4 ms·

A recent college graduate named David decides to pursue entrepreneurship instead of employment, so he moves to the Silicon Valley. He has a big idea for a web

by dbosson 19y ago

A recent college graduate named David decides to pursue entrepreneurship instead of employment, so he moves to the Silicon Valley. He has a big idea for a web application, $50,000, and the application designed in adobe illustrator. He does not have a technical background or a co-founder[s]. WHAT SHOULD HE DO?

bootload 19y ago
"... He does not have a technical background or a co-founder[s] ..." Find a co-founder & work on a personal problem to solve (because you have no ideas) #6 & #7~ http://www.paulgraham.com/notnot.html http://www.paulgraham.com/notnot.html Find a technical co-founder that can program, work on a problem that you have (hint: maybe it could be I can't find a co-founder) #1, #6 & #7 ~ http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html There is a problem with non-technical founders having the right location, some seed money & an idea. The idea will probably change so being obstinate is a mistake #5, #6 ~ http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html The key thing is a technical co-founder(s), pronto & see if their skillset complements yours (btw you didn't mention what area you graduated?). Think Woz & Jobs for example. You need to find your Woz!, your idea and move from there. "... and the application designed in adobe illustrator ..." But this is a sketch right? There are lots of problems thinking this will be your end product. It will change. The most important one being, "is it what people want (& willing to pay for)?". Obstinacy is a mistake #5 ~ http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html
- dbosson 19y ago
  I am very confident in both the idea and the design, but I am not stuck on either. The idea has already completely changed once, and has slightly changed several more times. I know a lot of people claim to have big ideas and it is tough to believe them because talk is cheap, but this is real! Something is going to happen and if anyone is serious about doing a startup I would love to get together to talk. Even if we dont end up working together [passionate young people discussing Ideas, the future, and making life better] couldnt hurt.
willarson 19y ago
The pruning method of choice seems to be evaluating developers based on their contributions to open source projects. You have to be at fairly proficient to successfully submit code to a well run open source project, because bad patches usually won't be accepted (fairly... well... bad... usually... not a very strong sentence is it :p). AFAIK, the YC route is similar but a bit broader: ask them for any kind of interesting projects they have built. You would need to have someone technical take a look at them (or you could probably post something here and you'd get half a dozen people's opinions on the quality of the work). Depending on how difficult the idea is to implement (and I realize that this is hard for you to gauge), you may be able to go the Guy Kawasaki route of outsourcing the development. The general rule of thumb the community seems to have agreed upon is that as long as your chief product isn't technology (i.e. technology is not your core focus), then outsourcing at least the initial build is not untenable. Feel free to shoot me an email if you want to discuss anything in private, I give you my solemn vow not to leak your project... anyway, I have too many other things to work on already :)
- dbosson 19y ago
  Your right I dont know for sure, but I think the idea will require lots of code and be difficult to implement. I also feel the idea has some viral qualities and may need to scale rather quickly. I would be willing to take on more than one cofounder as long as we were all on the same page, and vested. I dont think outsourcing would work, because I already have some more ideas to implement down the road, plus I want somebody to share the struggle and joy with. Thanks for your advice and the option to contact you for more. I will probably email you soon. Let me digest my thoughts. I still want to find out about provisional patents and what I should do to protect my IP as I look for a co-founder.
jey 19y ago
David seems to have put the cart in front of the horse and needs to very quickly find some top-notch programming talent. David should email me, and I can put him in touch with some excellent developers in the SF bay area. The guys I will recommend to you are Real Programmers (Hackers) [1] [2] each of whom has a wide background, from systems software to web apps. (As opposed to people who have not written much real software and who have only picked up the art from a "Teach Yourself Web Development in 24 Picoseconds!" book. [3]) You can also try attending local events and trying to meet people, e.g. at Lunch 2.0s and Super Happy Dev House (shdh.org). The problem with this approach is that since you do not have a technical background, you'll have a hard time distinguishing competent people from people who are able to just talk well and promote themselves. You want to work with someone who can communicate well, but you don't want to get stuck with someone who can only communicate well but can't code worth crap. N.B. If your idea sucks, you're not going to get good people to work with you. Also... why is there no contact info in your profile? If someone here wanted to get in touch with you to work with you, they'd look in your profile for an email address. 1. http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh/hacker.html http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh/hacker.html 2. http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html#what_is http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html#what_is 3. http://norvig.com/21-days.html http://norvig.com/21-days.html
- dbosson 19y ago
  David seems to have put the cart in front of the horse and needs to very quickly find some top-notch programming talent. It would be nice to find top notch programming talent quickly, but I am not going to rush this decision. I need to make sure this person[s] has integrity, good energy, is in a position both mentally and financially to do a startup, and above all if we enjoy each other. I will email you to get in touch with the developers you know My email is dbosson@gmail.com if anyone else want to get together.
staunch 19y ago
Look at the story of Kevin Rose/Digg for some inspiration. He's pretty technical, but not a programmer and didn't do the coding on Digg. Utilize open source projects (freshmeat.net). Stuff like the CMS Joomla and forum software like phpBB. You don't need a day job, so that's 18+ hours/day to teach yourself technical stuff. If that $50k is tax free you have at least 1.5 years living expenses and enough cash to pay contractors on elance/craigslist to fill in the gaps.
- dbosson 19y ago
  I could spend 18+ hours a day learning to program but that is just not what I am passionate about and it would take me longer than 1.5 years to get good. I would much rather spend my time designing and working with people, and I would much rather spend my money on servers than rent.
  - staunch 19y ago
    It sounds like you're not interested in alternative approaches. I won't bother expounding further. Good luck anyway.
    - dbosson 19y ago
      I am open to alternative approaches please expound.
      - staunch 19y ago
        You've had a lot of good responses. Why don't you tell us the general type of startup you want to create? That'd improve the advice you'll get tremendously. My suggestion is that you get your hands dirty. See how much progress you can make. Be tricky: take short cuts, use open source software, use third party services, etc. If you're genuine and inventive in your effort I bet you can create at least a prototype. That's not just sketches on cocktail napkins, it's actual progress towards your goal.
        19y ago

