5 ms·

"Working hard on it" requires seed money and somebody that believes that the founder just might be able to pull off the idea. You can't work hard on an idea wh

"Working hard on it" requires seed money and somebody that believes that the founder just might be able to pull off the idea. You can't work hard on an idea while you're worrying about food and rent. The point with the ycombinator video page was this: theoretically, if you had 365 lists, each able to generate that much uniques each day, then you'd have over a million uniques a year just with that traffic. A million uniques is a good size of traffic and potential traction.

cheald 16y ago
No offense, but unless you're working 3 jobs to cover food and rent, you can work hard on an idea without seed money. Stop watching TV (seriously, unplug it and put it in a closet). Stop playing video games (same deal). Stop going out barhopping. Devote your evenings and lunch breaks to working on your idea. You have plenty of time that you're not utilizing. You'll find that most startup founders - especially new entrepreneurs without a previous "win" - don't start by getting seed money thrown at them for an idea. They toil in every spare moment they have to produce a product that is worth investing in. pg says "Running a start-up is like being punched in the face repeatedly" and it's true. You get to bust your ass 24/7, bend over backwards, wear sixteen hats at any given time, and learn at least 3 new major skill sets for no promise of reward, and a better-than-even chance of failure. If you're not willing to give it all you've got, then honestly, entrepreneurship probably isn't for you.
- citizenkeys 16y ago
  I don't watch tv, don't play video games, nor do I drink or go "barhopping". To paraphrase paul graham (yet again), you can't realistically run a start-up and work a day job. If you do, then you're not really running a start-up. And if you don't work a day-job, then eventually you're likely to run out of money until the start-up gets profitable.
  - cheald 16y ago
    It doesn't have to be TV or video games. What do you do in the evenings? What fills the space between "clock out of work" and "go to sleep"? What do you do in the morning before you wake up and go to work? Just nearly everyone (three-job single mothers excepted) has a lot of time that they don't utilize. My point is that you can grow your product and business by making use of that time. pg's right - you probably can't successfully run a full-tilt startup AND work a full time job. You don't have a full-tilt startup yet. You have an idea, and it's a lot of blood, sweat, and bleary-eyed mornings to get to the point where you'll need to put 100% of your time into it. "pg said I have to have seed funding first" is a pretty lame-ass excuse for why you can't work on your product. If you think the only two states you can be in are "Working at a desk job" and "Being given a bunch of seed money to quit your desk job", you're misunderstanding the whole process, and cutting yourself way short.
  - answerly 16y ago
    I'd just stop if I were you. Dismissing every helpful piece of advice out of hand makes you seem like a very unreasonable person. Good luck with your startup. I hope everything works out for the best.
  - arvcpl 16y ago
    That's not really true. I am doing consulting to support me, my wife & and my 3 years child for 4h a day and the rest time is for my startup. So yeah, it's really possible, just you have to be very committed to it.
  - agaton 16y ago
    Sorry if I sounds rude but have you ever tried to get a job in this market? To get a job, or seed capital, you need to work. A lot. It's a full-time job itself to get a job. Call people. Start blogging and be active in forums like HN so people see how smart you are. Search every little possible job you ever can get. If you're not famous noone will ever GIVE you a job. It's something you need to work for. If you don't have neither a job neither seed capital for your startup, you have some serious work to do. Search 5 or 10 jobs a day minimum, every single day. Call every angel in the Valley and see if they are interested in meeting you. Go to free parties and events to meet more interesting people. Ask your existing network for tips, help and recommendations. A comment on your own site was a start but don't think it solves your problem. Hard work do. Be awesome. Work hard. Don't give up.
  - gmatty 16y ago
    dont stop. dont make excuses. don't doubt yourself. They are all a waste of time. Focus on the end goal and methodology for getting there. If you really want this, move in with housemates or figure out what you need to to save a little so that you can self fund for a while. Also figure out some reasonable numbers as to why you can make money doing your startup and how long you think it will take to pull it off. Double those numbers. Otherwise, you will need to be cannonball in the chest convincing to any investor worth pulling in to fund your idea. Find ways to check your gut instinct with numbers. Understand the inputs to the numbers and understand the trends in the numbers. Own the pain, own the glory.

