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blenderon Ask YC: Accounting suggestions - how do you do it?

Simply Accounting + Retired Accountant

blenderon Ask YC: Which notebook/laptop do you use (+ suggestions)?

A little more than $1,000 (at least in Canada) but we use Toshiba A200-AH9 laptops running Ubuntu. Intel wifi just works. 9-cell battery. Only downside is the resolution if you don't use an external monitor.

Cheers

blenderon Ask YC: Good application for support emails and tickets?

I've heard good things about Cerberus Helpdesk:

http://www.cerberusweb.com/

Very reasonable pricing.

We used RT before and while it met our business need and allowed us to add custom fields etc. the interface was just hideous.

Cheers

blenderon Ask YC: Hosting your source code outside, it's really secure?

We use cvsdude.com.

commenting from my nokia n810 :-)

blenderon You've changed the world - now what next?

How about publishing under a Creative Commons license:

http://creativecommons.org/license/

Cheers

blenderon Where does a wannabe hacker begin?

s/Do/Don't

blenderon Where does a wannabe hacker begin?

Not everyone needs to code in a startup. It's good to have someone that is more inclined to bizdev than hacking.

You should however be familiar with the hacker's arsenal of tools like Trac, Subversion, Eclipse, etc.

The first order of business in a startup is to build something that people want (after PG). More and more that something should solve some real business problem - not just another me-too social network .

I'd think your economics background could be put to good use in today's climate. Do feel that you have to be a coder - but find someone that can. You'll have a good team.

Cheers

blenderon Ask YC: What are VCs looking for in a "team"?

Re: Is there anything one can do to offset the lack of startup experience?

Contribute to an open source project.

blenderon Ask YC: What are VCs looking for in a "team"?

Being able to execute means not chasing after shiny objects and being able to say "No". A favorite quote from Steve Jobs (on innovating):

[I]t comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We’re always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.

blenderon Ask YC: what is your favorite startup related quote?

Whether it is urban legend or not is still an open question but this ad, supposedly placed by Ernest Shackleton in London newspapers before one of his expeditions, sums up a startup nicely:

"MEN WANTED FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS."

Cheers

Jason