4 ms·
Ask HN: High tech prototype, 150K spent, 3 people, what would you do?
Hello, I am hereby anonymously asking the help of community in steering.
Some data:
* We have a confusingly high-tech product prototype, similar ones built by teams of champion engineers.
* We are 3 people.
* Spent total of 150K in 18 months. Raised from Friends & Family.
* There is a valid market. There are interested customers in multiple ways. Competitors are huge (and spent many Ms to build theirs) but no market leader.
* Prototype crashes occasionally, is not sexy and needs one last coding/debug marathon to a compelling demo to show. I feel it must look polished for a customer to buy.
* Time is running out.
My current decision:
1. Go to silicon valley, stay for several weeks, meet customers/angel investors and as many people as possible. The other two engineers continue fixing issues.
2. Give prototype to outside contractors who might help for equity or possibility to join if we get a customer.
I feel we have something very valuable, but we are too weak with 3 people to communicate what is at hand.
I am in this position first time in my life so don't know what steps would work best. What would you do?
Thanks in advance.
- dshankar 16y agoApply to Y Combinator
- kovar 16y agoApply to Y Combinator. Apply to Angel List. Apply to 500 Startups. Look around your local area for incubators. Depending on what you're doing, Silicon Valley might not be the right place to go. More appropriate investors and mentors might be located elsewhere.
- coryl 16y agoTake the prototype to as many customers as possible. Gather feedback; see if interested in alpha program. Close whatever deals possible. Get the relationship started and have them committed to you. This probably gives you leverage should you approach investors shortly after.
- jbooth 16y agoWhatever you do, don't bring on contractors for the last leg of a complicated project.
- bigohms 16y agoTake the lead. A team must be flexible enough to compensate when sh*t hits the fan and a founder still has priorities to hit the road and continue to build corporate infrastructure, secure investments and make sales. There is no choice--giving your "baby" to unknown parties at a critical stage is introducing too much risk into the equation with no known potential for success. Before departing, have a strategy session to collaborate and prioritize issues with the technology. If possible, call in as many favors as possible to bring spot expert assistance on core issues (i.e. a database guru for multi tenant join optimization) to give your existing team a boost.
- throwawayhacker 16y agoIf possible, call in as many favors as possible to bring spot expert assistance on core issues This is what I thought would be the help of individual expert contractors. They could put in a trivial period of their time in taking a glance at code finding issues. I thought each one would risk a small amount of their time adding up to a few bug fixes on our end. Also we would build relationships and both sides consider possibility for them to blend in to the company if it works out well.
- bigohms 16y agoThe issue is I don't know what the capabilities of your current team are and what specifically the consultants would be fixing. I've generally found that outside programmers take a bit of time getting acclimated with the code and functionality. I was more referring to major structural changes/issues/optimization recommendations by an outside engineer. These are generally issues that have long throw implications for the product that may be worth an cash/equity compensation arrangement. As long as: 1) the quality of work of the consultant/s is known, 2) you have a good bug tracking process in place then and 3) they're familiar and okay with your repo/commit policy then it won't hurt for finding/troubleshooting small bug related issues--but it is not generally worth it for them nor you as an equity arrangement. On the upside, having the resources acclimated will also create a backup on hand for the future and a natural talent pool to recruit from.
- andrewtbham 16y agoTry to sell it to a customer and get paid in advance.
- jellicle 16y agoGo to potential customer. Tell them you want them to be your primary partner in developing/finishing this software. Here's the deal: they'll put up $xxx,xxx - half of it RIGHT NOW - and in return they'll get a free perpetual license to the software and all updates, and you'll work with them to make the software absolutely perfect for their needs. You're selling a future revenue stream at a discount for an upfront payment. Company benefits, you benefit, you gain one visible user, who hopefully is happy with the product and is willing to provide quotes for your advertising materials, and so on.
- throwawayhacker 16y agoThanks, I thought about this when reading Steve Blank's book. The early adopter is a rare specie. S/he should be aware of the problem, open to new technology, have the budget, and be ready to spend it: http://steveblank.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/earlyvangelists1.jpg http://steveblank.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/earlyvangelist... One other reason I consider the bay area. People are open. I also saw the possibility that it backfires, e.g., looking like I am bargaining a price, reducing the product's worth on their eyes. I will definitely try this though.
- teyc 16y agoMy questions for you: 1. What do you mean by "confusingly high-tech"? Does the product solve a problem that is known to the customer? The best product is one that gets out of the way. This part sounds like the root of your problems. 2. Does your product actually have that many different uses/market segments? If you do, I'd recommend you talk to Sean Murphy (I heard him over at TechZing podcast where he was explaining how to repurpose or repackage and reprice a product based on different value propositions). He is ex-Cisco manager, and now advises small high-tech start ups which have a high engineering focus (i.e. not in the social spaces). You need someone who has some emotional distance from your product to give you impartial advice. 3. Is the following a dead certain assumption "I feel it must look polished for a customer to buy"? For example, if the sponsor/champion think you are on the right track and closest to what they need for their business, then you might convince them to be the pioneer/reference customer, where in exchange for a steep discount and/or deferred payment until all bugs are fixed, they get to steer the product in the direction their particular industry needs. You have already said that it has application in several industries, so there is no way your competitors can focus on them all. Try to find a niche where you can get buy-in and then focus on it. Remember. At this stage, you are a nobody. No matter how polished your product is, there is no track record. The person making the call to buy this is risking his professional career to support you. He needs to be convinced that you will be there watching his back, fixing bugs, and supporting him. 4. What do you mean by "Time is running out"? If you are running out of money, then make sure the other 2 founders understand the concept of vesting. This way, if they leave, they'll lose their share in the business. A single founder can survive off the fumes of an oil rag and push the project along.
- throwawayhacker 16y ago1. As in you cannot easily reproduce, and it is a good, useful technology. 2. Yes, there are 3-4 different applications. Thanks, I know Sean, he is a good advisor. 3. It does need polishing but many seem to advice finding an early adopter who is open to new technology. I will definitely seek out early adopters. 4. As in if we had the last leg of product finished, we would be selling today and already making revenue. Instead I feel we are wasting time.
- ig1 16y agoHow long do you have left? One option may be to get one of your customers to give you an advance in exchange for a discount on the final product, or take an equity investment.