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Things I've learned from running a business (ie: Don't do what I did)
- mrkurt 18y agoFor some back story: I wrote the publishing system that powers Ars Technica, with the intention of selling it to other sites. Ars sold to Conde Nast and threw my life into a turmoil. The resulting self evaluation led to this post, and I thought some of you crazy h4x0rs might find it interesting.
- xlnt 18y agoI don't understand how Ars selling to Conde Nast would change whether you have the rights to the publishing system.
- mrkurt 18y agoIt doesn't, I still have all the rights. The problem I've run into is I spent so long doing tangential things (lots of them Ars related) that I never actually whipped it into sellable shape.
- Spyckie 18y agoDefinitely interesting. Thanks for posting. I hope you can feel some good about the overall experience with Ars, and good luck with your next ventures.
- cpr 18y agoSo you're not part of Ars itself but a consultant to them?
- mrkurt 18y agoYep.
- thomasswift 18y ago> That’s such an unrealistic timeline for a bootstrapped company it’s not even funny. thanks for this section
- edw519 18y agoThis post has so much wisdom in it, I don't know where to start. So instead, I'll just cite one thing: So I’m now left with a good number of people who’d give me money if I had something… and I don’t! Bingo! He hits the nail right on the head. There is a certain "binaryness" to a software business (MBAs and vaporware aside). Either you have it or you don't. Period. Beware spending time on anything besides hacking. Sure, there are a lot of other things to do, but in the long run, all the prospects in the world mean little without a product.
- jamongkad 18y agoAmen! To put it succinctly Enough language wars and bullshit like that. Go out there and build something.
- jpeterson 18y agoGreat post. Content like this is why I love news.yc.
- coglethorpe 18y agoI've made the mistake of taking on work that competes with the startup. It has hurt. People have segued from the "day job" to the dream job but it's likely much easier to do it all at once. PG understands that and funds startups to do nothing but work for at least 3 months.
- misterbwong 18y agoUnfortunately, it looks like the ars forums are down. Anybody happen to have a copy? These comments have piqued my curiosity.
- staunch 18y agoI have to remember to never to work on any project with "Ars" in the name. It seems they'll always end in tears.