cabinguy

If you are a VC backed startup, growth solves all of your problems (at this particular point in history). If you are a non-VC backed startup, sales/profit solve all of your problems.

Either way, growth is a wonderful thing and I think you should grow as fast as you can.

I guess the irony of the pied piper leading a large group of children to their deaths was lost on Mr. Wilson.

I hear what you're saying but you do not need to compete with SpaceX or Apple to make tens of millions of dollars. If you're bootstrapping, you should keep it simple and pick a smaller target.

Yes, the interpreter says that and I found it strange. I don't speak Korean so I don't know if that's what the narrator said or meant (you can hear her in the background). How do you know this is a hoax and not real propaganda out of North Korea?

Edit: You're correct. It was a hoax.

I watched this last night and thought it was really good - but the entire time I couldn't help but think about this propaganda video put out by North Korea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJoQOQHQ8oA

Thinkpad was #2.

I can't speak to the support/service (which seems to be lacking here). I'm just saying they were, by far, the most reliable machines we bought/sold.

I'm sorry to hear that you are having this problem. After buying/selling 10,000+ used laptops (every brand imaginable) over many years, I personally purchase and recommend only Toshiba laptops. Take it for what it's worth.

To be fair, if all you want to do is get high, there's no reason to go to Colorado to do it.

I think wine country is a pretty good analogy.

A mobile version of the concept (Minneapolis): http://sisterscamelot.org/

My thinking is a little different than most of those who have commented...probably because I'm a bootstrapper.

After reading all of these comments - my thought process goes like this: If the founders output from 11 years ago is worthless, why isn't the investors' money from 11 years ago equally worthless?

If the founders' sweat equity didn't create value, the early VC money didn't either. Should the early VC's lose their investment, or just the founders?

I'm not naive, I understand that these deals are structured this way...I'm just saying that the structure is bullshit (imo).

Very interesting story. I used to frequent Williams Pub in Uptown (the downstairs peanut bar) so it made the story a little more personal for me. My guess is that he will have a few offers for "full-time, permanent employment" as a writer after this essay.

You're correct. Sorry for any confusion.

Wow. We'll have to grab a beer the next time I'm in town.

Author here. So in your case, we were "the enemy" who's head you wanted on a stick. Great. ;)

Author here. I wouldn't have made it through without my co-founder. A co-founder is great support during the bad times...and added responsibility all the time. If I don't give it 100% every day, his family feels it, and vice versa.

Some people can do it on their own, but our partnership/friendship works well for us.

DEXA scans can be used to accurately measure body fat, too.

Taking an engineering job at Microsoft at 19 y/o makes perfect sense, too.

I'm pretty sure SEOMoz.org was a play on DMOZ.org, originally.

A commission in the hand is worth two in the bush...but a purchase agreement submitted by a potential buyer can have a time limit attached to it. If the seller wants to wait around, they may lose out of the initial offer, which is (most) often the best offer.

I'm not trying to have a back-and-forth but I think you are confusing business ideas and business models. Many potentially great businesses (high sign up rates, etc.) struggle to find a valid business model.

I have no idea if FundersClub is wildly profitable or not, but I thought that "validating a business model" meant the model was profitable, not just legal.

We pay no attention to "rules." Our logo has been in the footer for 4 years. Traffic is up and revenue has doubled every year to 7 figures. We don't A/B test, so I can't attribute our growth to this, but it is a nice little anecdote.

Edit: We have an old fashioned "Home" link at the top of the site.

Don't forget the beautiful, shiny tracking devices most of us pay a lot of money to carry around.

One of our company offices is in Detroit Lakes, MN, very close to the ND border. The fact of the matter is that this oil boom has made many, many ND farmers instant millionaires. If oils is found on their land they are receiving huge royalty checks ($500k+ per month).

It is true that mineral rights are often not included in the sale of real estate in this part of the country...but the royalty checks they receive for allowing the oil companies to drill create generational wealth.

I think it is a fair comparison. If by guns we are talking about those used to kill animals... / If by guns we are talking about those used to kill people...

The only real difference between an "assault rifle" and a "regular" rifle is the color/design. One is painted black and looks scary. The other is usually wood tone. They are equally dangerous. You can find high capacity clips/magazines for virtually any brand or style semi-automatic rifle (and handgun) made.

This exactly describes the gun debate going on today.

Is it a terrorist or a freedom fighter? = Is it an assault weapon or a rifle?

I love your idea and this niche. Here are a few thoughts...

1. There are a lot more stylists than salons, and a lot of them are independent contractors (they rent chairs in salons). I would focus on selling to them, not salons. I would make my most expensive plan (multi-user) for salons...but Plan A & Plan B for individual stylists.

2. Be sure to have a "37 signals" type sign up page. Explain the differences between the plans. The first thing I looked for was the pricing...and didn't see it until I clicked to sign up for the free 30-day trial.

3. Offer a 60 or 90 day free trial. Get them hooked. (I have done 1 year free trials which turned into $100k+ in recurring revenue). It's tough to get paying customers, don't be afraid to prove your value.

4. Continue to add value (text reminders, etc..)

5. Don't be afraid to get on the phone and call stylists/salons. Send postcards. Sell, sell, sell.

Good luck!

Bah Humbug (please excuse me, it's just a seasonal expression). While I can feel your pain, this story has nothing to do with SV - it's the story of an entrepreneur. The same story exists in every state in the U.S. and every major city (and most small ones) in the world. Entrepreneurship is very hard.

I'm 41 y/o and bootstrapped my first internet company at 24. I owned a nice home, a beautiful vacation (lake) home, a big office building, 2 Mercedes Benz (wife's SUV, my car) & an awesome FICO score before I was 29. It all went away (except for my primary home) by the time I was 35.

As entrepreneurs we believe that the charts will always go up and to the right (we can't help it) - but they don't.

This year, after TEN (10) F'ING YEARS of working on what everyone in SV would label a little "life style business," we hit $1M+ in revenue. I am confident we will hit $2M+ next year and $100M eventually. Our company is debt free and my co-founder (and best friend since kindergarten) own 100% of the company.

My point: It's not easy. We have been working very, very hard for TEN (10) F'ING YEARS on this thing. I lost almost everything along the way...but I never, ever stopped believing in what we were building. When you hear those billionaires claim that "perseverance" is the key to success - listen to them, they are telling you the truth.