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My startup failed, and this is what it feels like

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Re: My startup failed, and this is what it feels like

#91

Post by herdrick »

jenius wrote: post #53

> “I just knew I wanted to solve a problem I personally experienced: having a closet full of clothes but still nothing to wear.” These are the kinds problems we are gunning for. These are the kinds of things investors are pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into. This is the scope of problem our industry is solving right now. This is why I'm often embarrassed to work in tech.

First, this stuff isn't small potatoes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharing_economy

Second, if that kind of thing isn't what you want to work on, fine, don't. No one is trying to push you into that. Knock off the hating.

Re: My startup failed, and this is what it feels like

#92

Post by [deleted] »

herdrick wrote: post #91
jenius wrote: post #53

> “I just knew I wanted to solve a problem I personally experienced: having a closet full of clothes but still nothing to wear.” These are the kinds problems we are gunning for. These are the kinds of things investors are pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into. This is the scope of problem our industry is solving right now. This is why I'm often embarrassed to work in tech.

First, this stuff isn't small potatoes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharing_economy Second, if that kind of thing isn't what you want to work on, fine, don't. No one is trying to push you into that. Knock off the hating.

[deleted]

Re: My startup failed, and this is what it feels like

#94

Post by diziet »

nikkidurkin wrote: post #29
thomasfromcdnjs wrote: post #12

Bad luck. Though, where are all the expenses? Seems to just be an iPhone app with not much schelps, could your technical partner manage it part time?

I think it was a combination of bad luck, timing, and some bad decisions on my behalf. I learned a lot from the experience. Actually, we had a team of 5 working on this. Running operations is really intense and time consuming. There is lots of customer service, community management and making sure items arrive at their destination. Then I was there to work on product and I had 2 developers as well. I looked at the fi…

Curious -- where did all the money go? How did you manage to spend $700k~ -- you hired 2 developers (full time, why?) and took care of ops over 3 years? How long did it take, four years?

Re: My startup failed, and this is what it feels like

#96

Post by jqm »

[deleted] wrote: post #74

[deleted]

That's a little harsh there fellow. And it sounds a little on the jealous side of the opportunities she arranged for herself as well.

I think of myself at 22 (I'm nearly double that) and I know damn well I was immature. I doubt I would have made it as far as she did without blowing something up at that age. I understand some of the reasons behind investing in such young founders, and not to be ageist, but nothing like maturity set in for me until my mid-late 20's. Before that I was basically a big kid who was smart enough to get into trouble and old enough to buy beer. I was arrogant, undisciplined, self righteous, and judgmental while lacking sound judgement myself. Your experience may have been different, but I sort of doubt it.

Re: My startup failed, and this is what it feels like

#97

Post by fizzle83 »

Theodores wrote: post #60
nikkidurkin wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are only 23 million people in Australia, and its a small population spread over a huge area. That means shipping is expensive, which isn't great for trading low value second hand fast fashion items. An item that can get shipped for $2.80 in the US would cost $7 at least in Australia. Also, Australia Post doesn't have any APIs to automate shipping. Girls had to physically go to the post office to ship items, and…

Hi Nikki Consider one more roll of the dice, this time in the UK. We speak English and we have a postal delivery network. Rather than chase the $$$ consider taking your idea to Oxfam - a British charity known for selling donated clothes. Your app will enable them to introduce a younger audience to the work they do. They also have people to pick up the phone, a marketing budget and that network of stores. From a custo…

The UK also has favourable visa arrangements for Australians - certainly more so than the US, which seems hell bent on rejecting any desirable immigration.

Re: My startup failed, and this is what it feels like

#98

Post by gclaramunt »

mindcrime wrote: post #54

One thing Nikki has going for her is that she's young. At 22 and already having the experience she's had, she has a great opportunity to learn from those lessons, tap into the network she's built, and ultimately do something great. I love the aggressiveness and the spunk she clearly has. Looking back on my own life (I'm one of the "older crowd" in HN terms), I wish I'd been that ambitious at that age. Or, maybe ambit…

Strange, I just turned 40 and I feel better prepared than ever :)

Re: My startup failed, and this is what it feels like

#100

Post by boyter »

I met Nikki in Sydney while at a start-up camp.

I will admit to being slightly jealous because she did get a lot of attention due to what I thought was solely being a tall attractive female that dresses well. However having read this seeing and seeing how this played into her impostor syndrome  has made me re-evaluate my thinking. The attention might be useful, but I can totally understand questioning if its because its who you are or what you are doing. Since everything in the start up world is about what you are doing I can see this attention leaving you with self doubt.

She certainly has done more then I have, and at a far younger age.

Sorry for the bad thoughts Nikki. I had been following 99dresses loosely over the years and I had hoped you would succeed as there are so few start-up stories that come out of Sydney. Wishing you the best of luck with whatever you chose to do in the future.

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