Why wait? I'd like to hear what exactly delays YOU from starting your dream company TODAY? Right now I am launching my third company and that makes me very excited! So why wait? I'd like to hear your excuses!
Turns out? Nothing. I halfway participated in a hackathon recently, and since then, I've found myself... motivated.
Usually when the urge strikes, my day job starts taking up too much time, or life happens, or I realize my idea is stupid. This time, however, I'm just going to go for it. I don't care that the product I'm building is in a VERY crowded space. I don't care that there's no 'killer feature' to draw the crowds in. I don't care that it really isn't that marketable. It's a product, and I'm building it -- and while I don't expect it to set the world on fire, I've stutter-started enough times in my life that I feel like just finishing something and releasing it will be a huge step in the right direction, so that's what I'm doing.
You won't read about this product on TechCrunch, and you won't see it lauded as the next great thing, but you will be able to register for it and use it, and ideally, within a month and a half to two months. And you can bad-mouth it all you like, I'll have done... something.
This is fantastic. The reality is you have no idea how good the idea really is until you have finished anyway. So what the hell, may as well give it a shot. My only advice is make the produce a slightly better version of everything else out there. Good luck.
It's debatable as to whether or not I'll be able to honestly, there are some good (and a LOT of bad) products in the space. Effectively, it's issue tracking, and while I have some ideas that scratch my own itch which HOPEFULLY will appeal to others, my goal is to make something that services the small-to-medium sized business moreso than the enterprise apps currently do, and with more refinement than the open source apps do.
That said, I don't honestly know how much better mine will be than something like osTicket, except to say that the workflow will be dramatically different.
Thanks for the well-wishing. I'm sure I'll make an equally tentative post when I release.
Love it! Can't say enough how i wish you to succeed with that!
Remember there is always place for another player in ANY market. For example read article that explains why 1% of search worth 1B. Even if your market share is going to be 0.1% in the beginning and you are passionate about what you do - i believe in you!
I hate you for asking me this because it is such an emotional issue for me. I've been asking myself the same question for over a year now. The answer has almost always been savings. I have a wife/house/car/loans and need at least $3000/month. The good thing is that I see the light at the end of the tunnel. July 2009, I thought I'd start in Feb 2010. Feb 2010, I thought I'd start in July 2010. Right now I'm aiming for next month. I know it's a moving target but it is getting really really close. If magic-pixie-unicorn-fairy gave me $6k no-strings-attached, I'd do it today. Otherwise I think by mid-Sep, I'll be in a good position to dive right in. Counting days at this point...
Start part-time.
Figure out how to reduce time you waste on your full-time job.
Get some angel money - you will need some prototype for that though.
Reduce your monthly spending and pay off loans first.
Join early stage startup that is willing to pay some salary since the beginning.
Just some obvious advices on top of my head.
OR
Maybe startup isnt for you? Thats just fine, its not for everyone and millions enjoy happy lives and families being employed. Once you admit this it may become less emotional for you and you might actually feel much better mentally!
I think its kind of problem for many readers here: HN pushes that mantra that every hacker have to start something himself.
A typical web-app startup isn't for me at this point indeed. I don't want to create a company from get-go. I want to create the science (hardware+software+new algo) first, spend 6-12 months working on it with my target users, and then once it is functional, make it a product. I can't do this part-time. I have to do this full-time but I can work part-time (consulting etc.)
I will have sufficient savings soon. For me it's not a question of if but when. It is the wait that's killing me. And then I see questions like this that make me feel even more impatient. But I truly appreciate such questions. Keeps me steadfast.
Sure. I see no problem in starting something part-time, why not? If you dont have enough savings and want to bootstrap it might be the only option. And its not bad! I was always inspired by DHH talks on coding basecamp and rails for like 10h/week. Personally I start all my projects part-time.
I have the same issue. I just started my company part-time on the side and it has worked out so far. Things move a bit slower but you don't have to worry about funding or coming up with enough every month to pay for the house.
