eisokant

Thank you! I am going to do that!

Thank you - we want to let the users be allowed to edit the Wiki - hence we're looking for no limit on users. MediaWiki is starting to look more and more attractive but it's just so visually cluttered for my liking.

This might help you:

http://thefunded.com/funds/show/OpenView+Venture+Partners?vi...

This is why I love this site! You're absolutely right and I want to thank you for letting me see that. It is late here and I am going to get to bed. However when I wake up I am going to start with writing out more details on where I am at and what I am doing. I hope to post them here soon.

"A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study." - Chinese Proverb

I think you're raising a good point there. I need to think about it more but I think you're right. It's good food for thought. On one hand I feel the need to stay in stealth till I have a working prototype to give me a headstart on the other hand if I would have been open about it from the moment I had the idea it could have allowed me to gather feedback from the start.

I currently still think I was wise to stay in stealth because my idea has no barriers of entry. However I am going to change my timeline and start being more open soon. I hope to have a private alpha in a few weeks time.

Has this happened to anyone else here on YC HN?

You are kidding me, any reason on why?

I would recommend the VAIOs. I am looking at the new Z series myself.

A bit skeptical at first - this tool is pretty handy when you have to speed read through articles.

I messed up and I updated my post saying so: http://eisokant.com/2008/07/26/my-startups-secret-recipe/

Thank you for your comment. It's a simple system that doesn't have its power in thousands of lines of code but instead in the combination of components. Right now I am working with freelancers to get me up and running and once I am settled in a location I want to find that team.

In life it is hard though to find people who you truly connect with and can trust. I do know that when you meet them you recognize them straight away. I haven't been able to find these developers yet, most likely because I am in a location where there is almost no startup scene. However I am determined to find them and build an amazing startup as a team with no secrecy.

Thank you - I absolutely agree. It's also the reason why I am considering moving out to SF or India. I haven't been able to find that team yet here in The Netherlands and I think that if I am in a place where technology is booming I have a much larger pond to fish in.

I just posted this comment on my blog in response to another developer/entrepreneur with their doubts about my strategy:

Thank you. Your comment summarizes the response I've had from a lot of developers and you are right. However there are a few details I should have but didn't explain. For me it's only temporary to get the foundation ready - the startup itself will have a full team. I am also doing this to give myself time to continue to talk to possible investors and decide where I want to locate.

Will I then throw away all the code and start over?

No and this is why: I have two user interfaces, one for the web and one as a browser extension, in any case they would have been developed by different people. They're two completely independent parts. As last I have the backend, a complex database structure but is setup to only accept a few easy and standard queries. The rest of the queries are handled on database level.

Looking at one of these parts you can't find out my completive advantage, looking at them all together you have my startup. I am incredibly aware of the risks I take with this and especially if I switch developers the problems that can (probably will) come up. I find it harder to read other people's code then to start from scratch and make it myself. Therefore all the complicated parts occur on database level, the code I wrote myself. So no matter what happens there will always be someone in the team (myself) who can work on that, or explain it to others.

Thank you for your comment. For me it's only temporary to get a foundation ready - the startup itself will have a full team. Am doing this to give myself time to continue to talk to possible investors and decide where I want to locate.

I agree completely with you Joop. The killer feature here is that users can get a substantial pay from their articles if Google keeps on ranking them high. However this could also be its downfall.

Zend Development Environment - in one word: amazing!

Thank you, you are right about the WP plugin for YC HN. I've disabled it.

Monetary success is great but the experience, knowledge and people you meet on the way are far more valuable. I am working at the moment on my own startup, I'm only a month in but it's been an amazing experience already.

Thank you. I couldn't agree more when you say "If you gain bad connections, you may have actually set yourself back a bit."

Especially failing with a Web 2.0 startup, which is linked to factors of timing and luck that are often out of your control.

Gut feeling

I think it doesn't exist because of the privacy implications. Imagine someone reading all your emails!

How long have you had it for?

I am doing the same, sent out a series of Tweets. A blog post will follow tomorrow

Am I the only one against performance enhancing drugs?

Thank you for letting me know, I am going to get right on it!

Thank you for your reply, it's given me more insight. The source code I am talking about is listed under the Mozilla Public License version 1.1. (http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/MPL-1.1.html) any opinion on if it is still smart to proceed?

I am 17 years old myself and am still living at home, at least for a few more months till I move to London.

My parents have been supportive since day 1 I picked up a programming book together with a business book; determined to create an e-commerce site for a local retailer. To be honest I see myself more as a business oriented person then as a hacker, but I thoroughly enjoy writing code nonetheless.

While in high school (I am now in my last 3 days) I had to travel a lot for various business projects and all throughout my family has supported me and never stopped me to pursue my dreams and goals. Since September '07 though, my IB diploma has been my primary focus and I've had to put off my goals and ideas up until this Friday. I fully agree that work experience adds tremendous value to your chances of success because theory never quite cuts it in reality. For anyone reading this, my age or younger I can not stress enough to go out and get an internship at a company in the field you want to later be in. Get experience by listening to those older then you but never shy away from giving your input. The most important lessons I learned from real-life experience are:

1. Only surround yourself with people who want you to be successful. Find those people that have integrity and character and don't bother with the rest.

2. Never underestimate the power of networking, and make it one of your top priorities for your business.

I am about to launch my first full blown company and will go to India for 2 months to work with a development team. It's an exciting time and my parents are very supportive of me and have faith in me. Which provides you with a great basis to start from because you'll run into enough people who won't.

Thank you, you've touched a point which didn't cross my mind, but is very valid, and that is time. I like the idea of using a blog for the frequent posts and video for those big milestones.

I feel there is an importance to put a face to my company because I believe I can better share my enthusiasm and passion.

My personal preference is REST and I hope SOAP will slowly disappear because I've never felt comfortable using it.

I've read over the comments and I absolutely don't agree with those saying a business plan should not be a priority. If you do it right and spend a lot of effort on it from the start, it's not just a documentation for possible investors but becomes a set of guidelines for your company. It forces you to sit down and really analyze your product, market and the goals of your startup.

Personally I've read my fare share of literature on business plans but must say the book "The Definitive Business Plan" by Richard Stutely stands far above all. It's not written with a specific focus for a Web 2.0 firm but will give you a really clear overview of what you would want to include.

I hope I have been able to be of some help.

Best regards,

Eiso Kant