6 ms·

7 Days and $500: One Man's Plan to Bootstrap A Startup In A Week

30 points by AndrewWarner 17y ago

wmeredith 17y ago
He's launching in 7-days. A successful launch does not a successful startup make. I've had several successful launches myself. Still punching the clock at my day job, though.
robryan 17y ago
If he can launch something successful in a couple of days of coding well good luck to him, unfortunately that's not the case for most startups, unless your going for a minimum viable product that in most spaces isn't going to attract more than some feedback.
- Psyonic 17y ago
  If the MVP won't attract any more than some feedback, it's not really an MVP, is it? Doesn't seem particularly viable
vaksel 17y ago
Most bootstrapped entrepreneurs don't get to blog about their progress "on the homepage of Australian entrepreneurship magazine Anthill." and they don't get a feature in RWW. So to say..."all it takes is some will and dedication" is a little too much, when you are getting all that extra exposure.
eo3x0 17y ago
It's not a business until you hit that phase where you realize no one cares about the toy you built in a week's time. Then you pivot and put in a lot more effort than you ever bargained for - that's when you have a startup.
- axod 17y ago
  Indeed. He could have bought a domain, and a ready made website in an hour and launched it. That's light years away from being a business though.
- patio11 17y ago
  It's not a business until you hit that phase where you realize no one cares about the toy you built in a week's time You might think its a toy, and I might think its a toy, but if it solves a problem for a customer, then it is not a toy. Your lawyer doesn't need to labor a full week to write a letter worth hundreds. My dentist didn't need to drill for forty hours to charge me $770. There is nothing magical about computer programs which makes them worthless until an arbitrary amount of Red Bull cans have been consumed. I wrote the first iteration of my software in eight days. People bought it. It has pretty much gone from there.
s3graham 17y ago
It's fine and all, and best of luck to him, but I'm not sure that doing something for 7 days demonstrates much in the way of "dedication".
petesalty 17y ago
Is it just me or does a week seem like a long time to do this? I mean obviously it's not really a business just a little web service, but really, any competent programmer could probably have the functionality up and running over a weekend - figure another day to do design, half a day to put together the "business plan" power-point, and another half to register a domain, incorporate and set up bank accounts (really how long does that take? - maybe it's harder in Australia). So what 4 days? Cool, that's 3 left - you could do another launch in that time.
- blackguardx 17y ago
  The first rule of engineering is to set realistic goals. Because this is very public, it encourages him to be conservative in his time estimates.
- idlewords 17y ago
  It sounds like he's doing all kinds of later-stage things like opening business bank accounts, marketing, and so on, in the first week. Personally, I'm surprised at the $500 budget. Maybe coffee costs more in Australia.
  - bootload 17y ago
    "... Personally, I'm surprised at the $500 budget. Maybe coffee costs more in Australia. ..." * Web hosting: $4.40 * Static IP: $3.30 * Domain name: $13 * SSL certificate: $66 * SMS modem: $172.50 * Bank account: $6.50 * SIM card: $5 * Custom number: $22 The costs [0] look reasonable to me and the coffee is better in Aus :) ~ http://searchyc.com/bootload+coffee http://searchyc.com/bootload+coffee [0] http://www.semi-blog.com/2010/01/startup-in-7-days-day-two-registrations/ http://www.semi-blog.com/2010/01/startup-in-7-days-day-two-r...
    - idlewords 17y ago
      Not listed there is $220 spent on setting up a billing provider (PayWay), which is the part that seems wasteful to me.
tlack 17y ago
Does anyone remember when businesses started off trying to make money? This HN-fueled "startup" mania is getting ridiculous.. just because you have an idea and built some minimal prototype thing doesn't mean you're some brave entrepreneur.
- blizkreeg 17y ago