by dbosson 19y ago

bootload 19y ago

"... He does not have a technical background or a co-founder[s] ..." Find a co-founder & work on a personal problem to solve (because you have no ideas) #6 & #7~ http://www.paulgraham.com/notnot.html http://www.paulgraham.com/notnot.html Find a technical co-founder that can program, work on a problem that you have (hint: maybe it could be I can't find a co-founder) #1, #6 & #7 ~ http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html There is a problem with non-technical founders having the right location, some seed money & an idea. The idea will probably change so being obstinate is a mistake #5, #6 ~ http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html The key thing is a technical co-founder(s), pronto & see if their skillset complements yours (btw you didn't mention what area you graduated?). Think Woz & Jobs for example. You need to find your Woz!, your idea and move from there. "... and the application designed in adobe illustrator ..." But this is a sketch right? There are lots of problems thinking this will be your end product. It will change. The most important one being, "is it what people want (& willing to pay for)?". Obstinacy is a mistake #5 ~ http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html

dbosson 19y ago
I am very confident in both the idea and the design, but I am not stuck on either. The idea has already completely changed once, and has slightly changed several more times. I know a lot of people claim to have big ideas and it is tough to believe them because talk is cheap, but this is real! Something is going to happen and if anyone is serious about doing a startup I would love to get together to talk. Even if we dont end up working together [passionate young people discussing Ideas, the future, and making life better] couldnt hurt.