1. Immigration - I am an immigrant which makes launching your own company hard. I have a few years before my permanent residency comes through
2. Point #1 can be very demotivating. I have some ideas, and I keep playing with projects [Nothing worth releasing, or even having much potential, mind you] but not knowing if and when I can actually do something about it proves very unsettling, and ambiguous
3. My work permit requires a full-time job. This can be very consuming as many other HN'ers know. Does not help with the motivational aspect of it
Despite all this, I have hopes. HN provides valuable insights, and stories like yours provide encouragement. Perhaps it will remain a dream, for I am already 32 and I don't know where I will be a few years from now.
Its still possible man. I was in your place. I focussed on the problems instead of finding solutions for them. It is possible. If you email me then I can find the articles about people in your position who started companies.
Its difficult but its better than sitting gloomily that you cant do anything (like I did for a while).
Also theres so much to learn before you start your own venture - networks to be a part of, understanding VC/Angels, knowing as much as you can technically. Understanding business ,talking to customers, getting feedback.
Theres so much you could be doing. Stop focussing on what you cant do!
H1B sucks i know :( Sort of legal "voluntary" slavery. Maybe startup is not for you and you should focus on your core job, master at it and look for career grows? For that you might want to stop reading HN too much and focus on relevant sources.
I would not go as far as to say that a startup is not for me (Don't need another demotivating factor :D). I have a dream, and I intend to work on it while I do what it is that I do right now. If I ever get to a point where I may have to give up on it, well so be it but that point is not now, and hopefully not in the foreseeable future.
I work very hard to be good at what I do. My current focus is on learning as much as I can, regarding whatever it is that needs my immediate attention as well as aspects that may help later with a startup (if it ever comes to that). I am single with no debt whatsoever and I pack away as much as I can save (I am somewhat of a minimalist and live very frugally).
Regarding HN - It probably is the most relevant source I have found. Lot's of great advice and articles, lots of motivations (@patio11 comes to mind) and most importantly the company of (somewhat [1]) like-minded folks.
[1] - I say somewhat mostly because I doubt many others are people attempting to immigrate.
Ha! Good point. I guess I might have misrepresented my state of mind - It is a demotivating, and a bit of a hurdle, but hey, no one said it will be easy, right?
You can file a LLC or S-Corp while on H1 or EAD. It requires you to maintain a full time job (it doesn't mean you cant have a business). USCIS has an entrepreneur category for Green card (I think its new and faster than regular categories). If your idea kicks in you can always switch to this category. You are in a good place to start something....in US.
I suffer depression. Mostly it's not that bad but it does mean that I never sustain the passion/effort required for a startup (or even modest personal projects).
hmmmm, I think everything else is either fall out from the depression or an excuse to avoid facing fear. Fear of personal failure, fear that I'm not elite, fear that I don't "have what it takes", etc.
I'm also "old", 40yr, and I hate to say it but I feel less energized, less excited about the world than I remember feeling when I was younger. Change the world? Make "it big"/millions? Be famous? Meh, it's time for my nap.
Ok let me say this again. Its 100% fine not to be a founder and work for somebody. It is NOT a shame! You can leave full and happy life without it! Many do that!
It might be that you read way too much HN - This resource pushes towards starting company. Its not the only way to go for hacker! Relax and enjoy your life!
PS I was super surprised to see that so many replied about being stressed about not starting a company today. I am sorry about that, did mean to push anyone when asked this question. I think that you can only start company being in a good and optimistic mood! Stress/scare is a first warning sign!
Nah, I'm generally happy, I don't wanna be a founder (too much work/stress). I've run my own business, twice. Once into the ground ;) It's not for me, I'm fine with that. In my first post I had written and then deleted for not adding anything. "Happyness & lazyness. In that I'm happy and lazy enough to not try for something "better"."
You MUCH more likely loose all you money when start a company in such situation.
Programmers(especially good) are well payed($100k-$300k) (not dentists, but still:) ) and secure jobs. You can enjoy happy life with you family and be 9-6 employee. Besides you can join the RIGHT startup at the right time and get something like 10% less salary and options that might make you quite rich. The trick is in picking the right company at right time.
I have my finger in at least three project pies at once, and can't choose which would be right to follow.