  Great point. I think 'entrepreneur' off late has become more of a sexy label to give oneself. It's funny how the term businessman(or woman) is never used, almost as if there's a dirty connotation to it. I think saying that I do business implicitly puts the expectation that there's cash flow. I've been guilty of this thinking too, mostly influenced by such articles and the media fueled frenzy over "entrepreneurs" and their nice little website toy thingies built over weekends and in dark rooms. At best they're hobbies and fun projects. ==this comment is more of a reminder to self than a judgement of another==
  - mschy 17y ago
    It hadn't occurred to me before, but I refer to myself as a businessman in most contexts, and describe only my unproven activities as 'entrepreneurial'.
- vaksel 17y ago
  yeah, technically I'm a CEO...but I don't think I'll be comfortable wearing that tag unless the company starts making 10+ mil a year, which is like 5 years away. So I just go by founder.
  - idlewords 17y ago
    "10+ mil a year, which is like 5 years away" Hockey stick hockey stick!
    - vaksel 17y ago
      heh I know...here is hoping :)
dpcan 17y ago
Doesn't it usually take at least 10 days to get a short code for 2-way SMS? And it's going to cost more than $700 based on my research.
- andrewtj 17y ago
  You're looking at the high-end of the market - he's using a GSM phone connected via a serial port as his SMS gateway.
  - dpcan 17y ago
    Do you have any more information on this?
    - andrewtj 17y ago
      Sorry I missed your response. Many years ago I used Nokia 5110 and 6210 phones to do this. All that was needed was a serial cable, a list of the relevant AT commands and some Perl. Google should be able to fill in the gaps on how to do this, but if not just drop me an email (listed in my profile).
- nagoo 17y ago
  Actually acquiring a short code can take a long time I hear, however, there are many services out there to get you up and running in little time for a lot less. This is just one that I know of that with a nice API and takes no time to setup... http://www.deeplocal.com/products/gumband http://www.deeplocal.com/products/gumband
alain94040 17y ago
I think he also cheated by opening a bank account and incorporating. That's overkill at the stage he's at, but it gives the impression of "making progress", which surely impressed his readers. I should know, I designed http://fairsoftware.net http://fairsoftware.net to prove that you don't need a corporation or even a bank account to build successful multi-founder software startups. And this guy is alone, so even less of a reason to waste money.
- andrewtj 17y ago
  How would he takes payments without a bank account? http://fairsoftware.net http://fairsoftware.net gives me a 503 at the moment.
  - alain94040 17y ago
    The way a virtual company works: customer -> virtualcompany host (fairsoftware in my example) -> personal account This way, the end user has a business relationship with the virtual company host, shielding the entrepreneur, but the entrepreneur stills earns money as an independent contractor of the virtual company host. To me, the best of both worlds (but I'm biased). It beats opening a merchant account, that's for sure. PS: no 503 for me...
- bootload 17y ago
  "... I think he also cheated by opening a bank account and incorporating. That's overkill at the stage he's at ..." I'd normally agree, but I think you have limited understanding of what is going on. "... Working from his car, he was repeatedly frustrated by having to write down his mileages in a logbook, a logbook which would then be misplaced, lost and chewed by the dog. Logs would be jotted down on the back of receipts, discarded wrappers or scrap paper. Ultimately he wasn’t recording every business trip and he was therefore unable to claim the most he could come tax time.... it had wide appeal – 7 million Australians claim work related expenses each year on their tax returns. ..." ~ http://www.semi-blog.com/2010/01/startup-in-7-days-day-one-the-idea-research/ http://www.semi-blog.com/2010/01/startup-in-7-days-day-one-t... The requirement is for tax deductions, to use the service probably numerous requirements under Australian law. Hence the licensing of business and bank account. I noticed the - "registered software provider" by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) so ~ http://ato.gov.au/ http://ato.gov.au/ This isn't just a website but a system that hooks into the ATO Electronic Commerce interface (ECI) as a Business Activity Service (BAS) has statutory requirements: certificates, Australian Business Numbers (ABN) ~ http://ato.gov.au/onlineservices/content.asp?doc=/content/00107880.htm http://ato.gov.au/onlineservices/content.asp?doc=/content/00...

