when I worked for a startup, an email got us $250K in credits. That was enough to run the compute for the company for at least a year. Now, we had a nice deal with our VCs, and AWS really liked us, but it really was a "asking made the difference".
An Email got us $5k in AWS Credits
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Re: An Email got us $5k in AWS Credits
#22> Send that one last email. Even if it seems like a bit much, or things are settled, just be sure you ask and give the other person a chance to help you in ways you can't predict
Good lesson for budding founders or indie devs.
Shows you the power of "Just ask". If you don't ask, the answer is always no.
Re: An Email got us $5k in AWS Credits
#23This type of infrastructure credits can really accelerate a bootstrapped startup, unfortunately almost every major provider of such freebies have now moved on to 'Contact your nearest Accelerator/VC' type model.
Google was the first to move that way, now Microsoft has cancelled its Bootstrap program and even Facebook has done away with its Startup Accelerator program in favour of 'Contact your nearest Accelerator/VC we approve of' model.
I was personally benefitted by Facebook's aforementioned Accelerator program. I applied for my previous startup's privacy focused chat-app-network dating platform for their bootstrap phase, but they directly approved it for their Accelerator phase through which I received $80,000 worth benefits incl. $15,000 AWS credits on which I ran my product; these kind of help makes life or death difference for a disabled soloprenuer from a village in India running bootstrapped startup(Facebook doesn't know this).
Now anyone in my position is at the mercy of some Accelerator or VC.
Re: An Email got us $5k in AWS Credits
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's sad that this comment is down voted to oblivion but it's very true. Just showing up doesn't work for everyone, and I've personally seen it not work at all for black and Latino founders.
The trouble with the post wasn't the information, but the way it was presented. The HN guidelines state "Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive." "Just a reminder" isn't a good way to start such a conversation. It implies that there is already a consensus on the issue when there isn't.
While I agree with your first point, I think you are giving an uncharitable reading of the comment. "Just a reminder", to me, sounds like it is trying to append a relevant point, rather than disagree with/discredit the original point.
A version of the comment excluding that ("Acknowledge how exceedingly well this works for white guys and the uphill battle faced by others.") sounds like an aggressive accusation.
Re: An Email got us $5k in AWS Credits
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
The trouble with the post wasn't the information, but the way it was presented. The HN guidelines state "Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive." "Just a reminder" isn't a good way to start such a conversation. It implies that there is already a consensus on the issue when there isn't.
While I agree with your first point, I think you are giving an uncharitable reading of the comment. "Just a reminder", to me, sounds like it is trying to append a relevant point, rather than disagree with/discredit the original point. A version of the comment excluding that ("Acknowledge how exceedingly well this works for white guys and the uphill battle faced by others.") sounds like an aggressive accusation.
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Re: An Email got us $5k in AWS Credits
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
But 5k in credits is worthless to someone who doesn't need them, so even if it's 1c, that's something. (Or really, so long as it's more than you can sell the account for.)
Interesting point. What's the going rate on AWS accounts that come with credits? Is there a marketplace for this?
IIRC credits are non-transferable for exactly this reason, and also why billing information is required (even if you have credit). "Selling" a full account with credits (or access to that account to use the credits) would be super risky since it's still tied back to you, you will definitely be selling for less than the credit amount, and you would be on the hook if AWS invalidated those credits after-the-fact.
Re: An Email got us $5k in AWS Credits
#27In case anyone doesn't know this, for just about any venture-backed company that has gone through YC or another incubator or raised from an early-stage VC, you can pretty much automatically get $100k of credits from Google or AWS. Good on Stripe and Atlas for making this more available to more bootstrapped companies like the one in this post, but there's certainly a huge difference between $1k or $5k and $100k. On th…
I got $20k in AWS credits just by insisting. I was bootstrapped at the time.
Re: An Email got us $5k in AWS Credits
#28An important takeaway is to "send out any email at all". Like the time with our first startup in YC W06. Our first client was the result of me just cold emailing a CEO of a startup I saw featured in Wired magazine. "Hey I like what you're doing. Maybe we can find something to do together." Short. Not expecting much. No pitch. Just genuine appreciation and interest in brainstorming a collaboration. And it unexpectedly…
> Over and over in my career I was amazed at what happened when I just bothered showing up. Just remember to acknowledge how exceedingly well this works for white guys and the uphill battle faced by others.
"Cold calling" emails are color blind. A good product is a good product, no matter the color of the email sender. The OP's point was to "get out there and sell", which also is a color blind message.
Re: An Email got us $5k in AWS Credits
#29An important takeaway is to "send out any email at all". Like the time with our first startup in YC W06. Our first client was the result of me just cold emailing a CEO of a startup I saw featured in Wired magazine. "Hey I like what you're doing. Maybe we can find something to do together." Short. Not expecting much. No pitch. Just genuine appreciation and interest in brainstorming a collaboration. And it unexpectedly…
"Send out any email at all" but please, do NOT make it look spammy. And don't send the same email to multiple people.
Re: An Email got us $5k in AWS Credits
#30In case anyone doesn't know this, for just about any venture-backed company that has gone through YC or another incubator or raised from an early-stage VC, you can pretty much automatically get $100k of credits from Google or AWS. Good on Stripe and Atlas for making this more available to more bootstrapped companies like the one in this post, but there's certainly a huge difference between $1k or $5k and $100k. On th…
I got $20k in AWS credits just by insisting. I was bootstrapped at the time.
How?