Then, school starts in 3 weeks. I have no money, and many expenses. There's so much that I feel I need to learn before I can do anything useful - I've never made anything big from scratch, and am only now reading about good program design. I should 'work on open source' first, or put in appreciable time at a large company first. I should pay off my growing student debt first. It feels like I only become motivated to do real work when I'm about to be pulled away from my computer.
Excuses spring to mind so quickly. I don't think I should be starting a company right now; I think I should finish this last year of school and then work until I pay off my debt while learning practically, then move to a startup hotbed and join a small group, and then I should be involved in starting a company.
Unless, of course, the 'right idea' strikes at the 'right time', and I find myself working with a tireless passion all of a sudden.
It sounds that now is really not the time to start a company for you. Which is REALLY cool for you! Enjoy your life, school, your best years. Starting a company is hard and exhausting, and its never to late to do it.
I guess if you read HN you somehow feel guilty for now starting your startup :) Really shouldnt be the case in you situation. Enjoy school, get gob in big company (like Google, Apple), pay off debt quickly, then get job in startup, keep working within open source community, get some real world experiences. Maybe try yourself in sales or something not related to coding(was great experience for me). You will feel the moment once you have something that you really want to start for yourself. Good luck!
School is what did it for me, my program was pretty rigorous and I didn't want to mortgage my future by letting my grades suffer. Plus, I was working full time anyway. I just waited until 2 months before I graduated, started my LLC and have been slowly working at it ever since. We're just about ready to ship our first product and I didn't even quit my job. My main suggestion, write down your ideas as you have them and keep them somewhere for later when you have more time.
If by "start" you mean "quit your job and start full-time" then I won't because I have an unemployed spouse and 2 young children (and my current salary doesn't facilitate any savings).
Of course, nothing stops me from working it once the kids go to bed but it's frustrating, tiring and is taking a very very long time... and then lack of motivation and/or distractions are big problem.
It might be that startup is not for you. I'd suggest to stop reading HN(as it can be very dangerous for you mental happines-constant glory tales to founders) and find a way to increase your salary on f-t position. I dont know what are you doing but i think you can set goal of making 2-3x of you current salary. There are better resources to read to archive that goal
DISC: Above is just my imho, listen with caution, i dont know your story well enough to advice.
Well, I've been reading HN since before it was called Hacker News and I don't think I'll stop any time soon. It's not HN news which it making me want to start my own business but a desire to work on meaningful projects which fulfil my need to turn my imagination into reality... and ultimately provide a stable financial circumstances for my family.
My imho(i am not such a long time HN reader): HN is all about startups and its pushing you to start your company. Period.
Its not really a core recourse for programmers/hackers and there is a very small %% of tech material here. Why? Just remove news. and /* from this page URL to find out )))
In other words: NH will not help you to become better programmer/hacker. Just look at http://news.ycombinator.com/ at this moment and see that there are only few tech links there - rest is about "why facebook is better than google" bs.
My point is: If you ultimate goal stable financial situation for your family you can less risky archive it by becoming better programmer.
On meaningful projects: is working on google/apple/any company you like meaningful enough for you?
I live in a kind of dead area, and haven't met people that I respect enough to want to do something with, who wants to do something, and who feel able to committing to do something.. I also don't care much for doing something completely alone, because I don't feel that I learn nearly as much when I'm solo as when I can have people questioning my work.
I'm working on trying to get a hold of work in the US so that I can start the journey back to permanent residency (moved away and am 'back to square zero,') hopefully that can net me some fun people to work with.. But you know, years off, even if I manage to get a hold of a job. I've had a fair amount of smaller companies who have been interested, but not capable of bringing me over, and my (rather few) attempts at getting into larger companies have been stopped thus far by my lousy résumé writing skills.. Have a couple in the works that I still have hope for, but we'll see.
So now I got that off my chest, congratulations on your launch btw! :)
An immense amount of destractions are stopping me from really breaking down the doors. I've been doing independent game development for the past couple of years, but I haven't really been able to focus as much as I need to despite releasing two products.
I moved out to the bay with $1k just a 1.5yr ago to find a job after college. I thought it was going to be awesome. Found a job at a great company, got to meet some really great people, learned a lot, but come to find out my wife is not coping well with the new location which is really consuming time and energy. I spent the early part of this year trying to figure this puzzle out, but ultimately it is what it is.
