4 ms·

Need Help HN – Longtime HNer Needs Help

12 points by sharibrowner 13y ago

This is a pseudonym. Don't want to publicly reveal my identity. Fear? Pride? Maybe. Am like most of you. Have a few K Karma, been here for a while. Love patio11's comments, grellas's legal analysis of stuff that bother me, and YC. I build web apps for clients, but am working on my own product. A non-tech product, so won't be launching on HN (rather where my customers are). All new products, take a while. Since it is non-tech, I can't just ship and fix bugs later. The feedback/shipping loop is much longer than a web app. I am now disillusioned with building web apps. Last few months, a client ran out of money mid-project and other prospective leads have been dragging their feet. The result has been a MAJOR cash crunch the last 4 months. Scraped by on savings for the two months, and credit cards since. But have reached my limits and need options. Married with 3 young kids and stay-at-home wife. I don't want to get a job because I know my product launch is around the corner (perhaps the next few weeks - few months). Ideally, I would like to do some contract work. My skillset: Rails developer; MBA, with a solid grasp of finance and startups; Learn quickly. Looking For: A few flat-fee contracts; Range: $5K - $20K; I can analyze data, pull out trends, and give you new insight to help you make business decisions; Even data accessible only via a RESTful API; Think customer acquisition costs, conversion rates, determine margins, traffic analysis trends; I LOVE solving business problems; The gig should also be remote-friendly, via Skype or something. Once we connect, I will reveal my identity to you - but ask you to keep it private. If I can truly add value, let me know. Not to sound cavalier, but don't want pity work. This is not a woe-is-me post. Just a baring-it-all post, hoping that someone that has a need for my particular skillset will take a risk. Be gentle plz - shari.browner+hn@gmail.com Thanks.

relaunched 13y ago
I don't have any work that fits into your criteria, or otherwise really, but I can offer this...Just get a job. Whatever the job is, you have people depending on you and clearly have the ability to work. It might take you longer to launch, it might not. You might have to give up nights and weekends, or you might have to give up the project altogether...but, get a job. This advice is coming from someone who worked on a startup for almost 2 years, with a wife and child and no other substantial or reliable income.
- avenger123 13y ago
  I will definitely second this. If you can get your contract work, that is excellent. Otherwise, with your MBA and your fiance skills you should be able to get a high paying work. I find the HN mentality of "I don't want a job" or "I hate what I'm doing" a bit immature. When you have just yourself, who cares. When there's others involved its a completely different story. In your case, you have 3 kids plus a wife depending on you. Suck it up and get a job and plan financially better so that you have a large runway to do your business. You have incredible value to offer to a company who will pay a premium to leverage this value. Here's another way to look at this: Is your choice to not get a job add more value to your family versus going out there and making 80k-150k? You will have much better chance of succeeding with your company when you know your family is provided for.
  - sharibrowner 13y ago
    It's not that I have a mentality that I "don't want a job".....and I know how it must seem without knowing the details of the stage of the project. I guess you could consider this request almost like 'bridge financing', except I am trading my knowledge and work output for the financing rather than equity or debt :) If push comes to shove, I may have to do that....but I am hoping to avoid that if I can. Thanks for the encouragement though.

12 points by sharibrowner 13y ago

relaunched 13y ago

I don't have any work that fits into your criteria, or otherwise really, but I can offer this...Just get a job. Whatever the job is, you have people depending on you and clearly have the ability to work. It might take you longer to launch, it might not. You might have to give up nights and weekends, or you might have to give up the project altogether...but, get a job. This advice is coming from someone who worked on a startup for almost 2 years, with a wife and child and no other substantial or reliable income.

avenger123 13y ago
I will definitely second this. If you can get your contract work, that is excellent. Otherwise, with your MBA and your fiance skills you should be able to get a high paying work. I find the HN mentality of "I don't want a job" or "I hate what I'm doing" a bit immature. When you have just yourself, who cares. When there's others involved its a completely different story. In your case, you have 3 kids plus a wife depending on you. Suck it up and get a job and plan financially better so that you have a large runway to do your business. You have incredible value to offer to a company who will pay a premium to leverage this value. Here's another way to look at this: Is your choice to not get a job add more value to your family versus going out there and making 80k-150k? You will have much better chance of succeeding with your company when you know your family is provided for.
- sharibrowner 13y ago
  It's not that I have a mentality that I "don't want a job".....and I know how it must seem without knowing the details of the stage of the project. I guess you could consider this request almost like 'bridge financing', except I am trading my knowledge and work output for the financing rather than equity or debt :) If push comes to shove, I may have to do that....but I am hoping to avoid that if I can. Thanks for the encouragement though.