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Tell HN: I quit my job to bootstrap my startup by myself.

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Re: Tell HN: I quit my job to bootstrap my startup by myself.

#91

Post by merrick »

ryancarson wrote: post #84
presidentender wrote: post #3

Don't move to SF before you're making the money to afford it. Those savings will stretch a lot further living with Mom and Dad.

Don't move to SF at all. It never ceases to amaze me how 1st time web start-ups think moving there is the only way to succeed. Grrrr. We're located in Bath, England. That's right, not even London. We launched our new startup in June 2010 and we just hit $600K in yearly recurring rev. MRR grew by almost 20% this month. Don't believe the TechCrunch hype about funding and the Silicon Valley scene.

Ryan I am impressed with all of your achievements including http://thinkvitamin.com/ but I am not sure your advice is as sound as your business. Your team has built a great brand globally over many years with the conference business, and in my opinion you have done a nice job leveraging that brand equity for your new startup.

I do agree that if you are building a revenue focused company, you don't have to go to San Francisco.

But it's hard to argue against how easy it is to raise money or get acquired in the valley vs anywhere else in the world. Look at how easy it was for Path and Instagram to raise money and to get cheap money at that. In other markets many VCs want to see revenue not just traction and that revenue can work against you and lower your valuation - making the money more expensive.

For reference to Instagram, see this Chris Dixon interview with Kevin Systrom

"He also talks about how the serendipity of Silicon Valley contributed to the formation Instagram, remembering a party that Dixon once threw in San Francisco where Systrom ended up meeting his key angel investors."

http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/02/founder-stories-instagram-l...

Re: Tell HN: I quit my job to bootstrap my startup by myself.

#92

Post by jw84 »

ryancarson wrote: post #84
presidentender wrote: post #3

Don't move to SF before you're making the money to afford it. Those savings will stretch a lot further living with Mom and Dad.

Don't move to SF at all. It never ceases to amaze me how 1st time web start-ups think moving there is the only way to succeed. Grrrr. We're located in Bath, England. That's right, not even London. We launched our new startup in June 2010 and we just hit $600K in yearly recurring rev. MRR grew by almost 20% this month. Don't believe the TechCrunch hype about funding and the Silicon Valley scene.

Survivor bias.

Re: Tell HN: I quit my job to bootstrap my startup by myself.

#93

Post by fido »

presidentender wrote: post #3

Don't move to SF before you're making the money to afford it. Those savings will stretch a lot further living with Mom and Dad.

I strongly disagree. I recently moved out of Austin to pursue my startup in San Francisco. In my first week here I met countless startups, made some REAL connections, sat in a conference room (and got amazing feedback on my product) for hours with a legendary entrepreneur that everyone here has heard of, ate amazing food, etc etc.

I made more forward progress here in one week than I did in the last year in Austin.

The vibe here is insane and people are genuinely willing to help founders who are just starting out. Forget about stretching your money "a bit further" with mom and dad. Get out here ASAP...

BTW, I currently live in SOMA and pay about $900/month to live with 2 really cool guys who work at startups.

Re: Tell HN: I quit my job to bootstrap my startup by myself.

#95

Post by gaustin »

gaustin wrote: post #4

Good for you. I promised myself I would give notice today. I don't think it's going to happen. Maybe it's just because I'm older (28) and have more inertia (wife, dog, a bunch of stuff to pack or get rid of and moving) to overcome.

I hate to reply to my own post, but in this case I think it's good form.

I'm going to give notice as soon as my boss is back from wherever he's gotten off to.

I do have another job offer that I'm debating. I think it's probably better to turn that down and finally get out of this backwater (a city of ~40k people in a mountainous US state).

That means moving in with my parents in Nebraska until we get things together for a move somewhere more startup and tech friendly. While I'd be happy moving to the Bay area and eeking it out in a one-bedroom place, I'm not going to drag the wife and dog (can you even find dog-friendly places out there?) into that.

I hope none of the affected parties reads this...

Re: Tell HN: I quit my job to bootstrap my startup by myself.

#97

Post by bigsassy »

cappaert wrote: post #72

There's an increasingly-active startup community in DC -- consider staying here and saving money staying with the rents. Here's a quick overview of the major spaces to meet-up with other tech folks in DC: Best Resources for Web & Software Product Startups http://www.socialmatchbox.com http://dcstartupwiki.com http://www.meetup.com/DC-Lean-St.. . http://meetup.hackernewsdc.org/ Best Resources for Social Media & Consul…

Don't forget http://proudlymadeindc.com to see all the MANY different active startups in the DC area.

Re: Tell HN: I quit my job to bootstrap my startup by myself.

#98

Post by il »

merrick wrote: post #91
ryancarson wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't move to SF at all. It never ceases to amaze me how 1st time web start-ups think moving there is the only way to succeed. Grrrr. We're located in Bath, England. That's right, not even London. We launched our new startup in June 2010 and we just hit $600K in yearly recurring rev. MRR grew by almost 20% this month. Don't believe the TechCrunch hype about funding and the Silicon Valley scene.

Ryan I am impressed with all of your achievements including http://thinkvitamin.com/ but I am not sure your advice is as sound as your business. Your team has built a great brand globally over many years with the conference business, and in my opinion you have done a nice job leveraging that brand equity for your new startup. I do agree that if you are building a revenue focused company, you don't have to go to San F…

It does make me a little sad that there are companies that are not "revenue focused". It would be a shame if the word "revenue" started getting thrown around with the same disdain as "lifestyle business".

Re: Tell HN: I quit my job to bootstrap my startup by myself.

#99

Post by davidandgoliath »

netmau5 wrote: post #61
presidentender wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Staying at your parents' house might be free ($0/mo). Food? I think $700's a high quote, even for SF, but you can save quite a bit eating at home in Bumblefuck, Alabama relative to San Fran. Most people don't live in Boston and NYC, either. I'm not talking about stretching living expenses from 6 months to 8 months - I'm talking about stretching them to 24 months.

I live in B, Alabama and can attest to the excellent cost of living here. My runway lasts over twice as long here as in the NE or SV.

Sure, but it's ~37 degrees there now and ~75 in San Francisco. Quality of life is important, too.

Re: Tell HN: I quit my job to bootstrap my startup by myself.

#100

Post by qas1981 »

borski wrote: post #82
qas1981 wrote: post #71

I'm 29 and thought about quitting and doing my own and was talked out of it by my older peers at my corporate job. I was about 24 for then. In hindsight it was by far one of my regrettable decisions. I see products and ideas being created that were all in my personal incubator. Not to mention they are all profitable. So I say this, if you have internet, time & a mind anything is possible. Good luck on your ventures.…

Out of curiosity, why not still do it? If you regret it, what in your mind is convincing you it's too late to try?

Really its out of comfort and fear of the unknown. I do freelance development and it scratches the itch I have to do interesting work for now. I also have decided to wait until I stumble upon a great idea. Really I'm to the point now I'm just working for healthcare. Meaning I'm paid well but spend nada.
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