41–50 of 114 posts
I am 23 and worked for Booz Allen 4 months ago before I quit myself to work on my startup.
Best of luck my friend! It is a much better feeling to be working and struggling for the things you love than having it easy with the things you don't!
My startup Socialblaze is in the social/analytics space, and it looks like you're entering this space as well. Good luck! It's a fun space to be in (and moving very fast).
Here's a few things I think you should figure out before starting to build your product:
- Are you really aware of your customers' needs? Have you talked to any that would use your product? Would they pay for it? (Also, a customer saying that he/she would loves that product and would pay for it is very different then keeping them as an active user with an active subscription for 1+ months).
- Small businesses, musicians, and influencers don't have much money, what's your pricepoint? Would they be willing to pay?
- What's your customer acquisition strategy? Have you tested it? Do you know it works? What's your backup?
- If you're providing analytics, make sure your customers actually get ROI from it. It's possible that a white-label twitpic with 10 new features won't increase engagement at all or not enough to justify costs, making your analytics prove that your product isn't useful.
Honestly, I suggest that you first move to the Valley and join a funded early stage startup as employee #3-5. You'll learn a ton and have the experience + connections (these are so important!) to do your own startup in a few years.
And startups aren't as glamorous as you think or read on Techcrunch, read Suster's post on the startup lifestyle: http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/30/should-you-really-be-a-star...
If you still want to do it: fail fast, fail early, and iterate. Also, find amazing advisors as quickly as you can.
Good luck! I know where you are coming from. Normally I'd suggest you read my book on the topic (LFF - free on www.hunterdavis.com), but it sounds like you're already over the first hump (saving for the startup). I'm 29, and last June along with a co-founder quit my 9-5 to start www.discursivelabs.com. We've got some upcoming products and some sites in active beta. The best three pieces of advice I would give you:
1. Be open to contracts when they come up. Seriously, just being open to the possibility of contract work and attending appropriate trade shows can get you through the lean times. 2. Betas. Always beta, beta often. Don't rush to go public with your beta. We've gotten so much valuable insight into our product from our beta testers It's staggering the difference in quality feedback between 100 motivated private beta testers and 10000 mediocre public ones. 3. Build your word of mouth with useful information and verify it exists with site analytics. I was lucky in that I had a fairly active community of programmers and hackers reading my personal website, but I had a fairly good number of folks email after a good StackExchange reply I posted. People appreciate useful information, and it's a good chance to mention your product.
As a solo founder, I feel like an "only child", there is always that suspicion that something might be wrong...
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Maybe. The experience and connections one makes out here are often worth it, and you can find very cheap housing sharing a room in the valley, or one of the more remote parts of the city. Overall, it took about a three months to get on my feet after moving out here, but it was absolutely worth it.
Seconded. Moving here will help you find a cofounder, meet lots of other entrepreneurs who can help you, and build relationships with investors. The economic benefits of being involved in the startup scene may outweigh the high cost of living.
Are we seeing "The Rise Of the Solo Founder"? Being solo myself, I wonder if we, solo founders, should build a league? "The League of the Solo Founders". As a solo founder, I feel like an "only child", there is always that suspicion that something might be wrong...
Are we seeing "The Rise Of the Solo Founder"? Being solo myself, I wonder if we, solo founders, should build a league? "The League of the Solo Founders". As a solo founder, I feel like an "only child", there is always that suspicion that something might be wrong...