I just graduated. I have $5000 on my bank account and want to dive into a project of my own, full time.
I wonder if I should earn a bit more by working for a while, how much did you have when you started ?
Ask HN: founders, how much you had in the bank when you started your business?
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Re: Ask HN: founders, how much you had in the bank when you started your business?
#23 months rent + unemployment
Re: Ask HN: founders, how much you had in the bank when you started your business?
#3It totally depends on where you are living and what your general lifestyle costs are. I'd have at least a year worth of savings put aside before thinking to start of a startup. This will act as a security nest, which will help you survive while you are searching for a job in case your startup doesn't work out. Oh, and definitely take health insurance first before you dive into startup world.
Re: Ask HN: founders, how much you had in the bank when you started your business?
#4Get a job and continue to earn money while working on your project on the side at first. You have more energy than money right now, so use that to your advantage.
Re: Ask HN: founders, how much you had in the bank when you started your business?
#5OP, you have given us only one piece of information (how much you have saved) out of a necessary 20 data points or so and you expect quality advice? Impossible. @nolite said "3 months rent + unemployment" but is that really valid? No, it isn't. His/her advice is predicated on the idea that you will start making enough money within 3 months to cover your expenses. We have no clue what your business is, how much you expect to make, what your model is, etc. There is no way any of us can offer help without knowing that information as well.
Your question is a fine question to ask but, unless you provide more context, there is no way that nearly anyone with experience will want to spend the time working through all the possible data points.
Re: Ask HN: founders, how much you had in the bank when you started your business?
#6I had about $300, plus thousands in student debt, a couple of weeks before I took a flight up to Cambridge for the YC interview that sparked my first real entre into starting up. Starting up was a mad, year long scramble of part time jobs, slum apartments, long train commutes, various trial cofounders and ideas, writing, and, finally, one idea that stuck.
It's only something I can recommend to a certain kind of person, but the experience of crawling out of that does give a person a certain kind of strength.
Re: Ask HN: founders, how much you had in the bank when you started your business?
#7I've bootstrapped two startups. For both, I and my partners invested a few $10's of thousand in the business and had enough funds in the bank to cover at least 6 months of normal living expenses.
Two lessons I learned: we should have invested more money in the company and had more money in reserve. If I was doing it again, I would not be comfortable without at least 1 year of living expenses.
Re: Ask HN: founders, how much you had in the bank when you started your business?
#83 months rent + unemployment
Strictly speaking, it is against the rules in the US to collect unemployment if you've started a new business. It does not matter if you have revenues or not. Be aware that filing for incorporation, LLC or DBA may cause your unemployment benefits to be suspended.
Re: Ask HN: founders, how much you had in the bank when you started your business?
#9This depends totally on your needs, ability to make money going forward, comfort with risk, etc. My bare minimum personal burn rate is about 1.5k per month, 2k at my usual standard of living. I quit the day job with about 5k in liquid savings, a retirement account rather larger that I haven't touched, and some consulting work lined up to cover the summer months. It was all but certain that sales from September on would cover all my expenses.
Re: Ask HN: founders, how much you had in the bank when you started your business?
#10When I started development on scribophile.com I was in college and working part-time. I had maybe $5000 in the bank. My big financial risk was paying a freelance graphic designer $100 for a few FB-like gift illustrations and laying down $500 in Adwords spend for the first month after launch. After a few months it was paying for itself and had returned my small investment, and it's been growing ever since then. Nowadays I have significantly more in the bank, but developing and launching the site was practically free (besides sunk time costs).
If you want to do your own project full-time, make an estimate as to how much it costs for you to live in your area per month. $1000? $2000? It's hard to say because it will depend on where you live. Set aside 12 months worth of cash (6 months for dev time and 6 months to give yourself some time to make money after launch) and maybe a little extra for emergencies, and get to work!
Of course this is assuming you think you can become ramen-profitable in 6 months. Many people haven't become ramen-profitable in years, or ever. It depends on what your living expenses are and how you are monetizing your project.