3 ms·

Solo Founders And Pluralisation

12 points by iuguy 16y ago

mickdarling 16y ago
I am a solo founder in a situation where I am pretty much damned if I say "we" or damned if I say "I" since I do have a team. They are all friends and contractors some working for a little equity but others just on contract. The problem I run into is I want to include them when talking about developments "we" have made on our app, but at the same time, in startup circles people immediately think I am BS'ing them on how big my team is. If I use "I" and then can't go into every minute detail of our database architecture and API calls, and why we chose that instead of X, Y and Z, I look like a fraud. I trust my developers to help point me in the right direction with regard to languages, API's, development processes and the like. They give me the general details and I make the call. To solve this issue, among others, I am basically learning everything I can about the developing and by the time this hits V-2.0 I should at least be able to build v-1.0 from scratch on my own.
- iuguy 16y ago
  I think as long as there's a clear distinction between the work you've done alone and the work you've done with others it shouldn't be a problem, but generally I've found that the presumption of BS generally makes it worth avoiding referring to your own company in the plural form.
patio11 16y ago
Two seconds spent worrying about this issue is one second too many. Pick one. The hundreds of millions of prospects currently not reading your website do not care what you call yourself. That is a critical problem to your business. Your pronouns, not so much -- vanishingly few people will notice even after you've got an audience (after all, nobody reads on the Internet). Besides, first person singular and first person plural should both be losing to second person singular on your website anyhow. (This is the single best tip for improving your copywriting that I'm aware of.) P.S. You cite me as an example. Without looking: do I use "I" or "we"?
- iuguy 16y ago
  From memory I believe you're a singular, but wouldn't be surprised if you interchange depending on context.
  - seiji 16y ago
    No, no, no. He's half smugly trying to tell you to always use you because you is what you respond to when you read. The most interesting topic everybody likes to hear about: theirself.
    - patio11 16y ago
      I'm not being smug. I use "we", by convention, on all business correspondence and have forever. But nobody notices that. Using "you" instead of I/we is just good advice. Hat tip: Dale Carnegie.
      - iuguy 16y ago
        To be fair I hadn't considered it from the point of view of web site copy. I'm writing more about on the phone and face to face communication (having just got off the phone to a guy working from his flat on his own, who hasn't registered his company yet but talks like he's IBM). I'm surprised I didn't notice your use of we, but to be fair when I linked to Bingo Card Creator I was thinking more about the Kalzumeus blog. So today I've learnt I suck at blogging as I need to be clearer, and make sure I reference the things I'm actually thinking about when I write rather than leaving things open to interpretation. As for the Dale Carnegie reference, any other tips?

12 points by iuguy 16y ago

I am a solo founder in a situation where I am pretty much damned if I say "we" or damned if I say "I" since I do have a team. They are all friends and contractors some working for a little equity but others just on contract. The problem I run into is I want to include them when talking about developments "we" have made on our app, but at the same time, in startup circles people immediately think I am BS'ing them on how big my team is. If I use "I" and then can't go into every minute detail of our database architecture and API calls, and why we chose that instead of X, Y and Z, I look like a fraud. I trust my developers to help point me in the right direction with regard to languages, API's, development processes and the like. They give me the general details and I make the call. To solve this issue, among others, I am basically learning everything I can about the developing and by the time this hits V-2.0 I should at least be able to build v-1.0 from scratch on my own.

iuguy 16y ago
I think as long as there's a clear distinction between the work you've done alone and the work you've done with others it shouldn't be a problem, but generally I've found that the presumption of BS generally makes it worth avoiding referring to your own company in the plural form.

patio11 16y ago

Two seconds spent worrying about this issue is one second too many. Pick one. The hundreds of millions of prospects currently not reading your website do not care what you call yourself. That is a critical problem to your business. Your pronouns, not so much -- vanishingly few people will notice even after you've got an audience (after all, nobody reads on the Internet). Besides, first person singular and first person plural should both be losing to second person singular on your website anyhow. (This is the single best tip for improving your copywriting that I'm aware of.) P.S. You cite me as an example. Without looking: do I use "I" or "we"?

iuguy 16y ago
From memory I believe you're a singular, but wouldn't be surprised if you interchange depending on context.
- seiji 16y ago
  No, no, no. He's half smugly trying to tell you to always use you because you is what you respond to when you read. The most interesting topic everybody likes to hear about: theirself.
  - patio11 16y ago
    I'm not being smug. I use "we", by convention, on all business correspondence and have forever. But nobody notices that. Using "you" instead of I/we is just good advice. Hat tip: Dale Carnegie.
    - iuguy 16y ago
      To be fair I hadn't considered it from the point of view of web site copy. I'm writing more about on the phone and face to face communication (having just got off the phone to a guy working from his flat on his own, who hasn't registered his company yet but talks like he's IBM). I'm surprised I didn't notice your use of we, but to be fair when I linked to Bingo Card Creator I was thinking more about the Kalzumeus blog. So today I've learnt I suck at blogging as I need to be clearer, and make sure I reference the things I'm actually thinking about when I write rather than leaving things open to interpretation. As for the Dale Carnegie reference, any other tips?