ryancarson

11 ms·

91.
by ryancarson 14y ago
I wasn't offended at all :) Just pointing out that I was taking the same risk as I had no guarantee of success.
92.
by ryancarson 14y ago
Fair point on the timing of your essay. I didn't realize it was written before you started YC. Can you guys please release your empirical data about the success rates of YC companies, broken down by various things like market, year founded,
93.
by ryancarson 14y ago
As PG said in the comment above, businesses with Co-Founders have a better chance of becoming "really big". I'm not sure what data they have about company survival and what "really big" means in terms of revenue and net profit.
94.
by ryancarson 14y ago
I don't think you're mischaracterizing it (new word for me :D). I'm writing the post out of my own personal experience. I wanted to point out that your advice is optimized for the success of Y Combinator (as it should be). This of course do
95.
by ryancarson 14y ago
Hi Pete - great hearing from you. :) Yes, Gill has played a huge role in running our earlier businesses. She has also supported me hugely during the running of Treehouse. But I've shouldered the weight of making all of the big decisions a
96.
by ryancarson 14y ago
Exactly. This is why I used cash from my other business to bootstrap.
97.
by ryancarson 14y ago
We're not profitable yet. That's the whole reason we raised $5m in Apr 2012: To increase head count faster than revenue growth.
98.
by ryancarson 14y ago
The only way to survive is to be naively optimistic ;)
99.
by ryancarson 14y ago
You act as if I knew Treehouse was going to be a success. When we launched it I had no idea if we'd make it.
100.
by ryancarson 14y ago
Agreed. It's very hard to completely align.
101.
You can do it alone(ryancarson.com)
534 points by ryancarson 14y ago|170 comments
102.
by ryancarson 14y ago
It was down to the fact that I couldn't accrue future staff costs towards the event. Yes, I would've had much more power if their was multiple interested buyers but it wouldn't have changed this very real accounting problem. Essentially, I
103.
Mistakes I made as a young entrepreneur(ryancarson.com)
112 points by ryancarson 14y ago|19 comments
104.
Treehouse launches Learning Adventures(teamtreehouse.com)
10 points by ryancarson 14y ago|2 comments
105.
by ryancarson 14y ago
I'm the Founder at Treehouse. This isn't about replacing or outsourcing Developer's jobs. Treehouse will help non-technical people skill up so they can launch MVP products. It will also help experts stay up-to-date on their skills.
106.
by ryancarson 14y ago
Thanks. People seem to be used to not working now on Fridays. It does happen occasionally when we have a big deadline, but not consistently.
107.
by ryancarson 14y ago
Had a blast giving this talk. The format really seemed to work: six topics for ten minutes each (six minutes talking, four minutes taking questions).
108.
Video: Six things I've learned as a startup founder(ryancarson.com)
17 points by ryancarson 14y ago|3 comments
109.
by ryancarson 14y ago
"KPI" is a common term that most people are aware of, so it's mostly about avoiding confusion.
110.
by ryancarson 14y ago
It's hard to affect most KPIs in 7 days. However, it really depends on what you're measuring. For instance, you could switch a lot of the User Growth KPIs to weekly instead of monthly.
111.
by ryancarson 14y ago
I disagree. In a healthy startup, everyone wants to push towards the same goal and they welcome clarity and cohesion. We could've called them 'Buttercups'. The term doesn't matter - it's just an agreement of what the shared goal is.
112.
Hacking Home Depot to Save Big Bucks on Renovations(mrmoneymustache.com)
1 points by ryancarson 14y ago|0 comments
113.
How we avoid ‘Job Title Creep’ at our startup(ryancarson.com)
8 points by ryancarson 14y ago|2 comments
114.
by ryancarson 14y ago
Generally people understand that contracting rates aren't applicable to full-time employment. Primarily because their time isn't 100% booked as a freelancer.
115.
by ryancarson 14y ago
Fair comment. I think most people get too mired down in hiring that first person, instead of getting to MVP. Better to crank it out, get traction, and then build the proper team. Sure, it'd be better to hire the perfect person first, but th
116.
by ryancarson 14y ago
No problem - thanks for asking a great question.
117.
by ryancarson 14y ago
I'm moving to Portland Oregon, from the UK. I'm afraid that says it all :(
118.
by ryancarson 14y ago
Clearly you'll need both devs and designers. The theory behind hiring a good designer/frontend dev is that it'll allow you to iterate on UX much quicker, which is usually a bigger win for your customers. Clearly this is generalized advice
119.
by ryancarson 14y ago
"the first hire can also (in most legislations) start as a contractor or on trial period, which is a safety net for both the employee and the employer." Great point. That's happened to us in several instances.
120.
by ryancarson 14y ago
This is the value of using outsourced HR with a company like TriNet. They allow you to offer really competitive healthcare plans. I think it's really important from the beginning to say that you care enough about your employees to get them

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