5 ms·

The problem with this is that which one are you? If you are doing the hardcore consulting how can you devote the time and mind share needed to build a successfu

by javery 15y ago

The problem with this is that which one are you? If you are doing the hardcore consulting how can you devote the time and mind share needed to build a successful startup? If you aren't doing the consulting how do you find two chumps willing to fund your company for you?

tptacek 15y ago
Whichever one you're better at. When people talk about "ability to execute", this is what they mean: being able to come up with a plan ("I'm going to consult, you're going to build, in 3 months we launch") and then stick to it. If you aren't doing consulting, this model is not open to you. But if you can't consult, you probably can't sell product either. This is like asking, "if you're a business guy who just needs a web guy to implement his idea", &c &c.
- javery 15y ago
  At that point you are basically just an investor in the project - since you will need to focus your time and energy on consulting and won't be able to contribute as a co-founder.
  - DuncanIdaho 15y ago
    How about training a replacement? On the other hand - if you are lucky enough to run into people who are better at executing than you are - then funding them seems like the smartest thing to do, should they want to work with you that is.
  - tptacek 15y ago
    What does this even mean? People aren't chess pieces. Just because you walk two spaces to the left and one space forward, doesn't mean you're a knight for the rest of the time you're at the company. Contribute to your product offering as much as you can. Participate in discussions. Talk to customers. If you're lucky, your consulting customers and your product prospects will overlap. Over time, ramp up revenue so that you can wean yourself off consulting. This attitude that there's some status hierarchy of kinds of people in a startup is toxic. Working companies are comprised of people who will move mountains to get stuff done. You can spend tons of time pushing on the mountain of external funding, or you can push on the mountain of getting immediate and comfortable levels of cash from consulting. Both have their upsides and downsides. Either way: you're going to have to do stuff you wouldn't otherwise want to do.
    - javery 15y ago
      What I mean is that you will be so focused and busy on the consulting piece you won't have the time to work on the product - trust me I have been there.
      - chronophilic 15y ago
        One shouldn't form trust based on a single anecdote.
      - tptacek 15y ago
        Me too. I'm on-and-off billable all the time. Ask my dev team how disengaged I am with the product we're launching.
    - dools 15y ago
      What I mean is that you will be so focused and busy on the consulting piece you won't have the time to work on the product - trust me I have been there. Not necessarily. I product manage http://decalcms.com/ http://decalcms.com/ but don't really do much of the "actual work" on it until it's time to do a release at which point I focus a lot on the marketing. The rest of the time I drum up business, run game on support and client queries and generally keep things ticking over.
- DuncanIdaho 15y ago
  Indeed - in relation to my other comment. Since I do have (too many) ideas, but didn't like any of them enough to commit myself to it - the plan was to build a dream team (I have a knack for leading people - The Right Way(tm)) - and just practice execution until a killer idea in a good scalable market came along - and then run with it.
danssig 15y ago
>If you aren't doing the consulting how do you find two chumps willing to fund your company for you? Most professionals in the world are "chumps" willing to fund X for other people. I'm on a project right now that's going to save my org $20 million a year. Do I see any of that? Nope, just my normal salary, which is quite good IMO. If you pay your "chumps" quite good they'll be perfectly happy to consult while you use your money to do other things. After all, they are able to earn consulting thanks to your connections. If they build up enough connections and have the same courage they might do the same thing but so be it. Most people won't. I know someone making less than I am who works as a high end consultant billed out at $500/hr. I've pointed out how he's being exploited several times but he likes the stability of an employer.

by javery 15y ago

tptacek 15y ago

Whichever one you're better at. When people talk about "ability to execute", this is what they mean: being able to come up with a plan ("I'm going to consult, you're going to build, in 3 months we launch") and then stick to it. If you aren't doing consulting, this model is not open to you. But if you can't consult, you probably can't sell product either. This is like asking, "if you're a business guy who just needs a web guy to implement his idea", &c &c.

javery 15y ago
At that point you are basically just an investor in the project - since you will need to focus your time and energy on consulting and won't be able to contribute as a co-founder.
- DuncanIdaho 15y ago
  How about training a replacement? On the other hand - if you are lucky enough to run into people who are better at executing than you are - then funding them seems like the smartest thing to do, should they want to work with you that is.
- tptacek 15y ago
  What does this even mean? People aren't chess pieces. Just because you walk two spaces to the left and one space forward, doesn't mean you're a knight for the rest of the time you're at the company. Contribute to your product offering as much as you can. Participate in discussions. Talk to customers. If you're lucky, your consulting customers and your product prospects will overlap. Over time, ramp up revenue so that you can wean yourself off consulting. This attitude that there's some status hierarchy of kinds of people in a startup is toxic. Working companies are comprised of people who will move mountains to get stuff done. You can spend tons of time pushing on the mountain of external funding, or you can push on the mountain of getting immediate and comfortable levels of cash from consulting. Both have their upsides and downsides. Either way: you're going to have to do stuff you wouldn't otherwise want to do.
  - javery 15y ago
    What I mean is that you will be so focused and busy on the consulting piece you won't have the time to work on the product - trust me I have been there.
    - chronophilic 15y ago
      One shouldn't form trust based on a single anecdote.
    - tptacek 15y ago
      Me too. I'm on-and-off billable all the time. Ask my dev team how disengaged I am with the product we're launching.
  - dools 15y ago
    What I mean is that you will be so focused and busy on the consulting piece you won't have the time to work on the product - trust me I have been there. Not necessarily. I product manage http://decalcms.com/ http://decalcms.com/ but don't really do much of the "actual work" on it until it's time to do a release at which point I focus a lot on the marketing. The rest of the time I drum up business, run game on support and client queries and generally keep things ticking over.
DuncanIdaho 15y ago
Indeed - in relation to my other comment. Since I do have (too many) ideas, but didn't like any of them enough to commit myself to it - the plan was to build a dream team (I have a knack for leading people - The Right Way(tm)) - and just practice execution until a killer idea in a good scalable market came along - and then run with it.

danssig 15y ago

>If you aren't doing the consulting how do you find two chumps willing to fund your company for you? Most professionals in the world are "chumps" willing to fund X for other people. I'm on a project right now that's going to save my org $20 million a year. Do I see any of that? Nope, just my normal salary, which is quite good IMO. If you pay your "chumps" quite good they'll be perfectly happy to consult while you use your money to do other things. After all, they are able to earn consulting thanks to your connections. If they build up enough connections and have the same courage they might do the same thing but so be it. Most people won't. I know someone making less than I am who works as a high end consultant billed out at $500/hr. I've pointed out how he's being exploited several times but he likes the stability of an employer.