So at this moment, I need to break away from the destractions. Moving back home in late December to the midwest where I can live on a fraction of what it costs out here. I'll have a happy wife that will have the ability to buy a house for 80k and will be with her family/friends. I plan to do consulting (which I'm already starting to build relationships for) to earn money to live / bootstrap with, and I'll start working on a business away from the gamedev train.
If building something in the midwest that ultimately brings me back to silicon valley, oo-rah. But, in the end, a location isn't going to define me.
I am waiting because I need a critical mass of content before I start up. I have one digitisation station, but work it myself. I can produce from 4-10 items per hour if I work hard, and estimate I need about 10,000 items done before I launch. There is also the issue of supply. I need items to process, and right now only have about 300. These items cost between $1 and $20 each.
I see how much I have left to do, think about how long it will take, and then start thinking about how to speed up the process... automate it.
I start to think about whether or not I am actually getting what I need so I don't get through 3,000 units and need to change something and have wasted the work. I think about how to scale the system to use multiple workstations, and multiple central servers because I can't store 10,000 units on the one server I have.
I'm working on a shoestring budget, and have creditors calling me every day. I borrowed $40,000 a few years ago hoping that that would help me get going in anticipation of another $100,000 I was going to get, but that fell through and I was able to use less than half of what I borrowed before the rest was needed to save my mother's business.
For those of you who know me, this is an issue close to my heart. I'll be brief.
By far, the single thing most budding "entrepreneurs" lack is encouragement. It is unfortunately that simple.
Most people will tell you it's networking, or having capital, or a business plan, or even luck. All of those things are Step 2. Step 1 is starting, it is the point most people don't get past.
Novels 3/4 done; "great idea for a movie" that never makes it to script; business idea that never makes it past the cocktail napkin.
And all of that, in my experience, is not fear of failure but fear of the unknown. It is identical to the "cold approach" in dating. You're not afraid she'll mace you, you're afraid she'll ask you to sit with her and then you won't have anything to sustain the conversation.
"Will the world discover I'm a fraud?"
There is so much self-doubt and a lack of self-confidence. There are a myriad of reasons, summarized under the umbrella "we were taught to pursue security, not happiness."
No amount of startup capital can fix this problem. You will make poor decisions, you will stop short, you will be tentative, you will be nervous with the money. The problem is you, not the system.
As time and generations pass, we don't learn to deal with failure, we are taught to avoid failure. Instead of sending the kids outside to play and teaching them how to be safe around sticks/bullies/heights, it's easier to leave them in the playroom.
The solution, therefore, is to fail. A lot. And as fast as possible, as young as possible. If you're <25 go hit on ten women a night, cold, and get shot down. Feel what it's like. It's not _so_ bad, is it? Better than wondering.
Forget about finishing your novel. Put up the first five chapters on a blog. Force yourself to read the comments.
Think you're a filmmaker? Put up ten photos-- still pics-- on Flickr. And invite the hate. See if you really have an eye for this. If you don't, now you are free to try something else.
Etc.
At best, they may love you and there's your encouragement. Or maybe someone sees your work and a collaboration is born.
At worst, they hate you, and you realize you're still ok, you didn't run uptown for heroin.
Either way, the failure will hold your hand and walk you to success.
I have a hard time thinking about taking the plunge without any marginal success doing things part-time. I pretty much hate my job now, but I need to pay the rent which is kind of expensive since I live alone and the lease doesn’t expire for 7 more months. Right now I'm trying to work on building alternative sources of income that could help sustain me partially when I quit my job. This includes Ad revenues, flipping simple websites, and iPhone apps. Meanwhile I am trying to build on some ideas I have for SAAS businesses. I'm going to pick the best one and implement it quickly and cheaply then see how much traction it gets. If I saw at least some interest from consumers/clients in a product/service that I built part-time I would quit my job pretty quick.
I actually did start and was able to quit my job about a month ago.. and a week later I was in a drowning accident and ended up in the hospital with heat stroke, dehydration and acute kidney failure.
Now I'm in limbo trying to recover as quickly as possible. I still have lower back pain near my kidneys which makes it hard to sit in a chair.
