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To the founder: you're equating the failure of your business/idea with the failure to raise money. They're not the same. Perhaps try to delve deeper into this t

To the founder: you're equating the failure of your business/idea with the failure to raise money. They're not the same. Perhaps try to delve deeper into this thinking. That thinking is toxic. You do still have the option of keeping your "vision" afloat and your business going (also, please, call it a business, not a 'startup'). Get a job, use the $2500/mo to keep producing content with the resources you can afford and work at 4xing that $2500/mo that you're currently making. You'll eventually be back in business, if you are flexible with how you think about this. $1B or nothing is fool's errand.

nbashaw 9y ago
Am I? "Now, everyone has moved on but me, and I’m trying to figure out how to move forward. For the time being, we’re not going to be able to release any new stories (it sucks, I know), but the app and website will stay up. I am not ready to quit just yet. There probably will be some big changes, but I am not finished." Also: "The second option [continuing with our same model & creating all the content myself] is tempting, because I have no significant new data that changes my mind about Hardbound’s potential. Investors are wrong all the time. But if I just jumped into that, I would need to spend all my time working on new stories and I wouldn’t have very much time to learn from what just happened. So I have reservations about immediately jumping into this route." When I reference "failure" in the post, I am referring to my failure to keep our bank account full.
- blizkreeg 9y ago
  I certainly don't want to be presumptuous about your thinking. You obviously know better how big a role the failure to raise money played.
  - nbashaw 9y ago
    I appreciate that! I mean, obviously I was wrong about _some_ things, otherwise I wouldn't have had to write that post. So I'm super open to new ideas and learning. That's also why I'm replying to all these comments. I'd rather reply with more detail so people can give better feedback. I just wish more of the commenters here would start from a perspective of asking questions, than thinking the answers to all my problems are glaringly obvious. Reality is extremely nuanced, in my opinion! I would love if more people were asking more questions, rather than making strong claims based on a very small amount of information that was more intended to communicate a very important life event to friends and users, than to be a detailed diagnosis of everything that happened.

nbashaw 9y ago

Am I? "Now, everyone has moved on but me, and I’m trying to figure out how to move forward. For the time being, we’re not going to be able to release any new stories (it sucks, I know), but the app and website will stay up. I am not ready to quit just yet. There probably will be some big changes, but I am not finished." Also: "The second option [continuing with our same model & creating all the content myself] is tempting, because I have no significant new data that changes my mind about Hardbound’s potential. Investors are wrong all the time. But if I just jumped into that, I would need to spend all my time working on new stories and I wouldn’t have very much time to learn from what just happened. So I have reservations about immediately jumping into this route." When I reference "failure" in the post, I am referring to my failure to keep our bank account full.

blizkreeg 9y ago
I certainly don't want to be presumptuous about your thinking. You obviously know better how big a role the failure to raise money played.
- nbashaw 9y ago
  I appreciate that! I mean, obviously I was wrong about _some_ things, otherwise I wouldn't have had to write that post. So I'm super open to new ideas and learning. That's also why I'm replying to all these comments. I'd rather reply with more detail so people can give better feedback. I just wish more of the commenters here would start from a perspective of asking questions, than thinking the answers to all my problems are glaringly obvious. Reality is extremely nuanced, in my opinion! I would love if more people were asking more questions, rather than making strong claims based on a very small amount of information that was more intended to communicate a very important life event to friends and users, than to be a detailed diagnosis of everything that happened.