5 ms·

My startup failed, and this is what it feels like (2014)

79 points by jeremylevy 11y ago

goodJobWalrus 11y ago
Here is the previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7933155 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7933155
zerr 11y ago
Interesting, but in the first place - why did they move to USA/NYC? Why they couldn't launch the mobile app or website from Australia? Maybe this is related to that solving of chicken and egg problem they mention...
- brianwawok 11y ago
  Well if their business model was around selling high priced fashion clothes, I suspect NYC has a much much bigger market over Australia.
  - zerr 11y ago
    Yes, but as I understand they had an app/website, not a retail shop in NYC, right? So, maybe I'm naive but why they couldn't upload the mobile app on the app store and website's HTML/CSS/JS/back-end files from Australia?
    - robszumski 11y ago
      They needed to build buzz in the US. That means talking to people, getting your first traction, people discussing the app on the subway, pitching it to women at bars, college campuses, etc.
      - Bogdan91 11y ago
        Could've payed some some student beer money to pitch it in bars.
- tyingq 11y ago
  The model appeared to be a very niche specific eBay/craigslist of sorts. Enabling women to buy (used) clothes from other people...not a retail sales model. That would explain the need for doing it in the US...larger market. Of course, that also meant she would enter into a market where she had no practical experience. She also mentions that she had no tech experience, and so had to hire on the tech talent. I admire the ambition, but I don't see how she was able to get investors at all. Sounds high risk with a pretty hard ceiling on potential.
deleted 11y ago
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deleted 11y ago
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thucydides 11y ago
What's Nikki up to now?
- prometheus13 11y ago
  Great question. A quick web search shows that she is giving talks about her start-up that failed about two years ago, but I could not find much else. In a recent bio her article on medium is listed prominently: Nikki was the founder & CEO of 99dresses, a Y Combinator-backed startup that allowed women to trade fashion with each other using a virtual currency. She started the business as a naive 18-year-old fresh out of high school, and experienced a roller coaster 4 year journey before shutting down 99dresses in 2014 and writing about it in a wildly popular Medium post entitled 'My Startup Failed And This Is What It Feels Like...'.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
josephmx 11y ago
Being paid to talk about her failed start up last I saw
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- dang 11y ago
  Personal attacks are not allowed on HN. Please don't do this again. We detached this comment from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11094603 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11094603 and marked it off-topic.
TlDrBot 11y ago
Summary: Startup spent more then startup earned. Startup failed. Startup founder is going home. Orig wordcount: 5891 TlDr wordcount: 13 Saved: 99.78%
- kordless 11y ago
  This isn't Reddit, and I for one don't want you posting this here under the guise of "saving time". It's judgemental, condescending and attempts to remove choice from us making our own determinations about the value and interest of the story. tl;dr; go away.
  - tptacek 11y ago
    For future reference, just click on the timestamp of the comment, then the "flag" link. Don't feed the trolls. (Happy to delete this comment if you delete yours).
    - kami8845 11y ago
      I think it's a bit arrogant to ask people to delete their comments. But of course I will delete my comment if you delete yours.
    - zerr 11y ago
      No need to delete - from your comment I've finally found out where is this "flag" link... I always thought I'd need some 5 figure karma or similar for the link to appear...
      - dang 11y ago
        That info is in the HN guidelines (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html) as well as annoyingly many comments by me: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment&query=by:dang%20flag%20comment%20click https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=... That's not a criticism, btw. It's astonishingly difficult to distribute knowledge like this through HN. Or, I suppose, any large community.
nostrademons 11y ago
Needs a [2014] in the title. In light of current discussions about a current startup crunch, it'd be nice to make it clear that this one isn't part of it. Good postmortem, though.
- dang 11y ago
  Added.
Mz 11y ago
I am glad to see female founders getting a little more attention here these days, but I wish more attention were given to why they fail and how to do it better. Here was my take on this piece: http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2014/07/a-decade-late-and-millions-short.html http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2014/07/a-decade-lat...
zeeshanm 11y ago
Startups don't fail. Founders just stop doing their work. You can't succeed if you give up.

