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I buy all the Unicornfree ideology here. But I can't help but begin to think that I reject shit sandwiches simply because the shit sandwich makers reject me. By

I buy all the Unicornfree ideology here. But I can't help but begin to think that I reject shit sandwiches simply because the shit sandwich makers reject me. By the way, I also eat up all the preaching that comes out of 37Signals. I love that stuff. I love being an underdog. But, is it an inferiority complex? I have my own thoughts on this: http://fireworksfactory.blogspot.com/2010/05/hacking-on-dynamic-capitalism.html http://fireworksfactory.blogspot.com/2010/05/hacking-on-dyna...

ahoyhere 16y ago
That's a really good point. I read most of your essay, and you're probably going to hate me for this, but… all that effort you put into engineering a new type of business, why didn't you use that energy for building a product you can charge for? I don't agree with "always work on your best idea." My philosophy is "always work on the your best idea that is the nexus of being fun and earning you money soonest." That's why my first SaaS is a time tracker, and not the giant perfect project management suite that lives on in my daydreams. And the best reason to avoid VC is not so you can feel like an underdog, but because A) it's often a pyrrhic victory, and B) you add one more cook to the kitchen. I hate anyone telling me what to do. A VC is a client, in another form.
- kixxauth 16y ago
  Building a product right out of the gate, having fun doing it, and reaping the rewards for it, both monetary and plain 'ol satisfation, is something we really missed. I do regret that. We're going to do it though. In our case we had the idea for the business before the idea for the product. I would not suggest doing it that way again, but that's just the way we were thinking at the time.
- raganwald 16y ago
  > A VC is a client, in another form. Only, clients give you money that you can use in any way you see fit: Grow your business, buy a West Coast Freeride bike, save it for a rainy day. VCs put money in your business and then take your business for themselves and decide how to spend their money. It was never yours and never will be. If you wind up getting a big, big payday, you might get some of that money. But you'll never get a penny from the VC. Thus, I would say that while there are excellent reasons to do business with a VC, if we are comparing them to clients I would say they are more demanding than clients while paradoxically giving you no money at all.
  - ahoyhere 16y ago
    I was thinking of it purely in terms of decision-making -- if you are only bootstrapping, you are free to serve your customers to the best of your ability, and shape your business how you choose. I have seen many friends forced to compromise because their VC demanded it. (And not the everybody-learns-and-grows type of compromise.) But you really pounded the financial nail into the coffin there :)

ahoyhere 16y ago

That's a really good point. I read most of your essay, and you're probably going to hate me for this, but… all that effort you put into engineering a new type of business, why didn't you use that energy for building a product you can charge for? I don't agree with "always work on your best idea." My philosophy is "always work on the your best idea that is the nexus of being fun and earning you money soonest." That's why my first SaaS is a time tracker, and not the giant perfect project management suite that lives on in my daydreams. And the best reason to avoid VC is not so you can feel like an underdog, but because A) it's often a pyrrhic victory, and B) you add one more cook to the kitchen. I hate anyone telling me what to do. A VC is a client, in another form.

kixxauth 16y ago
Building a product right out of the gate, having fun doing it, and reaping the rewards for it, both monetary and plain 'ol satisfation, is something we really missed. I do regret that. We're going to do it though. In our case we had the idea for the business before the idea for the product. I would not suggest doing it that way again, but that's just the way we were thinking at the time.
raganwald 16y ago
> A VC is a client, in another form. Only, clients give you money that you can use in any way you see fit: Grow your business, buy a West Coast Freeride bike, save it for a rainy day. VCs put money in your business and then take your business for themselves and decide how to spend their money. It was never yours and never will be. If you wind up getting a big, big payday, you might get some of that money. But you'll never get a penny from the VC. Thus, I would say that while there are excellent reasons to do business with a VC, if we are comparing them to clients I would say they are more demanding than clients while paradoxically giving you no money at all.
- ahoyhere 16y ago
  I was thinking of it purely in terms of decision-making -- if you are only bootstrapping, you are free to serve your customers to the best of your ability, and shape your business how you choose. I have seen many friends forced to compromise because their VC demanded it. (And not the everybody-learns-and-grows type of compromise.) But you really pounded the financial nail into the coffin there :)