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Why I Quit Intuit and Started Hall.com - An Update
- dmix 15y ago> I wasted a month searching. I learned that you don’t find a cofounder; it happens naturally or it doesn’t. I agree. I've spent 2yrs+ years looking for good co-founders (through people I meet, not a recruiting mission). I've been to tons of events and meetups, kept up with entrepreneurs/developers in my area. Theres only a few few people that I'd want to start a company with and they are all usually busy doing their own companies. After having a few cofounders who didn't work out, I've learned its much better to not have one that have a mediocre one dragging out down. But at the same time I've still learned it crucial to have a cofounder.
- ywong137 15y agoBrett also says "After spending a month building the first prototype, investors saw what I could do and I never heard the cofounder advice again." I'd like to point out that Brett is an extraordinarily productive coder AND designer. I run Sunfire Offices (I'm Yishan) and it's pretty rare to find someone who can output so much stuff on his own so Brett's experience is admittedly atypical. Of course, that's also why we invited him to work out of Sunfire - I saw his stuff and was like, shit, this guy can really crank it out. Anyhow, I should probably address some of the comments further up the page: Brett's the real thing and his company actually makes a Real Product. I'm afraid he hasn't put out any other public marketing materials because they've been working on the actual code. I know I probably don't have any credibility here (i.e. less than Brett himself since I don't post much on HN) but I'll still say - trust me, it's not just some crap marketing. Brett: you should frickin release already! Sunfire was one of his beta-testing organizations and we'd like to be let into the new version, please.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- bretthellman 15y agoThanks Yishan, re:launching, we're working on that now. any day
- lennysan 15y agoIs it worth putting the time at a big company like Intuit, or if you were to do it over would you go straight to your own startup?
- bretthellman 15y agoDepends on where you are in your career. Straight out of college I wouldn't recommend going to most big companies... you'll learn bad habits and not be pushed to do your best work. Join a startup.
- mikepmalai 15y ago"What I did take away from Intuit was an essential skill: How to rapidly test and iterate on ideas until you finally get to an indispensable product." I found that comment really interesting since I've heard this from multiple current and ex Intuit employees. Given how "hot" the lean start-up methodology is, you'd think Intuit would push this more in their recruiting.
- gunz_rozez 15y agoWhat is also interesting is that it appears like Intuit known for essentially building accounting software and accounting software inherently does not elicit "lean" emotions has a pretty good process in place where employees can translate their skills in the startup world. Like you had already mentioned that would be an invaluable recruiting tool.
- slewis 15y agoCan you give some examples of some bad habits you might learn? 40 hour weeks?
- bretthellman 15y agoDuring my first month at Intuit as Product Manger who coded, I pitched some ideas to my leader at the time. His feedback was to try to come up with ideas that were more practical. That pretty much sums it up. To credit Intuit, that leader is no longer with the company. The problem imo is this type of thinking shapes the way people think. On the flip side, VCs/Investors/Angels are only interested in the big ideas that sounds crazy that big companies reject.
- Hisoka 15y agoWhat is Hall.com going to be about, and how much did the domain name cost you:
- bretthellman 15y agoGreat question! We'll be releasing another story in the next few days as we open our doors to the world. Right now we are in private beta with 28k people in line for a hallpass.
- bretthellman 15y agoRe: the domain name, beside hard work, we reached a fair deal thanks to some investor & legal advice. I'd be happy to share in another post if you're interested? Let me know...
- rudiger 15y agoI'd like to read the story behind getting the hall.com domain, as well as the 'hall' Facebook and Twitter handles.
- stfu 15y agoI am interested in the domain name and other "handlers" story as well. Would be great if you could share it.
- bretthellman 15y agoThat's great to know there is interest. I'll work that into a future post. If you need to know sooner for your startup, my email is above. Or coffee in mtn - my treat.
- Hisoka 15y agoYes, I would like to read a post about it.. also would like to know how you manage to get 28K in private beta if you are willing to share that secret haha
- 15y ago
- gunz_rozez 15y agoHow do/did you convince other employees/partners to join you in this venture....Just having the faith is not good enough right?
- bretthellman 15y agoHaving well known investors certainly helped. that and the idea and technologies they'd be working with made the difference
- bretthellman 15y agoIf anyone has any other questions/thoughts... I'm in Mtn View and always up for chatting over coffee.
- bretthellman 15y agobrett @ hall-inc.com
- porterhaney 15y agoBrett, curious without a cofounder and no employees, how much had you built before you raised your seed round?
- bretthellman 15y ago@porterhaney What's important is to show you can execute on what you're pitching. We also had solid metrics (retention etc...)
- dustineichler 15y agoWhat's a 100% of nothing re: retention. No offense, but it sounds as though networking paid dividends, not what you had built... at all.
- ChuckFrank 15y agoAnd Hall.com does what exactly. I've danced from your blog to your twitter and over to your fb and back, Then over to your .com which sends me back to your twitter, which says that if I read your blog, I can tweet a hall pass, for what? Okay so then I googled Hall.com and still nothing. And herein we talk about how much the domain costs, and what your start-up experience is like (newsflash -- more creative control -- thanks) And still there's no word on hall.com. Yet we have page after page of startup advice about being able to pitch our concept in an ice storm on a sinking ship, while the band plays and the Hotsy Totsies wink. Three Words -- Netflix for Comics. Done. But still these pages fill with little teases here and there about the brilliant work that is being done, without actually saying what it is exactly. So, dear sir, back to you -- in three or four words -- Hall is ..... in real life only better. Hall is ..... the new new coke. Hall is ..... Qwikster with a c. Hall is ...... kids in the. Hall is ...... Heuristic ALgorithmic Laboratory
- bretthellman 15y agoChuck, sorry if we caused any frustration. We had not updated our followers in some time and wanted to send out an update. We have 28k+ people in line and several have emailed asking for a status update. We'll be answer your question very soon and opening the doors to HALL.com. Thanks
- timjahn 15y agoYet you didn't answer the very simple question of "What does your company do?"
- omonra 15y agoWhat exactly are they in line for? This sounds like Soviet Union circa 1980s (ie across the board shortages) when people would join a line in front of a store just because one was formed - without any clue as to what was offered. I have to say this 'i want attention but i won't reveal why I deserve it' attitude very annoying.
- gunz_rozez 15y ago
- calloc 15y agoWhy should I care about why you quit and your new project? What is hall.com? Clearly I am not the first person to ask this question. Why should I bother asking for a "hallpass"? It sounds like a marketing campaign... yet I can't find any information on what you are doing...
- rosstafarian 15y agoAm i the only one that finds it shady that this guy refuses to say what his company does and only weedles when asked directly? "We have 28k people in line! We'll tell you what we do later!" I can understand trying to create buzz with mystery, but come on sounds like the ads on craigslist asking for a programmer to work on the next big thing thats a total secret or some one will steal it!
- mikk0j 15y ago28K is an indication of nothing if they don't know what your product is about.