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Wow, thank you so much for replying, it really means a lot to hear any sort of feedback! We spent the past year on textbooks alone because we knew the space an

Wow, thank you so much for replying, it really means a lot to hear any sort of feedback! We spent the past year on textbooks alone because we knew the space and had the code. As the year and summer progresses, we will be moving more permanently into the geographically-based marketplace space, with an emphasis on the Craigslist style of meeting someone at a location to exchange goods, or pick something up. Starting with colleges (because it's a community of people who generally have good reason to trust one another), I'd like to see us develop a product that allows students to resell textbooks to one another, sell furniture to one another, etc. That said, obviously it's a space heavily occupied right now. My guess is (if you'll read my response) you'll hardly change your mind, and that's great too -- the fact you responded at all means a lot to me!

glimcat 13y ago
It's not a space I'd personally want to touch with a ten foot pole and a government handout. But so what? You're enjoying it, and from the sounds of it you're probably making enough that nobody involved is going to starve or end up buried under a debt mountain. Managing the downside risk works out to "use a lawyer and don't sign anything with stupid terms." As long as you're keeping your skills up, your failure mode is "quit, get a job somewhere playing code monkey for (floor $60k/yr, ceil ???)." You've got a safety net that is virtually unrivaled in history. So go nuts, be young, spend a few years making mistakes and learning stuff. As career trajectories go, "failed startup" is far better for your resume than "agency seat filler" - at least for the next year or three, and assuming you do your due diligence with regard to skills maintenance, networking, and documenting your expertise (which would be equally important as an agency seat filler). Yeah, there are better ways to optimize for career trajectory. If that's your sole priority, you should probably land a job at Googlesoft or in a field like finance, then spend the next year or three focused on networking your ass off. But would you be happy with it, during or after? Probably less so. Since neither option is exactly going to have you standing in the bread line, even if your choice of venture turns out to be a spectacular failure - you're free to choose based on personal fulfillment, not just socioeconomic leverage. And, you know, it could work out. Which would be nice, but it's not something that's necessary for it to be worth your time.
- jamesroseman 13y ago
  Thank you so much for the reply, it means a lot. These are the kinds of points I've been thinking, but wanted to make sure I wasn't overly confident in thinking. It's very very nice hearing it from someone else. Thank you for your time!

glimcat 13y ago

It's not a space I'd personally want to touch with a ten foot pole and a government handout. But so what? You're enjoying it, and from the sounds of it you're probably making enough that nobody involved is going to starve or end up buried under a debt mountain. Managing the downside risk works out to "use a lawyer and don't sign anything with stupid terms." As long as you're keeping your skills up, your failure mode is "quit, get a job somewhere playing code monkey for (floor $60k/yr, ceil ???)." You've got a safety net that is virtually unrivaled in history. So go nuts, be young, spend a few years making mistakes and learning stuff. As career trajectories go, "failed startup" is far better for your resume than "agency seat filler" - at least for the next year or three, and assuming you do your due diligence with regard to skills maintenance, networking, and documenting your expertise (which would be equally important as an agency seat filler). Yeah, there are better ways to optimize for career trajectory. If that's your sole priority, you should probably land a job at Googlesoft or in a field like finance, then spend the next year or three focused on networking your ass off. But would you be happy with it, during or after? Probably less so. Since neither option is exactly going to have you standing in the bread line, even if your choice of venture turns out to be a spectacular failure - you're free to choose based on personal fulfillment, not just socioeconomic leverage. And, you know, it could work out. Which would be nice, but it's not something that's necessary for it to be worth your time.

jamesroseman 13y ago
Thank you so much for the reply, it means a lot. These are the kinds of points I've been thinking, but wanted to make sure I wasn't overly confident in thinking. It's very very nice hearing it from someone else. Thank you for your time!