cheald 16y ago

No offense, but unless you're working 3 jobs to cover food and rent, you can work hard on an idea without seed money. Stop watching TV (seriously, unplug it and put it in a closet). Stop playing video games (same deal). Stop going out barhopping. Devote your evenings and lunch breaks to working on your idea. You have plenty of time that you're not utilizing. You'll find that most startup founders - especially new entrepreneurs without a previous "win" - don't start by getting seed money thrown at them for an idea. They toil in every spare moment they have to produce a product that is worth investing in. pg says "Running a start-up is like being punched in the face repeatedly" and it's true. You get to bust your ass 24/7, bend over backwards, wear sixteen hats at any given time, and learn at least 3 new major skill sets for no promise of reward, and a better-than-even chance of failure. If you're not willing to give it all you've got, then honestly, entrepreneurship probably isn't for you.

citizenkeys 16y ago
I don't watch tv, don't play video games, nor do I drink or go "barhopping". To paraphrase paul graham (yet again), you can't realistically run a start-up and work a day job. If you do, then you're not really running a start-up. And if you don't work a day-job, then eventually you're likely to run out of money until the start-up gets profitable.
- cheald 16y ago
  It doesn't have to be TV or video games. What do you do in the evenings? What fills the space between "clock out of work" and "go to sleep"? What do you do in the morning before you wake up and go to work? Just nearly everyone (three-job single mothers excepted) has a lot of time that they don't utilize. My point is that you can grow your product and business by making use of that time. pg's right - you probably can't successfully run a full-tilt startup AND work a full time job. You don't have a full-tilt startup yet. You have an idea, and it's a lot of blood, sweat, and bleary-eyed mornings to get to the point where you'll need to put 100% of your time into it. "pg said I have to have seed funding first" is a pretty lame-ass excuse for why you can't work on your product. If you think the only two states you can be in are "Working at a desk job" and "Being given a bunch of seed money to quit your desk job", you're misunderstanding the whole process, and cutting yourself way short.
- answerly 16y ago
  I'd just stop if I were you. Dismissing every helpful piece of advice out of hand makes you seem like a very unreasonable person. Good luck with your startup. I hope everything works out for the best.
- arvcpl 16y ago
  That's not really true. I am doing consulting to support me, my wife & and my 3 years child for 4h a day and the rest time is for my startup. So yeah, it's really possible, just you have to be very committed to it.
- agaton 16y ago
  Sorry if I sounds rude but have you ever tried to get a job in this market? To get a job, or seed capital, you need to work. A lot. It's a full-time job itself to get a job. Call people. Start blogging and be active in forums like HN so people see how smart you are. Search every little possible job you ever can get. If you're not famous noone will ever GIVE you a job. It's something you need to work for. If you don't have neither a job neither seed capital for your startup, you have some serious work to do. Search 5 or 10 jobs a day minimum, every single day. Call every angel in the Valley and see if they are interested in meeting you. Go to free parties and events to meet more interesting people. Ask your existing network for tips, help and recommendations. A comment on your own site was a start but don't think it solves your problem. Hard work do. Be awesome. Work hard. Don't give up.
- gmatty 16y ago
  dont stop. dont make excuses. don't doubt yourself. They are all a waste of time. Focus on the end goal and methodology for getting there. If you really want this, move in with housemates or figure out what you need to to save a little so that you can self fund for a while. Also figure out some reasonable numbers as to why you can make money doing your startup and how long you think it will take to pull it off. Double those numbers. Otherwise, you will need to be cannonball in the chest convincing to any investor worth pulling in to fund your idea. Find ways to check your gut instinct with numbers. Understand the inputs to the numbers and understand the trends in the numbers. Own the pain, own the glory.