6 ms·

You're new here, so I thought I'd let you know: Hacker News is about actual conversation and debate, and not a contest on who can be most negative or contrary.

by garry 13y ago

You're new here, so I thought I'd let you know: Hacker News is about actual conversation and debate, and not a contest on who can be most negative or contrary. There's not enough to be learned from that, and we might as well not have that conversation at all. It's not enough to say something is bullshit. Why is it? What part? How do you know?

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- kevingibbon 13y ago
  "it's becoming cheaper to start a startup, and startups are becoming a more normal thing to do" You can now start a company with a few hundred dollars. All that's left is food and rent. This is the first time in history when this has been possible.
  - kevingibbon 13y ago
    My co-founder and I have $2500 into our business http://shyp.com http://shyp.com. This includes the domain name and all server usage to date. We use zipcars to do pickups and are already profitable on a per transaction basis. We have a large house in SF and rent our extra rooms on Airbnb. This covers rent + food. We have yet to take any external funding.
  - _delirium 13y ago
    > This is the first time in history when this has been possible. That's overstating it a bit. Plenty of '80s software companies were bootstrapped for the cost of food+rent+computer, with shareware demos distributed via BBS.
    - rdouble 13y ago
      Even Apple was started as a bootstrapped effort.
      - adventured 13y ago
        Microsoft as well. They required no outside capital, and Gates & Allen put in a modest sum (equal to maybe $10,000 today). Their customers funded the business.
        kevingibbon 13y ago
        These are definitely outliers.
    - kevingibbon 13y ago
      Agreed, I did overstate it a bit. It has been possible before. It has just recently became a lot easier.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- acoyfellow 13y ago
  There is definitely a third option. You don't need to have an idea, or even investment to start a company now a days. Maybe your definition of company is much larger, but there are people who has successfully launched a SaaS company with a) no idea of what they were building and b) no money to build it themselves initially and c) no development skills to build it themselves. I am not affiliated at all, nor am i member of this group/company but I suggest you go check out http://thefoundation.com http://thefoundation.com -- get the free case study about Sam. It's loaded with great information.. But the TLDR is simple: Dane Maxwell has a "system" he teaches entrepreneurs. It's a way to source a market for an idea, then actually find paying customers who are willing to wait for the product, then you turn around and use that capital as inital investment for developers. it's a system that has been replicated, and it's quite inspiring. There are also people like Amy Hoy http://unicornfree.com http://unicornfree.com who actually hits many of the same types of "philosophies" when it comes to building a SaaS company. "There are too many bad companies out there" -- then don't give them your money. HackerNews community really looks down upon things like petty insults (and I believe you just called the founder of Y Combinator [creator of this site] dumb).

by garry 13y ago

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

kevingibbon 13y ago
"it's becoming cheaper to start a startup, and startups are becoming a more normal thing to do" You can now start a company with a few hundred dollars. All that's left is food and rent. This is the first time in history when this has been possible.
- kevingibbon 13y ago
  My co-founder and I have $2500 into our business http://shyp.com http://shyp.com. This includes the domain name and all server usage to date. We use zipcars to do pickups and are already profitable on a per transaction basis. We have a large house in SF and rent our extra rooms on Airbnb. This covers rent + food. We have yet to take any external funding.
- _delirium 13y ago
  > This is the first time in history when this has been possible. That's overstating it a bit. Plenty of '80s software companies were bootstrapped for the cost of food+rent+computer, with shareware demos distributed via BBS.
  - rdouble 13y ago
    Even Apple was started as a bootstrapped effort.
    - adventured 13y ago
      Microsoft as well. They required no outside capital, and Gates & Allen put in a modest sum (equal to maybe $10,000 today). Their customers funded the business.
      - kevingibbon 13y ago
        These are definitely outliers.
  - kevingibbon 13y ago
    Agreed, I did overstate it a bit. It has been possible before. It has just recently became a lot easier.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
acoyfellow 13y ago
There is definitely a third option. You don't need to have an idea, or even investment to start a company now a days. Maybe your definition of company is much larger, but there are people who has successfully launched a SaaS company with a) no idea of what they were building and b) no money to build it themselves initially and c) no development skills to build it themselves. I am not affiliated at all, nor am i member of this group/company but I suggest you go check out http://thefoundation.com http://thefoundation.com -- get the free case study about Sam. It's loaded with great information.. But the TLDR is simple: Dane Maxwell has a "system" he teaches entrepreneurs. It's a way to source a market for an idea, then actually find paying customers who are willing to wait for the product, then you turn around and use that capital as inital investment for developers. it's a system that has been replicated, and it's quite inspiring. There are also people like Amy Hoy http://unicornfree.com http://unicornfree.com who actually hits many of the same types of "philosophies" when it comes to building a SaaS company. "There are too many bad companies out there" -- then don't give them your money. HackerNews community really looks down upon things like petty insults (and I believe you just called the founder of Y Combinator [creator of this site] dumb).