electric

That really was the deal of a lifetime. No vesting needed -- here's a third of the equity upfront.

w00t!

Funny -- I am migrating away from gmail and back to yahoo's web-mail service. Unlimited storage, great UI. w00t!

This is odd. I thought most people did not use Outlook.

Even Paul G. says that everyone uses Macs these days?

I have two kids, my wife works, I used to work at a high tech company and we had to save up for a couple of years before going the startup route. Now it is all startup -- so that is good.

We gave up a lot financially to be here. If you have kids and a family it does take a lot more work, but it is not impossible. Just work it out with your wife.

"What's in Ottawa?"

A lot of non-Web2.0 stuff. Like wireless, telecom, computing, etc.

Good ideas and products are born everywhere in the world. At some point in the life of a product however you do need money to grow, compete, etc. At this time if your idea is significant enough you might need investment and Si Valley is a good place to be. Lately though VCs have been setting up shop in India and China. So really if there is a critical mass of talent, ideas and a market to boot, Silicon Valley will come to you.

Club Penguin. It was a Web 2.0/virtual community play. Acquired by Disney for $350+ mil. I don't know if Plentyoffish qualifies as a Web 2.0 startup, but it is making a lot of cash. I could name a few more. Cheers.

PS. I agree with the original poster "The first mistake startups make is they need VC or angel funding to get moving," if by "get moving" s/he means get started. You might need it when you want to expand, grow, get serious, etc. but you don't necessarily need it at the beginning.

Because none of the leading-edge engineering design tools will work on the mac.

how does one edit the original?

This is rather interesting: $10 million on revenue of $550.

This is correct. I work on core technical stuff for about the same number of hours and spend the rest of my time taking care of business -- managing, outsourcing, etc.

And I also manage a 1.5 hour bicycle ride in there and some time with my kids.

Yes.

Are you an early-stage, pre-VC startup? If so then the only people crazy enough to join you are the people who trust you. Friends might end up working with you and friends will vouch for you.

Ottawa reprazent. ;)