Cmccann7

Agreed, very well said.

Here is an example of the specific chat we were having http://envolve.com/s?fG

This is made by http://www.envolve.com/, just installed it and already 10+ people are chatting on here

I think the myth comes from things like "4 hour work week" which push the dream that you can start a company to run on autopilot and just generate income for you.

While I'm sure there are exceptions, most startups are hard work and that work isn't going to magically disappear someday.

I agree with this. Hackers & Founders, Hacker Dojo, and the dev meetup groups are good places to start here in Silicon Valley.

A good resource for these events is www.thestartupdigest.com Warning: I am the co-founder so I might be a bit biased :)

I was actually in this exact situation about ~8 months ago. One of the best inspirational videos that got me through that time was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhqZ0RU95d4 . Caution: Gary is a little loud and obnoxious but he makes good points.

Even if you have a 8-5 day job, work the 8pm-2am night shift and stop complaining. Take @edw519's advice and make a list of 10 things you can do to create value and start doing them. Even if you have to be somewhere for 8+ hours that sucks use that time to your advantage.

There is no excuse for not making it happen, use that free time you do have to make meaning and create value.

I think the problem lies when these later stage VC firms pitch themselves as the "early stage/seed fund" to founders selling the dream that they will be the first money in.

I've met a few partners at those above larger firms who said exactly this and taking the time to meet with entrepreneurs who are just at the idea stage/first product and taking advantage of the situation.

try KISSinsights to poll your audience on if you should add features, what would they be, etc?

We used KISSinsights on HelpaStartupOut.com to help us pick the best categories, add additional ones, and remove the non useful ones. We're still in the learning stage but its good to get user input in shaping your product and figuring out how they actually use your product

Hackers and Founders & Meetups in Hacker Dojo are great places for physical meetups in the bay area.

We also launched a product called HelpaStartupOut.com where startups and founders can post feedback, post educational articles, jobs etc. It's a simplified classified service for startups.

@jaytee_clone check it out and would love to hear feedback, the project is still very new chris [at] thestartupdigest.com

Rock climbing is a great idea! Some of my friends used to climb in San Luis Obispo but I never set aside the time to join them and learn. I'll have to add this to the list, thanks for the suggestion :)

Same here, but doing any one thing day in and day out has a tendency to make you necrotic.

It's just like when you are taking a shower and an idea hits you, it's because you aren't focusing on work and you are in complete silence. You need time to relax, recharge, and recover. Believe me I only learned this through experience, but you need a break every now and then.

We here at [Startup Digest] just launched a job posting board specifically for startups. Check it out here http://thestartupdigest.com/2010/04/07/work-with-startups/ each post goes out to our 30,000+ founders around the world.

We just recently launched it so would love feedback on it!

Really excited to launch this new tool on [Startup Digest]! I hope it becomes a great tool for founders in the Silicon Valley/SF area & founders just moving here to find out about all the great events going on a consistent basis.

"making progress on my own project is making it harder to sync up with potential cofounders"

never thought of that, thanks for sharing! I guess working startup life hours would make it hard to really connect with someone. I would suggest trying to take at least a couple hours out of your day to do something social (events, other interests, sports, etc) and really take the time to disconnect and meet others. You never know where your co-founder will be.

Been thinking about the cofounder matching problem a lot http://entrepreneurialactivism.com/2010/03/25/the-co-founder... and it was really good to hear the perspective of what to do if you are a sole founder.

Personal relationships are key especially when dealing with the highs and lows of startup life.. sounds like you have a great wife and companion though!

Bad news: One of our quotes was mis-interpreted in the original version of this and we had to take down the original archive link.

To see Help a Startup Out though go here: http://eepurl.com/nrRD

Glad this idea of mine is getting well received :) I was getting bombarded with emails of startups asking me for help and I was trying to find a mechanism for the community to help themselves.

Interested to see where this goes..

I would check out both Zazzle and Spreadshirt. We just got out shirts from Zazzle for SXSW and the quality is really good!

if your in palo alto coffee shops - university cafe, coupa cafe, cafe del doge, satura cakes couch/chill/work - hit me up chris@thestartupdigest.com might be able to help meetups - sign up for thestartupdigest.com! if you miss the issue this monday email me and I will fwd it to you

That's too bad, send Abishek the curator in Pittsburgh about the events you like in Pittsburgh. Or email me directly chris at thestartupdigest.com and I can put you in touch with him.

Thanks for the feedback!

ya my co-founder is the same way too, he love coffee for coffee's sake. The smell, relaxation, break, etc.

Me on the other hand for whatever reason don't feel like that when I drink coffee. I'm almost doing it purely for the caffeine dose. Energy drinks, 5 hour energy shots, pills, whatever just to get some more caffeine.

I should probably lower my caffeine intake though.. I like the 1/2 coffee 1/2 decaf suggestion above. I'll try that tomorrow!

Totally agree that a smaller fee isn't such a bad thing and could be reasonable.

But then I think that an entrepreneur is paying $150 or less for the opportunity to meet investors who might or might not ever invest in the company (actually they are prob more likely to not invest in terms of odds). So its paying for something that has a negative value, just a chance that they might be interested.

Also on the other side the investors should be cashed out entrepreneurs who have enough money to sustain themselves and are looking at companies to invest in and profit off of. Only seems fair that the investors should be footing that bill (even if its just administrative) and others like Chris Dixon agrees http://twitter.com/cdixon/status/9727260471

Hard to justify when the fee is such a small amount but it still feels wrong to charge entrepreneurs anything for an opportunity to pitch an investor group.

Surprisingly Jason has kept quiet on this specific case even after a couple entreprenuers have pointed this out. hmm....