5 ms·
Fundraising: From $1,000 To $1,000,000
- jasonlbaptiste 15y agoHey, I wouldn't have a book or really anything without hacker news. I'll give away a ton of free books here. Just email me: j@onswipe.com with the subject line, HN Free Book and include your twitter handle if you have one. Will mail and sign. Sadly, DRM won't let me give kindle or digital version :(
- dguaraglia 15y agoAwesome, you are getting my e-mail right away!
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- mwww 15y agoSounds great, thank you! Just sent you an email. Hope you're sending to Poland :-)
- zackattack 15y agoThank you!
- sethbannon 15y agoThanks for this, Jason. You've always epitomized one of the best things about the startup world -- that those who have achieved some level of success take it as their duty to mentor and assist the next generation of entrepreneurs. After all, none of us would be where we are today without our own great mentors along the way.
- jasonlbaptiste 15y agoThank you a ton. This industry is where it is because it's about pay it forward. Be fortunate enough to do well, teach those lessons, and pass those connections forward. I had to get everything I wish I knew 5 years ago down on paper.
- spsaaibi 15y agoAwesome! I'm looking forward to reading your book! Thanks for passing your lessons on.
- odnamra 15y agoI can't believe how awesome you are for doing this. I've been following you on twitter for awhile and consider you a role model for how a new/young CEO should behave. This isn't the first time you've freely shared your knowledge, and it certainly won't be the last, so thank you! Thank you very much indeed!
- jcnnghm 15y agoThis is an amazingly generous offer. Thank you!
- xxpor 15y agoYou can sell your Kindle books without DRM if you're the publisher. Ah just saw on Amazon you're published by Penguin. Guess this doesn't apply then.
- dedene 15y agoThanks a lot, that's awesome!
- buro9 15y agoA very kind offer. Being in the UK I've taken such offers in the past, but unless you mark every package as a gift and fill in the paperwork for it, HMRC will slap on an import tax and Royal Mail slap on a handling fee. With that in mind, it's cheaper and less hassle to obtain the free book by paying for it. I've gone and purchased the Kindle version. Wouldn't have done so without your offer though, and that is appreciated as are all your comments on here.
- johncoogan 15y agoThanks a lot. I've been looking forward to the book since hearing you speak in Boston at Xconomy. Can't wait to read it.
- motti_s 15y ago"Business Plans are Dead" Good riddance. It's so frustrating to waste countless hours working on a detailed plan that you and anyone who reads it know is wrong. Such a pointless exercise. It is important to have a plan, but not a formal business plan per se.
- citricsquid 15y ago> Is your business large enough? Most companies are not large enough to be backed by venture capital. To raise venture capital, companies should be in multibillion-dollar markets or have the potential to make revenues of more than one hundred million dollars a year. That seems to be a nonsensical and arbitrary figure pulled out of thin air. Let's say hypothetically there's a business that needs $1m to start, the maximum revenue it can make is $50m/year of which $20m is profit. Why shouldn't they raise venture capital? The business would be providing a return for the investors because the business would be making money. Not every company needs to be making billions of dollars to exist. VCs make their money by investing less in a company than their stake is/will be worth, if they invest $1m for 10% of the company and that company is then making $20m/year profit they have made a worthwhile investment... haven't they?
- davidcann 15y ago$1m is more in the range of angel investments than VCs. I think angel investors would be very happy with a $20m/year profit company after only $1m investment.
- gyardley 15y agoToo early to say. VCs get paid when they can sell their stock, not when the company makes a profit. Business making money != VCs making money. (Also, VC-backed business making money != founders making money. Your VC probably isn't going to let your company issue a dividend, which is how you'd get those profits out.) The $100MM is probably a 'minimum revenue to plausibly take the company public and get paid' figure.
- citricsquid 15y agoSo my understanding of raising money is completely wrong, the only part that matters to investors is if the company goes public or is sold?
- dfriedmn 15y agoNo, it's not wrong - but as always it's complicated. VC's have a relatively short time horizon within which they need to provide a return to their LP's, and their returns typically are driven by a few outsized successes (>7-10x). Sometimes entire funds can be made because of one mega-hit, and that always seems to be on people's minds when considering cos. Dividends aren't ideal for returning a fund, and investors are often nervous about deals with a capped upside.
- jsmith72 15y agoWould love you take you up on that offer.
- andreheinemann 15y agoGenerous offer... Will take you up on it.