30 points by AndrewWarner 17y ago

He's launching in 7-days. A successful launch does not a successful startup make. I've had several successful launches myself. Still punching the clock at my day job, though.

robryan 17y ago

If he can launch something successful in a couple of days of coding well good luck to him, unfortunately that's not the case for most startups, unless your going for a minimum viable product that in most spaces isn't going to attract more than some feedback.

Psyonic 17y ago
If the MVP won't attract any more than some feedback, it's not really an MVP, is it? Doesn't seem particularly viable

vaksel 17y ago

Most bootstrapped entrepreneurs don't get to blog about their progress "on the homepage of Australian entrepreneurship magazine Anthill." and they don't get a feature in RWW. So to say..."all it takes is some will and dedication" is a little too much, when you are getting all that extra exposure.

eo3x0 17y ago

It's not a business until you hit that phase where you realize no one cares about the toy you built in a week's time. Then you pivot and put in a lot more effort than you ever bargained for - that's when you have a startup.

axod 17y ago
Indeed. He could have bought a domain, and a ready made website in an hour and launched it. That's light years away from being a business though.
patio11 17y ago
It's not a business until you hit that phase where you realize no one cares about the toy you built in a week's time You might think its a toy, and I might think its a toy, but if it solves a problem for a customer, then it is not a toy. Your lawyer doesn't need to labor a full week to write a letter worth hundreds. My dentist didn't need to drill for forty hours to charge me $770. There is nothing magical about computer programs which makes them worthless until an arbitrary amount of Red Bull cans have been consumed. I wrote the first iteration of my software in eight days. People bought it. It has pretty much gone from there.

s3graham 17y ago

It's fine and all, and best of luck to him, but I'm not sure that doing something for 7 days demonstrates much in the way of "dedication".

petesalty 17y ago

Is it just me or does a week seem like a long time to do this? I mean obviously it's not really a business just a little web service, but really, any competent programmer could probably have the functionality up and running over a weekend - figure another day to do design, half a day to put together the "business plan" power-point, and another half to register a domain, incorporate and set up bank accounts (really how long does that take? - maybe it's harder in Australia). So what 4 days? Cool, that's 3 left - you could do another launch in that time.

blackguardx 17y ago
The first rule of engineering is to set realistic goals. Because this is very public, it encourages him to be conservative in his time estimates.
idlewords 17y ago
It sounds like he's doing all kinds of later-stage things like opening business bank accounts, marketing, and so on, in the first week. Personally, I'm surprised at the $500 budget. Maybe coffee costs more in Australia.
- bootload 17y ago
  "... Personally, I'm surprised at the $500 budget. Maybe coffee costs more in Australia. ..." * Web hosting: $4.40 * Static IP: $3.30 * Domain name: $13 * SSL certificate: $66 * SMS modem: $172.50 * Bank account: $6.50 * SIM card: $5 * Custom number: $22 The costs [0] look reasonable to me and the coffee is better in Aus :) ~ http://searchyc.com/bootload+coffee http://searchyc.com/bootload+coffee [0] http://www.semi-blog.com/2010/01/startup-in-7-days-day-two-registrations/ http://www.semi-blog.com/2010/01/startup-in-7-days-day-two-r...
  - idlewords 17y ago
    Not listed there is $220 spent on setting up a billing provider (PayWay), which is the part that seems wasteful to me.

tlack 17y ago

Does anyone remember when businesses started off trying to make money? This HN-fueled "startup" mania is getting ridiculous.. just because you have an idea and built some minimal prototype thing doesn't mean you're some brave entrepreneur.

