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Do you have any expertise in the tax system? If this can be made in 2 months by one person, why hasn't this already been done before? How will $50,000 help you?

• breck 6y ago
  Great questions! > Do you have any expertise in the tax system? None! > If this can be made in 2 months by one person, why hasn't this already been done before? Good question! I invented the technology that makes it possible years ago. Then I've tried for like 4 years to get someone else to do it. But then here I am 4 years later, still suffering through TurboTax bugs. I guess just gotta get it going myself. > How will $50,000 help you? It's more about finding early adopters. It's not about the money. It's about people that want to see this happen, and are willing to put some skin in the game. > Your HN profile says that you're an investor - why can't you fund the project yourself? Money isn't the problem. If we can get a community going, that's step #1. Got the problem. Got the tech. Need to get an early community organized.
  • nathcd 6y ago
    I certainly wish you luck - I don't think there's any shortage of people who want tax preparation to be less awful. But am I understanding correctly that you feel you've already got the tech, the money, and the ability to put this together by April, but you'll only do so if people give you $50,000 ahead of time? Why not just build it and then show people how much better it is?
    • breck 6y ago
      > Why not just build it and then show people how much better it is? In my experience you can't build anything great without the help of a community. Or, in other words, it takes a village. And you want to find people who are interested, willing to put skin in the game. You want to filter out critics and tire kickers as soon as possible. You want to find builders. The $50K is an arbitrary constraint to organize that village. The money isn't the goal, the community is.