dkuchar

and if you're VC funded your model is capital intensive, otherwise what's the point.

VCs expect a 10x return and put an incredible amount of pressure on a startup. getting VC money is not the right path for every startup in every market, which is why the numbers are so dire.

all the data on this is fuzzy, and may always be fuzzy. what type of startup it is is important, as well as the quality of the founders, none of which is easily quantifiable. I think the reality is that you make your own odds. a brilliant/determined/flexible founder can and will make something work.

I've always felt that what kills a startup are commitment/flexibility issues based on factors outside of the business itself - your spouse doesn't support you, you're only willing to live on peanuts for so long, children on the way, etc.

but I don't look at startup success as determined by Idea X, sink or swim. If you stay in the game long enough, and find a way to feed yourself in the meantime, you'll find a way.

also, as in life, you alone determine what is and isn't success. for many people, a lifestyle business that just allows you to work on your own terms (not too far past ramen profitability) is enough.

sell it to em

done

ugh, acronyms. does it really take that long to type out "you are not a lawyer"? sorry, pet peeve.

isn't this a repeat of history though? his controlling nature cost the apple II, to the anything goes Windows/Microsoft, and it will likely do the same to ChromeOS/Android and Google. if and when apple again loses it's grip, will he be ousted from Apple? my bet is no, if only because they wouldn't want to bet against him and be wrong for the second time. but in my opinion, he's an incredible innovator, but he sucks at follow through.

there's nothing cynical about it. Everyone who goes to the conference is going to learn the startup lesson: "don't pay $700 to attend conferences about (essentially) how to bootstrap a company". personally i could only justify that cost if it were extremely good PR for your company.

and forget servers (you shouldn't be paying that kind of money for servers when there are things like app engine/aws/azure). if you've quit your day job, $700 could be food on the table or a roof over your head for a month or two (depending on where you live).

I've been running "lean" startups for years and never needed a day job to support it. you don't need to go to conferences to do it, you just need common sense and balls.

the $700 admission price is ironic. go to conferences to network, not to learn - personally I'd get more out of a book or two than any number of these conferences.

there just seems to be a lot of posts on this lately. I think as far as it being a "last resort", it all depends on how well you know yourself, and, in the case where you're the kind of person who needs a cofounder, how lucky you've been in finding someone compatible.

why does everyone on hacker news think they need to defend solo founders?

if you can do it alone, do it. I haven't done that in either of the two companies I've started, but I like the camaraderie. Not everyone needs a partner.

A few thoughts on this.

1. Ideas are never unique. If you've had it, it isn't because you're brilliant (although you may be) it's because the current business ecosystem has made it obvious. If you've had it, I'd guess thousands of others have as well. the difference between you and them might be that you do something with it.

2. I don't know many entrepreneurs who like to build other people's ideas. Maybe that's just me, but I certainly like to think what I'm working on was an original idea...I like there to be a story to how I came up with it, and "this blogger told me to do it" isn't a story I can get behind.

so personally, because ideas are in my opinion a function not of precociousness but of an ecosystem, I'd say that it would be better to let some other entrepreneur figure this out for themselves, and use their inspiration as the driving force behind the venture.

or, keep it in your pocket. if no one else does it, you might be freed up at some point to pursue it.

http://www.lendfriend.net - friends and family lending site built in ASP.NET MVC & jquery. I wasn't the first one to come up with this, but I got the idea after I funded my first startup on credit cards, had some friends with money, but didn't want to complicate things with a DIY loan.

We're launched, but we have a lot of work ahead of us. If anyone has any ideas/suggestions/criticisms please let me know.

I second that...I am completely addicted to it.