Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I bootstrapped a $10 million company and need serious help

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–89 of 89 posts

Re: I bootstrapped a $10 million company and need serious help

#81

Post by e40 »

bradfordarner wrote: post #54

Wow! The quantity of bad advice in these comments is shocking, if not down right disturbing. If Intel, GE, or Mircosoft hired a consultant to advise them on the right move, the vast majority of people on HN would scream bloody-murder and speak about it as a perfect example of big-business and its stupidity. What hypocrisy! Ben, the reality is that you clearly have moved past Steve Blank's description of a start-up; y…

I disagree. Hiring a executive from one of those areas won't give OP what he needs. It will give him someone with a lot of experience in those disciplines and a lot of life experience, but no direct experience in what he needs. I know, my company did that and the person helped with the day-to-day management of things that we didn't know about, but that's really all. It also created a lot of friction because the person didn't understand our business at all, and really didn't want to either. He was near 60 and had left that "learning new things" phase of life.

I'm in the "the OP needs a mentor" camp. His team is clearly doing a lot right and a mentor can give them the confidence to do the rest of it right.

Re: I bootstrapped a $10 million company and need serious help

#82

Post by methehack »

TheHydroImpulse wrote: post #42
methehack wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that obviously they're doing a lot right. But I agree with the OP that revenue scale, organizational scale, and technical scale are all really different. It sounds like they've gone as far as they can with a handful of people. I think they're probably right that if they don't scale, someone will eat their lunch (maybe more likely after this post). I also think asking for help when you feel you are over your h…

I'd avoid 37signals. While they have bootstrapped, they haven't grown very fast, at all. 10M in 2 years is really fast, so they'd need someone who could deal with that kind of quick scale.

I think 37signals would say they've grown like they've wanted to while retaining complete control and building a company they want to keep working at. I don't think they've been after the most rapid growth possible, but sustainable growth that lets them call the shots.

That said, you totally have a point. Maybe they're not the best for consulting with for rapid, head over heals growth.

There is a case to be made here that social print studio should take investment at this point. They have product fit, and now they want a sold or dominant market position. It's a good moment for them and they could probably get pretty favorable terms. Further, they might not be able to achieve a sustainable market position without investment. That's probably the real question.

Re: I bootstrapped a $10 million company and need serious help

#83

Post by beachstartup »

read wrote: post #57
benjaminlotan wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah, i mean, i know what i;m doing by following instinct... but really at this scale... all decisions seem wrong. we truly have no one in the company who has been here before, and that is a problem.

It would be ingenious to advertise job postings where you claim to be incompetent. It would appear to hard workers as one of those truly rare opportunities they simply can't miss and start lining up.

from my first post:

> and possibly being disingenuous to your audience here

honestly i don't believe this awe-shucks bullshit for a second, especially from someone who built a $10 million company in 2 years.

Re: I bootstrapped a $10 million company and need serious help

#84

Post by superamit »

This is a brave post, Ben!

Gotta agree with most of the comments here -- I think it's incredibly hard to find someone who's "been there before" who can walk in and actually do it for you in a CEO role. I've spent some time looking + asking others in similar situations.

That said, and though I strongly prefer moving people up from the inside, I think there IS opportunity for finding people who can bring specific areas of expertise, like fundraising+connections, building a sales team, leading a tech team.

And I think there's a lot to be gained in finding a strong mentor or group of entrepreneurs in similar situations to act as a sounding board. I can't help with the former, but perhaps the latter. Let's hang again, soon.

Re: I bootstrapped a $10 million company and need serious help

#85

Post by fludlight »

paulsutter wrote: post #7

Be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. You're probably doing a better job than you realize. Try working with an executive coach - I work with Bryan Franklin. It's easier for you to develop leadership and management skills than it is for an outsider to really grok your business and share your vision. Regarding the marketing role, be sure to get the right kind of marketer: https://medium.com/on-startu…

> You're probably doing a better job than you realize.

He is. Zero to $10mm is no small feat. He needs to hire a COO, not step down as CEO. The founder is almost always the best person to run the company.

> There are a lot of "good talkers" out there.

Beware the articulate incompetent ;-)

Re: I bootstrapped a $10 million company and need serious help

#86

Post by wilfra »

ceejayoz wrote: post #44
wilfra wrote: post #36

If I were in your position, I would apply to YC.

YC's 6% equity cut isn't a big hit when you're at the "we have an idea" stage, but if they're a $10M company already that's a lot to pay for advice...

The value of the business would instantly go up a lot more than 6% just by having "YC" forever attached to the company. All of the advising, connections etc would just be a cherry on top.

Re: I bootstrapped a $10 million company and need serious help

#87

Post by foobarbazqux »

wilfra wrote: post #86
ceejayoz wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YC's 6% equity cut isn't a big hit when you're at the "we have an idea" stage, but if they're a $10M company already that's a lot to pay for advice...

The value of the business would instantly go up a lot more than 6% just by having "YC" forever attached to the company. All of the advising, connections etc would just be a cherry on top.

The value might go up by more than $600K right now, but assuming it gets to $100M, who knows if the value will have gone up by $6M due to the YC branding.

Re: I bootstrapped a $10 million company and need serious help

#88

Post by callmeed »

sgt wrote: post #64
callmeed wrote: post #50

Hey Ben, I'm going to write you a longer email tonight. My wife and I run Cheergram ( http://cheergram.com ) and we've always admired what you've done at SPS. We had pretty good success with Instagram cards last holiday season and now we're looking into other kinds of cards, invitations, artwork and prints. We're also doing some wedding-focused stuff (think hashtag + prints/books). Maybe there's a way we can share id…

That's actually a cool idea - I was sold when I saw the ability to cling it to the wall. PS: I went to http://cheergram.com/ can I saw the footer twice ("Copyright 2013...")

Thanks, fixed that issue.

Re: I bootstrapped a $10 million company and need serious help

#89

Post by gadders »

xauronx wrote: post #49
paulsutter wrote: post #7

Be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. You're probably doing a better job than you realize. Try working with an executive coach - I work with Bryan Franklin. It's easier for you to develop leadership and management skills than it is for an outsider to really grok your business and share your vision. Regarding the marketing role, be sure to get the right kind of marketer: https://medium.com/on-startu…

Just finishing up Stranger in a strange land and I'm so surprised to see 'grok' on this context. I don't think I've ever seen the word before in my life. Pretty awesome.

I use it for when I completely understand a skill. On the continuum from unconscious incompetence -> conscious incompetence -> conscious competence -> unconscious competence I see it as the last step.
Post reply on HN