright.com/2010/no-you-cant-retire-rich-at-30...

Sure it is. You just have to have more reasonable expectations. A million bucks can easily generate 30-50k a year in dividends, and without a mortgage, that is enough to live a comfortable lifestyle. You can't go on permanent vacation, but you can live and work on whatever you want to without needing a job.

200k is a silly number to use in this calculation. Most studies show that "happiness" stops having big returns past something like 70-80k. Could I spend 200k a year? Sure no problem. Do I need to? No way.

Re: My Startup has 30 Days to Live

#196

Post by anigbrowl »

If you can't make payroll, stop staring at the ceiling in your bedroom and feeling so alone, while you plan how to fire your expensive first hire.

Hold a company meeting, put the accounts up on the wall, explain that you have almost no money left and the company is about to go broke. Be willing to consider ideas, but don't string people along so you can postpone pulling the plug on them. It's possible that your employees (individually or collectively) will come up with solutions that you can't; your lack of transparency about the firm's health may be part of your problem.

Re: My Startup has 30 Days to Live

#198

Post by jakejake »

mst wrote: post #160
patio11 wrote: post #97

So, it sucks, but it happens, and it won't matter nearly as much in June 2014 as it seems to right now. Your co-founder will, hopefully, not find out about this through guessing "Is this my company?" on Twitter, but rather in hearing it from you. You may be heartbroken about it, you may cry a bit (totally OK). Then, you will put on your Responsible Adult pants, call your employee into the office, and tell them the si…

Ask yourself: who did you compete with to hire that developer? Are they still short of somebody? The one time so far in the history of Shadowcat I've had to cut people for no reason other than lack of money, I talked to managers I knew at other companies who might have an interest in the sort of talent that I was about to force onto the market. Two people finished working for me on a friday and started a new job on t…

I have a similar guilt when we're hiring and I wind up with several great candidates. sometimes I have 2 or 3 people and I wish I could hire them all. I feel like it's a waste if I can't at least create something out of the situation. Especially considering it's hard to find good people and I have friends who are often looking for staff. A few times I've contacted the candidates and asked if they would allow me to put them in touch with another company. I think I've managed to hook up a few people with jobs.

Re: My Startup has 30 Days to Live

#199

Post by sebkomianos »

anigbrowl wrote: post #196

If you can't make payroll, stop staring at the ceiling in your bedroom and feeling so alone, while you plan how to fire your expensive first hire. Hold a company meeting, put the accounts up on the wall, explain that you have almost no money left and the company is about to go broke. Be willing to consider ideas, but don't string people along so you can postpone pulling the plug on them. It's possible that your emplo…

That. Since you have pretty much accepted that you failed as the "leader" of your crew, why pretend you are one now?

Have a meeting with the guys that do work for your company/product first, LISTEN to them, and then take it from there.

Re: My Startup has 30 Days to Live

#200

Post by lsc »

acjohnson55 wrote: post #157
lsc wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I think you make a great point, but out of curiosity, what do you suggest are the best avenues for funding a tech business in the more traditional revenue-driven-growth model, if you're not bringing enough seed capital to get off the ground on your own? Traditionally, you start the business after you have some experience in the field, and either have some skill you can use to drive some revenue, or some capital. Thi…

It's a relatively new idea, but I don't think things have changed in a bad way in that sense. The sort of people you speak of typically have plenty of experience using the sort of products they develop. Is it a problem to let people try to start business while they're relatively unencumbered and near peak creativity?

>Is it a problem to let people try to start business while they're relatively unencumbered and near peak creativity?

It's not so much 'let' as "pay them lots of money to"

as for the encumbrances, well, we all make choices. Children don't magically appear when you hit 30. Personally, I find it really surprising that people who choose to have children seem to be able to compete with the childfree in top jobs... but it seems they can, so what do I know?

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