79 points by jeremylevy 11y ago

Here is the previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7933155 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7933155

zerr 11y ago

Interesting, but in the first place - why did they move to USA/NYC? Why they couldn't launch the mobile app or website from Australia? Maybe this is related to that solving of chicken and egg problem they mention...

brianwawok 11y ago
Well if their business model was around selling high priced fashion clothes, I suspect NYC has a much much bigger market over Australia.
- zerr 11y ago
  Yes, but as I understand they had an app/website, not a retail shop in NYC, right? So, maybe I'm naive but why they couldn't upload the mobile app on the app store and website's HTML/CSS/JS/back-end files from Australia?
  - robszumski 11y ago
    They needed to build buzz in the US. That means talking to people, getting your first traction, people discussing the app on the subway, pitching it to women at bars, college campuses, etc.
    - Bogdan91 11y ago
      Could've payed some some student beer money to pitch it in bars.
tyingq 11y ago
The model appeared to be a very niche specific eBay/craigslist of sorts. Enabling women to buy (used) clothes from other people...not a retail sales model. That would explain the need for doing it in the US...larger market. Of course, that also meant she would enter into a market where she had no practical experience. She also mentions that she had no tech experience, and so had to hire on the tech talent. I admire the ambition, but I don't see how she was able to get investors at all. Sounds high risk with a pretty hard ceiling on potential.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

thucydides 11y ago

What's Nikki up to now?

prometheus13 11y ago
Great question. A quick web search shows that she is giving talks about her start-up that failed about two years ago, but I could not find much else. In a recent bio her article on medium is listed prominently: Nikki was the founder & CEO of 99dresses, a Y Combinator-backed startup that allowed women to trade fashion with each other using a virtual currency. She started the business as a naive 18-year-old fresh out of high school, and experienced a roller coaster 4 year journey before shutting down 99dresses in 2014 and writing about it in a wildly popular Medium post entitled 'My Startup Failed And This Is What It Feels Like...'.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

josephmx 11y ago

Being paid to talk about her failed start up last I saw

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
dang 11y ago
Personal attacks are not allowed on HN. Please don't do this again. We detached this comment from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11094603 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11094603 and marked it off-topic.

TlDrBot 11y ago

Summary: Startup spent more then startup earned. Startup failed. Startup founder is going home. Orig wordcount: 5891 TlDr wordcount: 13 Saved: 99.78%

kordless 11y ago
This isn't Reddit, and I for one don't want you posting this here under the guise of "saving time". It's judgemental, condescending and attempts to remove choice from us making our own determinations about the value and interest of the story. tl;dr; go away.
- tptacek 11y ago
  For future reference, just click on the timestamp of the comment, then the "flag" link. Don't feed the trolls. (Happy to delete this comment if you delete yours).
  - kami8845 11y ago
    I think it's a bit arrogant to ask people to delete their comments. But of course I will delete my comment if you delete yours.
  - zerr 11y ago
    No need to delete - from your comment I've finally found out where is this "flag" link... I always thought I'd need some 5 figure karma or similar for the link to appear...
    - dang 11y ago
      That info is in the HN guidelines (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html) as well as annoyingly many comments by me: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment&query=by:dang%20flag%20comment%20click https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=... That's not a criticism, btw. It's astonishingly difficult to distribute knowledge like this through HN. Or, I suppose, any large community.

nostrademons 11y ago

Needs a [2014] in the title. In light of current discussions about a current startup crunch, it'd be nice to make it clear that this one isn't part of it. Good postmortem, though.

dang 11y ago
Added.

Mz 11y ago

I am glad to see female founders getting a little more attention here these days, but I wish more attention were given to why they fail and how to do it better. Here was my take on this piece: http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2014/07/a-decade-late-and-millions-short.html http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2014/07/a-decade-lat...

zeeshanm 11y ago

Startups don't fail. Founders just stop doing their work. You can't succeed if you give up.