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The Problems With My Startup

awmf.blogspot.com

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21–28 of 28 posts

Re: The Problems With My Startup

#21

Post by joe »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #17

In my late twenties I was brought in as the superstar on a startup. The "idea guy" was a former professor of software engineering and a former VP for a large electronics firm. Hey -- he was a teacher! And a VP for quality! What could go wrong? I staffed a very small team and we took off. Every day my idea guy would wonder around the office, (his basement) coming up with some kind of new thing or two that was cool. It…

> It sounds like what you've got is more of a painful group hobby. I think it might be time to consider a better format for being productive.

I think you're right, at least for my part. One problem is that the idea guy IS my friend, but I don't think he shares my point of view about this. I wrote up the blog post in order to collect my thoughts to relate them to him.

Re: The Problems With My Startup

#22

Post by joe »

nanijoe wrote: post #16

If you are the idea guy and you are not bringing in new ideas then what are you contributing to the startup? I think it is a bad idea to have a designated idea guy.

We are all idea guys in one sense. The reason I've been referring to one guy as the "idea guy" is that he's not a coder and if I were to gauge the number of ideas each of us has put forth, he would easily take the highest percentage. So because he mostly talks to clients on the phone, does other PR-related things, and brainstorms ideas, I find it easy to refer to him as the "idea guy".

Re: The Problems With My Startup

#23

Post by joe »

staunch wrote: post #12

I think the solution is to get the idea guy down in the details of each idea. Bring him along for the ride and let him come up with lots of micro-ideas. It can be very useful to have two people thinking about the minute details, especially if they balance each other. Involve him in the thousand tiny decisions you have to make while implementing an idea. Get him to stop looking at competitors. It's nerve wracking, dem…

Good comments. I think I had some of those thoughts early on (specifically referring to your first paragraph), I must have just gotten disillusioned with them. I will attempt them again.

As far as getting him to stop looking at competitors, 100% agreed.

Re: The Problems With My Startup

#24

Post by joe »

edw519 wrote: post #19

I commend your efforts. It's not easy to go through this. And it's smart of you to share and ask for help. Very smart. You asked. I won't be bashful. Take my feedback however you want (or tell me to go to h*ll). You do not have a startup. You have a hobby. A startup is full time. Greater than full time. Like you, I'm a hacker. I simply cannot imagine giving up equity to a designer or an "idea man" (whatever that is).…

Thanks for the blunt comment. It's what I was looking for, and much appreciated.

I will attempt to let you all know how this pans out.

Re: The Problems With My Startup

#25

Post by DanielBMarkham »

joe wrote: post #21
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #17

In my late twenties I was brought in as the superstar on a startup. The "idea guy" was a former professor of software engineering and a former VP for a large electronics firm. Hey -- he was a teacher! And a VP for quality! What could go wrong? I staffed a very small team and we took off. Every day my idea guy would wonder around the office, (his basement) coming up with some kind of new thing or two that was cool. It…

> It sounds like what you've got is more of a painful group hobby. I think it might be time to consider a better format for being productive. I think you're right, at least for my part. One problem is that the idea guy IS my friend, but I don't think he shares my point of view about this. I wrote up the blog post in order to collect my thoughts to relate them to him.

The business side of this is cold and harsh, as it always is.

But as far as keeping a friend? He's a teacher, right? Why don't you sell him on the idea about learning how other startups succeed? I'll never forget reading "A Good Hard Kick in the Ass" several years ago. It completely changed the way I understood how startups work. Perhaps you could sell him on the idea that you're feeling a little frustrated, and perhaps other teams out there have learned something that might be useful to you guys.

I also liked "Founders at Work" which I read a while ago. I wouldn't bury the guy in material -- after all, if you give him too much he'll just blow it off. But I'd find some text that made the case and _was presented by another person who is an authority_. That way, it's not a you vs. him deal, it's just a couple of friends discovering how things work.

Good luck. If he's smart and your friend I'm sure he'll see the value of a structured approach to creativity. The trick is to be non-confrontational. Let the ideas battle it out, and not the people.

Re: The Problems With My Startup

#27

Post by icey »

joe wrote: post #8
greendestiny wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But its your company, this guy you brought in got nothing. That kind of shit is very bad karma indeed.

Agreed. In our defense, he was (is) a friend and got the same deal we all did when we agreed to work on it.

In your article you mentioned he got no pay and no equity... Is that the deal that you guys got?

Re: The Problems With My Startup

#28

Post by mickt »

Hmmm, 4 people in the startup and only one writing code. Sounds like a top heavy organisation to me.

Reminds me of a project a collegue was involved in at work (which is at a big established firm). This had; 1 programmer, 1 manger (who requested more technical staff cause he knew 1 programmer wasn't enough but was turned down), and 2 project managers. As the project was running furhter behind schedule (due to agressive scheduling and vague requirements and mainly because lone programmer was in status meetings ever day), various high-level management were thrown at the problem.

Eventually, the programmer spent about 1/2 his day in meetings about the project, with his manager, 2 project managers, 1 VP, 2 senior VP's. Project was never finished ...

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