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The side hustle from hell

blog.jacobstechtavern.com

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Re: The side hustle from hell

#91

Post by Juliate »

Aurornis wrote: post #6

This is the classic dead-end startup story from beginning to end. It checks all the boxes: - 3 non-technical cofounders - Flurry of activity for everything other than acquiring customers - Attempt to outsource development followed by disappointment - Relentless scope creep - Zero go to market plan, just an incessant belief that more features in the app will solve all problems There is also one less obvious point that…

> This is the classic dead-end startup story from beginning to end. It checks all the boxes:

Oh my... I concur. I've been in the very exact same stupid play about 10 years ago. 3 cofounders, not one to understand tech, 1 hired me as a consultant, then invited me with a few shares and a salaried CTO role to build the solution, and it's been the exact same scenario.

Do not, ever, associate (figuratively or contractually) yourself with people you wouldn't go hiking with in the wild for one full week, and coming back from it craving for the next time.

Even if you can't stand being in the same car for one hour, don't work with them at all.

Re: The side hustle from hell

#92

Post by hinkley »

constantcrying wrote: post #72

Having non-technical founders who failed to even outsource their project is an enormous red flag. Nobody there knew how to make the product a reality and if it is you who is doing 100% of the work, then you obviously deserve 100% of the equity. "Having an idea" is not worth equity. If you thought the idea was great, there was an obvious golden opportunity for you, none of the people there are going to make this into…

Too many fantasy tales of overnight successes out there. It takes an enormous amount of work to make things look easy - in a commercial setting. Some people just pick things up and are relatively good at them but they cannot productive it. To do so you have to be able explain it and they don’t understand it, they just do it. So they can’t make a business out of it and they cannot become top of their field because they lack the fundamentals and the work ethic.

I could talk anybody to death with all of my ideas. I only get to work on very few of them. I can’t imagine how sad a life it would be to only have one. It’s great for mentoring though because there’s always something shiny on the shelf and I can let them window shop for one they like.

Re: The side hustle from hell

#93

Post by its_down_again »

jakey_bakey wrote: post #28
xivzgrev wrote: post #4

I get it, why a young ambitious 20-something would be sucked into this. Sometimes you just need to make your own mistakes to learn, even if you read / hear from others that you shouldn't do that thing. C'est la vie.

I would even say it was a worthwhile experience. I've built my career off the startup I landed in, I probably wouldn't have got there without being burned here.

Any advice for leveraging a startup role to boost your career? I’ve seen friends turn their positions at early stage companies (Pre-Seed/Seed/Series A) into things like raising funding for their own ventures, hosting galas at SF museums, putting on international fashion shows with their alma mater, or even speaking gigs. And honestly, I have no idea how they pulled it off.

Re: The side hustle from hell

#94

Post by kjs3 »

dabinat wrote: post #82

This article reminded me of the time a guy wanted to pitch his startup idea for me to develop. He wanted me to sign an NDA before telling me, as the idea was so great that I would obviously steal it, which I refused. So all he would tell me is that it was “the next Twitter”, and from what I could gather, he would retain the majority of the equity and I would do all of the work, while he lobbed ideas at me from on hig…

I can't even count the number of times I've heard this pitch, complete with NDA demand. The only answer is "Thanks, but no thanks". I have never had to regret it.

Re: The side hustle from hell

#96

Post by icedchai »

wibbily wrote: post #9

Currently at a startup that did the same thing wrt having their app built overseas. Protip: don't. Endless bullshit, excruciating trying to get anything out of them. We ended up with an app just like this guy's, locked aspect ratio and all. If I find another startup whose product is an app, and they can't find a local developer to write that app, I'm running. Why outsource your core product!?

This is very common. Lofty idea folks often see developers as a commodity, so why not just outsource to the cheapest bidder? You might luck out and get a smart person who doesn't know what they're worth yet... but, 9 out of 10 times, you get what you pay for.

Re: The side hustle from hell

#98

Post by jakey_bakey »

pizzathyme wrote: post #87

Rather than being a cautionary tale, I actually think this is the kind of misadventure that everybody should have. You learn so much about the real world from a failed startup where nothing is done right (at least I did). Your early 20s are the perfect time to do it with little risk. Lots of painful memories I laugh at later. Highly recommended.

Yep this is exactly my summary at the end! I'm glad I sat on this story a few years to let it develop and let the positive career consequences play out.

Re: The side hustle from hell

#100

Post by kikimora »

I’ve been running an outsourcing business for a while and can confirm - 99% of people paying for development have no idea what they are doing and how to sell it. They are destined for failure unless the outsourcing team builds a product that is 3x better than a competitor with 100x funding.

Success stories I’ve seen always involved extremely active customer. They become part of the team, helping devs to build good product. Also it always took much more time and money. If you think you can build marketable product with fix-cost-scope contract - think twice.

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