thewordpainter

8 ms·

31.
Ask HN: How do you think .net, .co, .ly & .me stack up?
4 points by thewordpainter 15y ago|8 comments
32.
by thewordpainter 15y ago
more & more, i get the sense that a great % of the b2c startups that achieve critical mass do something 'sneaky' along the way to get over that initial hump. in facebook's case, the untold story is they basically blasted the university
33.
by thewordpainter 15y ago
to a bootstrapped entrepreneur who has literally run himself into the ground to get a b2c venture off the ground in a non-startup town, i can't afford to pay. the situation is made abundantly clear before they step through the door (and whe
34.
by thewordpainter 15y ago
curt, i'd be all for paying if the money was available. we have operated on a nonexistent budget and made it work. my only hesitation about bringing money into the equation is i believe it can cloud the focus...and when the going rate aroun
35.
by thewordpainter 15y ago
with you on that, peter. big proponent of the collective team effort. when i implied pitting them against each other, i was trying to imply that hopefully they have motivation to excel at their role instead of letting the dead weight bring
36.
by thewordpainter 15y ago
we're on the same page. they understand that the internship lasts a set timeframe. during the fall/spring, it's just an externship to help them boost their resumes. during the summer, they know it ends when they go back to school. i did a t
37.
by thewordpainter 15y ago
i encourage them to aspire to be indispensable. that's what the former intern that earned his spot did. i make sure their expectations coming in are understood. unpaid (we tell them to go out and find part-time (or full-time) paid work if m
38.
by thewordpainter 15y ago
" I suspect your interns know they're not going to get paid, but they should get something out of the deal. Are you giving them individual attention and making an effort to build relationships with these kids?" absolutely. i'm hands-on with
39.
by thewordpainter 15y ago
thanks for sharing the link. i'll admit i'm not nearly familiar enough with the federal labor laws, but from my undergrad experience, i know it's common practice around here for many of the opportunities to be unpaid. " Interns generally mu
40.
Ask HN: How to Motivate Unpaid Interns?
2 points by thewordpainter 15y ago|22 comments
41.
by thewordpainter 15y ago
surprisingly, i don't think it is. it's a nice little resource that IMDB tucks away -- why is the only mention in the bottom footer? fyi, we've always had our eye on doing something similar with http://gorankem.com (currently just music d
42.
by thewordpainter 15y ago
I originally remembering hearing about this 'phenomenon' during undergrad. It's a common heuristic that we think the gap is much larger than $.01 when it comes to the $4.99 -> $5.00 jump. Here's a link to the pretty extensive study that
43.
Ask HN: How did you supplement income when bootstrapping a B2C startup?
4 points by thewordpainter 15y ago|1 comments
44.
by thewordpainter 15y ago
You're hitting on a point that I've touched on before. For the most part Facebook's search is pretty weak, but I've had a number of times where I have specifically searched for keywords within my friends (e.g. who is going to a certain fest
45.
LinkedIn IPO boosted by 30 percent, to raise up to $352 million(reuters.com)
1 points by thewordpainter 15y ago|0 comments
46.
by thewordpainter 15y ago
I think the most underutilized resource is undergrad interns. I don't know exactly how competitive it is in the Valley, etc, but we have interns knocking down our doors to work with us at http://gorankem.com we're one of the sexy opportun
47.
by thewordpainter 15y ago
it's always good to hear what other people are looking at. " you're app costs how much? If they've gotten here too quickly, they'll see the price and run. Maybe your price is just too high. Look at the bounce rate of your application on tha
48.
by thewordpainter 16y ago
For efficiency's sake, I love the idea of directing managers to keep emails under 60 words. As David Allen described in Getting Things Done, if it takes you more than two minutes to address a note, put it off. Every email should be addressa
49.
by thewordpainter 16y ago
wow, exactly how i never want/will think like. i didn't know what to expect with that subject line, but it really lived up. outside of the joys of the startup adventure, i think bootstrapping teaches you some valuable life lessons. it reall
50.
by thewordpainter 16y ago
Also consider how much you'd be willing to invest overall. if they took off, you want to make sure you can maintain your stake. it's probably better to start with a more conservative position, and leave yourself room to re-up.
51.
by thewordpainter 16y ago
I think it's strange that the percentage is tied to a set time period for your contribution. Who knows exactly how long it will take at this stage? If I were you, the biggest question I would have would be posed in the mirror: do I believe
52.
by thewordpainter 16y ago
I'll go one step further and speculate that it's just a matter of time before Apple acquires Square as their payment platform moving forward (showcase at iPad 2 event was serious pub...)
53.
by thewordpainter 16y ago
I think ROG is spot-on with many of his initial generalizations. As much as I think the Graduate students are more focused and eager to learn, I don't think you'll find the same enthusiasm or creativity as you may encounter with your underg
54.
Forrester: Online Retail Industry In The US Will Be Worth $279 Billion In 2015(techcrunch.com)
3 points by thewordpainter 16y ago|0 comments
55.
Ask HN: Where do you find hard data for your industry?
1 points by thewordpainter 16y ago|1 comments
56.
by thewordpainter 16y ago
this reminds me of the worst band name of all-time: !!! they're actually fairly popular for those that aren't familiar, but i can only imagine how many potential fans they've lost because you can't readily find their online presences.
57.
DST Is Going To Pour $100 Million Into Spotify(businessinsider.com)
2 points by thewordpainter 16y ago|0 comments
58.
Ask HN: Equity Agreements
2 points by thewordpainter 16y ago|0 comments
59.
by thewordpainter 16y ago
no one can deny what groupon has accomplished to date. you have to give them props. as is, they have first-mover advantage (at least in terms of the group discount space taking off). i know i completely abandoned groupon in favor of scoutmo
60.
by thewordpainter 16y ago
The IFPI came out with a staggering statistic in 2009 that 95% of all downloads were done "illegally." Yet, (if I'm not mistaken) that 95% amounted to something like $4,700,000,000. Just imagine if that 5% illegally consumed was doubled --

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