It's not that bad actually, I'm just finding it really hard to get the motivation to work consistently.
I am starting today. Last 4 months creating, manipulating, and validating an idea until we get enough people to say they would buy it. Another month getting partnerships we need with other companies. The last two weeks up until 2am every morning putting together an MVP for beta users.
I have to graduate college--I've committed myself fully to school. In the meantime, I try to learn as much as I can from personal projects, internships and interactions with those in the startup community.
I'll feel ready to do something big (and have enough knowledge to possibly succeed) in a couple of years.
I've been coding this one project since 2006, on and off that is. Since then, I've switched jobs 3 times and finally landed with a company that's stable and the hours are great. My only excuse now? I need motivation. As someone mentioned earlier, my product competes with a handful of other much larger and popular sites. You know what though? I can't let that stop me. If I can make my version better, then who's to say I can't grab some of their market share?
Bottom line, my motivation right now is I have to do something, NOW. I'm 30 and I would like to start a family soon, going to get marry next year. I don't want to be in a position where I kick myself in the butt 5 yrs from now - "Why didn't I do this 5 yrs ago when I had time?" Even if I were to fail, at least I can say "I tried."
TODAY I'm meeting a friend I haven't seen for a quite a while at the pub after work, and it would rude to cancel on such short notice. After that I probably should be getting to bed since I have to work tomorrow.
Simple. Not come up with the right idea yet. Whenever I do come up with something, I either find that someone has done something too similar, or I talk myself out of it.
Umm, So if someone has done something similar before - there is no reason to start?? Then I think pg can safely shut ALL YC companies and call it a day :) And call google and and ask them to shut down the company as yahoo was founded earlier. )))))
Every time I've entertained the idea of joining a startup, it's always an "all we need is a developer" situation, or its cousin, the "we had a great developer (who invariably stunk) who'll get you up to speed."
So it seems I'd have to go it alone, and my ideas are too big for my time. If I had some simpler ideas I'd definitely see if they held water, however. I definitely have the application, server, and DB skills to make it happen.
I did a startup in my 20's that was an intense experience. Now I have a sweet job at an amazingly run video game company where I don't care about making payroll, hitting sales goals, the joy of having employees, managing cash flow and inventory.
I have a few hobbies that might turn into something someday, but I think I need a bit more recovery time, and I think I'd rather share the hobbies with the world than sell them.
Was going to say the same thing. Gotta keep a steady income to manage student debt. My wife is also working on a masters.
I'm still working on it at night, got a new idea this past month and working making it happen at home after work. Also got the company setup but other than that, I can't quit working the day job.
My biggest excuse right now is a well paying contract that sucks away my energy. Every day I struggle with staying on the project or just leaving and doing my own things.
I've been working on a small iphone app side project. If it gets a little traction in the app store I will feel much better about doing my own stuff!
If you really want that, why not start part-time? Can you for example negotiate workin on contract 4 days/week and keep one day for you thing?
The greatest thing about this schedule is that even when you are not working on it you keep thinking about what to do next. It turns out that when you actually start coding you are supper productive as all you next steps already thought through and prioritized, you just new to type/debug them! :)
Well since I'm the only person( so I'm doing all the coding myself). I'm learning Objective-C, going trough tutorials etc.
Not really an excuse, I think I have passed the excuse stage in my startup life.
So basically, I'm one step away from building the app.
Technical issues. I've been struggling with OpenSSL problems for weeks, but I haven't been working on it very much. I've finally decided to buckle down and use Python instead of Ruby due to its better OpenSSL libraries.
If no one will give you a project then give yourself one. Help someone - your mom, dad, brother, friend. Anyone. Make something that makes their lives easier. Thats really what all businesses do in the end. Make life a little easier for as many people as their product will allow.
Start by getting a job in "something you like". Learn maximum from it. When you will learn enough(you will feel that, believe me), just quit that company (bonus for taking some of its clients) and start you own!
Having over-focussed on so many details in the past, let me offer some simple advice -- move past it.
Start working on the product. The product that I'm building right now was named "something maybe" for weeks until the right name struck (that had an available domain name).
Historically, I've moved forward in leaps and bounds until either a problem presented itself or I'd get bogged down in something so trivial as a product name. Really, it doesn't matter.