willarson 19y ago

The pruning method of choice seems to be evaluating developers based on their contributions to open source projects. You have to be at fairly proficient to successfully submit code to a well run open source project, because bad patches usually won't be accepted (fairly... well... bad... usually... not a very strong sentence is it :p). AFAIK, the YC route is similar but a bit broader: ask them for any kind of interesting projects they have built. You would need to have someone technical take a look at them (or you could probably post something here and you'd get half a dozen people's opinions on the quality of the work). Depending on how difficult the idea is to implement (and I realize that this is hard for you to gauge), you may be able to go the Guy Kawasaki route of outsourcing the development. The general rule of thumb the community seems to have agreed upon is that as long as your chief product isn't technology (i.e. technology is not your core focus), then outsourcing at least the initial build is not untenable. Feel free to shoot me an email if you want to discuss anything in private, I give you my solemn vow not to leak your project... anyway, I have too many other things to work on already :)

dbosson 19y ago
Your right I dont know for sure, but I think the idea will require lots of code and be difficult to implement. I also feel the idea has some viral qualities and may need to scale rather quickly. I would be willing to take on more than one cofounder as long as we were all on the same page, and vested. I dont think outsourcing would work, because I already have some more ideas to implement down the road, plus I want somebody to share the struggle and joy with. Thanks for your advice and the option to contact you for more. I will probably email you soon. Let me digest my thoughts. I still want to find out about provisional patents and what I should do to protect my IP as I look for a co-founder.

jey 19y ago

David seems to have put the cart in front of the horse and needs to very quickly find some top-notch programming talent. David should email me, and I can put him in touch with some excellent developers in the SF bay area. The guys I will recommend to you are Real Programmers (Hackers) [1] [2] each of whom has a wide background, from systems software to web apps. (As opposed to people who have not written much real software and who have only picked up the art from a "Teach Yourself Web Development in 24 Picoseconds!" book. [3]) You can also try attending local events and trying to meet people, e.g. at Lunch 2.0s and Super Happy Dev House (shdh.org). The problem with this approach is that since you do not have a technical background, you'll have a hard time distinguishing competent people from people who are able to just talk well and promote themselves. You want to work with someone who can communicate well, but you don't want to get stuck with someone who can only communicate well but can't code worth crap. N.B. If your idea sucks, you're not going to get good people to work with you. Also... why is there no contact info in your profile? If someone here wanted to get in touch with you to work with you, they'd look in your profile for an email address. 1. http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh/hacker.html http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~bh/hacker.html 2. http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html#what_is http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html#what_is 3. http://norvig.com/21-days.html http://norvig.com/21-days.html

dbosson 19y ago
David seems to have put the cart in front of the horse and needs to very quickly find some top-notch programming talent. It would be nice to find top notch programming talent quickly, but I am not going to rush this decision. I need to make sure this person[s] has integrity, good energy, is in a position both mentally and financially to do a startup, and above all if we enjoy each other. I will email you to get in touch with the developers you know My email is dbosson@gmail.com if anyone else want to get together.

staunch 19y ago

Look at the story of Kevin Rose/Digg for some inspiration. He's pretty technical, but not a programmer and didn't do the coding on Digg. Utilize open source projects (freshmeat.net). Stuff like the CMS Joomla and forum software like phpBB. You don't need a day job, so that's 18+ hours/day to teach yourself technical stuff. If that $50k is tax free you have at least 1.5 years living expenses and enough cash to pay contractors on elance/craigslist to fill in the gaps.

dbosson 19y ago
I could spend 18+ hours a day learning to program but that is just not what I am passionate about and it would take me longer than 1.5 years to get good. I would much rather spend my time designing and working with people, and I would much rather spend my money on servers than rent.
- staunch 19y ago
  It sounds like you're not interested in alternative approaches. I won't bother expounding further. Good luck anyway.
  - dbosson 19y ago
    I am open to alternative approaches please expound.
    - staunch 19y ago
      You've had a lot of good responses. Why don't you tell us the general type of startup you want to create? That'd improve the advice you'll get tremendously. My suggestion is that you get your hands dirty. See how much progress you can make. Be tricky: take short cuts, use open source software, use third party services, etc. If you're genuine and inventive in your effort I bet you can create at least a prototype. That's not just sketches on cocktail napkins, it's actual progress towards your goal.
      - 19y ago