4 ms·
I quit
- eibrahim 19y agoI guess it is too late now :), but what do you guys think? Am I stupid or brave?
- rms 19y agoCongratulations... I don't think anyone here will call you stupid for quitting. Funding yourself with credit cards though, maybe. I think it's a really bad decision to go with credit cards over much more risk free money.
- eibrahim 19y agoWell, i have my tax refund check which would last me about 4 months... after that it will be credit cards or investment funding... but i agree credit cards is not the best way to do it..
- dkokelley 19y agoDo not finance your startup with credit cards. Financing a startup with debt is usually a stupid move, and credit card debt stupidest of all. Credit card debt is a bad idea, period. It is a trap set by evil companies for the desperate and the foolish. -Dear ol' Mr. Graham himself, from his most recent essay (3rd endnote): http://paulgraham.com/boss.html http://paulgraham.com/boss.html
- eibrahim 19y agoI like the article and agree with most of it... But what would you rather do? - Finance through a credit card and own your whole company - Or finance through an investor(s) and own half of your company. If you succeed the credit card is a better choice If you fail the investors path is the better one. PS: If you take money from anyone, like it or not, he is your boss :)
- webwright 19y ago#1 - Optimize for the CHANCE of success, not the magnitude of it. Don't worry THAT much about the % of ownership. Worry about winning. #2 - Do worry about control and don't give it up. Plenty of investors don't require you to. "If you take money from anyone, like it or not, he is your boss :)" - that's simply not true. You ARE responsible to him, but you don't have to turn over the keys, nor do you have to turn over 50%. #3 - Get a co-founder. ;-) Spreads costs, and increases likelihood of success and gives you a nice excuse to have a majority of the board seats.
- Spyckie 19y agoI thought you had friends who were willing to help you out... Take money from whoever you can - friends, families, and fools. You're not at the investor stage yet where people can eat you alive, and you can just refuse it if they try to. Keep well funded if you can; don't wait until you're out of cash, as investors know you'll be in a bind and will use it against you as much as they possibly can. Taking money from friends would add motivation (or stress, but you seem like the type who can handle tight situations) and resolve to getting your startup off the ground, so I would recommend you pursue those initial starting funds. Taking money from someone does make you responsible for that money, but doesn't make him your boss. They're called investors precisely because they give you money and hope to make a return on it - they don't have time to boss you around. Also, if you take money from someone, it means that they believe in your product, which is a great boost to morale especially if you're going in alone. Finally, there are other ways of raising money besides selling your company - I know convertible debt is one choice, but I'm not familiar with any other low-cost routes (besides YC).
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- SwellJoe 19y ago"That's not advice, that's half an advice." What would you like him to do? Come to your home town, drive you to the airport and escort you to Silicon Valley personally? Raising money is not mysterious or poorly documented. Don't act like it is.
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- TrevorJ 19y agoBraveness takes a certain amount of stupidity :-) Tried to leave a comment on your blog but looks like they are disabled. Anyway, best of luck to you I really admire what you are doing and succeed or fail I think you stepped out and did something, and that's really really awesome.
- eibrahim 19y agoThanks for the comments. PS: I also fixed the commenting on my blog... it only took an hour or so :(
- tim2 19y agoSome will advise that you should secure funding if you see a downturn coming so that you can weather the storm. I agree though that getting investments at early stages can often be far more trouble than it's worth. As far as quitting, well of course we think it was a good idea.
- wave 19y agoIt is nice you were able to find 100k seed money. Most people don't have that opportunity. I am not sure if it is a good idea using credit cards, but it is not a secured loan. Someone posted a quote by Shakespeare "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we might oft win, by fearing to attempt."
- eibrahim 19y agoWell most of it was just talk... I am not sure how much of it would have materialized and if it was worth the effort to do so now... maybe later when my money dries up. I love the quote.
- dkokelley 19y agoCongratulations! I've been out of a job now since the end of Summer 2007. No startup, unfortunately, just a few websites and odd jobs (and free rent via parents), but I'm still in school so I can justify it (however that counts).
- smook 19y agoIf a storm is brewing (aka recession coming into full swing)... I wait it out. I would keep the job, break into the new business idea, build some cash reserves, then jump. But, heck... it's done. Go for it. Warmest regards, Bill.
- noonespecial 19y agoThe one thing I can say about the economy with absolute certainty, at whatever point in the cycle it is... is that there is a recession coming. There is ALWAYS a recession coming. Go do your thing. Some of the richest and most powerful men in history began with nothing in the depths of the great depression.
- akshaye 19y agoi have in fact decided to do the same thing. Though i decided to quit about a couple weeks ago, i'm taking some more time to sort things out before i actually quit. Its nice to see you do that.. puts different voices in the back of my head to rest.
- pistoriusp 19y agoGood luck, just don't use the credit cards!
- astine 19y agoYes, I would trust my friends more than the credit card companies. The former would like to see you succeed, the latter would just like to see your money.
- hollywoodcole 19y agoWell I wrote this long note about staying at your job, saving, and not using credit cards but deleted it all. I figured its your life and why not take a chance! Goodluck! I will be following your blog along the way.
- aflag 19y agoWhat's the problem with using credit card for funding? I'm new here, but I have already seen many people advising against it.
- phaedrus 19y agoWell first of all - it's the same problem as using a credit card to pay for anything you can't really afford! However it has a special "bad omen" significance in regards to running your own business because sometimes you hear stories of someone whose business is not doing well, and they won't admit it and instead ruin themselves trying to bail out the business out of personal funds, such as running up a huge credit card debt. That's not to say that this guy is going to do that, but just that in general you cringe when you hear of someone using a credit card to fund a business.
- hunterjrj 19y agoFunding using lines of credit and credit cards? Unbelievably high exposure here. Best of luck to this person, I truly hope they succeed and do not have to deal with the consequences of having a massive debt load with suffocating interest rates!
- jharrison 19y agoWelcome to the club of those who are willing to do things that most are not. My company has gone from 2 people to 7 and now to 1 over the last 7 years and I will never work for anyone else. 4 months goes by VERY quickly. Believe that you only have 4 months (or maybe even 3) and do everything you can to make your project work in that time. "Work" doesn't mean it'll be perfect. Get it up and adjust on the fly. PG has said it. Others have said it. Launch and iterate. You can do it! We're all rooting for you!