In retrospect (and I have no idea whether or not this applies to you), I was stalling because I didn't know what to do after that. If you're stuck on a company name, simply substitute "working title" until you get moving, and the name will come.
Yeah, I'm not worried too much about the product name, but I do need to do the company named and incorporated (this is actually holding up funding at this point.)
My last company had (IMO) a great name, so I'm struggling to measure up.
Is the company name as important as the product or domain name? The company name mostly appears on legal documents, and you can add a DBA once you find a domain name. Unless investors are waiting for a flashy name, you could file for a random company name right away.
Domain names are becoming a serious problem. I spent a couple of months coming up with names before finding something remotely passable. Even now I am not happy with what I have, but the dismal return on effort prevents me from wasting anymore time on it, at least until I have a growing customer base.
You're kidding right? Manchester's heaving with activity. Just look at CWJobs (ok, I know that's different to startups, but it shows dev activity in the area).
Also, I live 40 miles north of you in Preston, and there's very little here. Doesn't stop me dreaming of my own startup one day.
That said, my excuse is:
Before I got into software dev I tried to get into the music business. Unfortunately, that's much more about salesmanship than it is about music - you have to convince bar owners and club owners to put you on, you have to advertise your gig, you have to try and make a profit and pay your band, rent a van, etc. etc. It put me off being a musician (that and arrogant singers/drummers :) ).
I don't want to be put off being a software dev too. I need some way of working past my disdain for that side of things. Then I'll be fit to start my own business.
I know there's a lot of software/web development firms in and around Manchester but I've never actually found or heard of anything like the atmosphere that they have in Silicon Valley.
Although, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I'm hoping I'll find some friends at Manchester Uni when I get round to going.
PS:
I dont know why somebody downvoted this and dont really care about that. This was a case that changed lives for at least two friends of mine. I hope somebody might benefit from that. Its a question of like $500 for somebody in the UK. I fail to understand when ppl from well-developed countries complain for such small issues. Read what it takes from somebody from india china or pakistan to get to where you are right now and get how PRIVILEGED and blessed are you !
Well in may case one way ticket was idiom of course. Get return ticket with open date, whatever. What i meant to say is that the world is open to smart entrepreneurs. Its rare talent thats welcomed everywhere. If you sure that on some reason you cant do something in Manchester there is nothing to stop you from moving to anywhere from China to US.
Problems with US "immigration" for entrepreneurs are mostly overrated. In fact most of entreps dont need to immigrate until they "make it".
Been there. Done that.
If you really want - you can do that rather simply after making some research online. Not talking about getting citizenship or green card here(although its also quite double). Especially if you are from UK. So to me its a weak excuse, sorry.
PS: Proof - even YC accept foreign teams without any hassle.
There is no I in team and having said that I'm having a very, very hard time in finding team members to work with.
Emphasis on Salford. There are places in UK that are viable for startups but Salford is just not one of them. The issue here is that I don't have enough money to move yet, so it's not entirely a weak excuse.
I'm doing it. I wrote an ultra rough spec one month ago, tried selling before building, found that only 1 person out of 20 or so that I thought it would be relevant was interested, am refining again. It's been about a month, we should launch in a week or so. This probably won't be a huge company, just looking to make around $75/active hour for 20 hours per week for the next year or so whilst longer range projects grow slowly.
I'm in the middle of an examination period.
I do have a product that still needs a few weeks of work until it's launchable but the project is on hold atm.
Usually when the urge strikes, my day job starts taking up too much time, or life happens, or I realize my idea is stupid. This time, however, I'm just going to go for it. I don't care that the product I'm building is in a VERY crowded space. I don't care that there's no 'killer feature' to draw the crowds in. I don't care that it really isn't that marketable. It's a product, and I'm building it -- and while I don't expect it to set the world on fire, I've stutter-started enough times in my life that I feel like just finishing something and releasing it will be a huge step in the right direction, so that's what I'm doing.
You won't read about this product on TechCrunch, and you won't see it lauded as the next great thing, but you will be able to register for it and use it, and ideally, within a month and a half to two months. And you can bad-mouth it all you like, I'll have done... something.