blizkreeg 17y ago
Great point. I think 'entrepreneur' off late has become more of a sexy label to give oneself. It's funny how the term businessman(or woman) is never used, almost as if there's a dirty connotation to it. I think saying that I do business implicitly puts the expectation that there's cash flow. I've been guilty of this thinking too, mostly influenced by such articles and the media fueled frenzy over "entrepreneurs" and their nice little website toy thingies built over weekends and in dark rooms. At best they're hobbies and fun projects. ==this comment is more of a reminder to self than a judgement of another==
- mschy 17y ago
  It hadn't occurred to me before, but I refer to myself as a businessman in most contexts, and describe only my unproven activities as 'entrepreneurial'.
vaksel 17y ago
yeah, technically I'm a CEO...but I don't think I'll be comfortable wearing that tag unless the company starts making 10+ mil a year, which is like 5 years away. So I just go by founder.
- idlewords 17y ago
  "10+ mil a year, which is like 5 years away" Hockey stick hockey stick!
  - vaksel 17y ago
    heh I know...here is hoping :)

dpcan 17y ago

Doesn't it usually take at least 10 days to get a short code for 2-way SMS? And it's going to cost more than $700 based on my research.

andrewtj 17y ago
You're looking at the high-end of the market - he's using a GSM phone connected via a serial port as his SMS gateway.
- dpcan 17y ago
  Do you have any more information on this?
  - andrewtj 17y ago
    Sorry I missed your response. Many years ago I used Nokia 5110 and 6210 phones to do this. All that was needed was a serial cable, a list of the relevant AT commands and some Perl. Google should be able to fill in the gaps on how to do this, but if not just drop me an email (listed in my profile).
nagoo 17y ago
Actually acquiring a short code can take a long time I hear, however, there are many services out there to get you up and running in little time for a lot less. This is just one that I know of that with a nice API and takes no time to setup... http://www.deeplocal.com/products/gumband http://www.deeplocal.com/products/gumband

alain94040 17y ago

I think he also cheated by opening a bank account and incorporating. That's overkill at the stage he's at, but it gives the impression of "making progress", which surely impressed his readers. I should know, I designed http://fairsoftware.net http://fairsoftware.net to prove that you don't need a corporation or even a bank account to build successful multi-founder software startups. And this guy is alone, so even less of a reason to waste money.

andrewtj 17y ago
How would he takes payments without a bank account? http://fairsoftware.net http://fairsoftware.net gives me a 503 at the moment.
- alain94040 17y ago
  The way a virtual company works: customer -> virtualcompany host (fairsoftware in my example) -> personal account This way, the end user has a business relationship with the virtual company host, shielding the entrepreneur, but the entrepreneur stills earns money as an independent contractor of the virtual company host. To me, the best of both worlds (but I'm biased). It beats opening a merchant account, that's for sure. PS: no 503 for me...
bootload 17y ago
"... I think he also cheated by opening a bank account and incorporating. That's overkill at the stage he's at ..." I'd normally agree, but I think you have limited understanding of what is going on. "... Working from his car, he was repeatedly frustrated by having to write down his mileages in a logbook, a logbook which would then be misplaced, lost and chewed by the dog. Logs would be jotted down on the back of receipts, discarded wrappers or scrap paper. Ultimately he wasn’t recording every business trip and he was therefore unable to claim the most he could come tax time.... it had wide appeal – 7 million Australians claim work related expenses each year on their tax returns. ..." ~ http://www.semi-blog.com/2010/01/startup-in-7-days-day-one-the-idea-research/ http://www.semi-blog.com/2010/01/startup-in-7-days-day-one-t... The requirement is for tax deductions, to use the service probably numerous requirements under Australian law. Hence the licensing of business and bank account. I noticed the - "registered software provider" by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) so ~ http://ato.gov.au/ http://ato.gov.au/ This isn't just a website but a system that hooks into the ATO Electronic Commerce interface (ECI) as a Business Activity Service (BAS) has statutory requirements: certificates, Australian Business Numbers (ABN) ~ http://ato.gov.au/onlineservices/content.asp?doc=/content/00107880.htm http://ato.gov.au/onlineservices/content.asp?doc=/content/00...