md1515

I don't want to ignore this because I'd truly like to help you out. The truth is, there is no surefire way to "make" Tech Crunch write about your startup. There are literally hundreds of startups that want coverage and typically it is difficult...very difficult.

Don't offer money or incentives to TC writers (or any writers). That is insulting them. Getting coverage will come from relationships. Mark Suster has an excellent article about developing relationships for getting funded, coverage, etc. It isn't going to happen in a day. Good luck, but don't waste your time trying to bribe them.

I'm non-technical, still finishing up studies, unable to move to SF, etc.

That is terrible and hilarious at the same time.

No wrong done here in my opinion.

The content of your post has brought up a topic I have been thinking about recently, which is intensely devoted sponsorship advertising. For example, if you (Patrick) want to write this piece about your positive experience with BuySellAds, then you could write the entire blog post with heavy mention of the product that YOU TRULY LIKE AND PROMOTE.

The trust factor will go a long way in helping you. I have watched "This Week In Startups" on Youtube and noticed they use a similar approach. They stop the broadcast so that Mark Suster could talk about how X product has helped him.

Most of that is off-topic, but your blog post got me thinking...which it is supposed to do, right? :)

That is a cool idea. I would suggest not including advertisements just yet because they are generic and probably the least appealing of all ads (besides pop-ups). Just a suggestion, though the service itself is cool.

Great offer. I can't take you up on it, unfortunately, but that is a great idea!

Actually I think this is a fabulous idea. Obviously hackers would need to believe in what you two are doing, but I am under the impression many hackers just like some freedom. They like to live in exotic and beautiful places (ahem..Maui), they are comfortable with living expenses paid (ahem..airfare, room, food) and a bit of cash for the rainy day fund.

There are a lot of freelance hackers and a lot of people who would jump at the idea. Naturally, it depends what your idea is and how big the pay and equity are, but this is cool and creative.

I have been to Hawaii and if I new how to properly program I'd be on board! Good luck

No, he isn't a freelancer. He doesn't have to be in any building, just make sure the work is done.

Try reaching out to some people in your space (but not competitors). You would be surprised how many startup founders are responsive and willing to help. Obviously it depends what you write and how many you write to, though.

Then give him an ultimatum. Don't be headstrong if you can't find another job, but if you have that cushion, I would suggest telling him. You would like to be put in a more serious position instead of support and you feel like there should be a set date or milestone where you will be allowed to do so.

Sometimes it feels like they hold all the chips, but you can quit at any time and they will be sh*t out of luck. Don't let them forget it and your bargaining will be easier.

Not sure what you mean by "money management" and "what next?" These seem like terms used to question what exactly do do with your money once you get it?

I'm not sure why you would need to set up a LP, or LLP unless your startup is just your code and not a legal entity. My email address is in my profile, send me an email if you would like some more help.

I can't say that I do, but my uncle is a hardware engineer and he typically accomplishes an entire day's work in a few hours a day so that he can spend time with his daughter, go to the gym/do yoga, and generally be awesome (like drive around in his Maserati etc..)

He has the life..

It isn't the American way of writing. It is the boring business way of writing which says very little.

I'm a non-technical founder too. One thing you have to realize and realize quick is that your idea means next to nothing.

Few people who are good programmers are going to be interested enough to help you unless they know what it is you are doing.

If your idea is that good then you can bet there are people already working on it. Sure, leave out the special sauce, but we need details and you are really cutting down your chances when you require one-on-one specifics. If you manage to get X views on HN you'll get X/2=Y who are interested and Y/3 who are willing to email you!

That being said, I wish you the best of luck

Early stage startups are typically built to fail and although $50k isn't a lot in the modern sense of the word, you should really be careful in this situation.

You seem to be providing a small seed round so if they are successful, prepare to be diluted significantly (or forced to pay more to maintain equity portion). There are many rounds to come (Best case scenario).

The worst case scenario is that the money evaporates along with the startup. 20% of nothing is still nothing, unfortunately.

With regard to your acquisition of the site and technology - consult a lawyer. If the startup is incorporated already, then you will have to do some paperwork and you can ask for clauses that grant you I.P. rights if the company goes under.

A hands off approach would be nice, but you have to be careful. On the one hand meddling too much will interfere, but on the other hand doing nothing is typically a fast way to lose your money.

Best of luck if you decide to invest. If you have any other questions shoot me an email (in my profile)

In this instance what is holding them back isn't necessarily that you are European. They are probably more concerned with some or all of the following (plus what I forget).

- Education? Where did you learn how to program/run a business (typically this can be counter-acted by evidence of success already)

- Location? Yes, you are visiting California and are "ready to move". But you haven't moved yet. You're still located in Europe - that's the bottom line

- Incorporation? You are not incorporated yet. You may say you are willing to, but they will typically not care much unless they know instantly you have the next Google/Facebook.

- Legal resident status? As you have neither moved to California nor incorporated there is no true indication if you will be allowed to get a visa to work in the U.S

I would suggest taking the plunge if you really need the capital. Get the visa, come to the U.S. set up your HQ out of your shared apartment and incorporate. Then look for VC.

Or just go to European VC firms - there are plenty of them.

I'm far more into history than anything. I'm reading "The Campaigns of Alexander" by Arrian and "Halliburton's Army"

At the very least it could be made into a business on donations alone I am sure.

PG has a great thing going here that is far more valuable to him than money. He isn't aching for food on a daily basis so I doubt he'll ever dream of jeopardizing HN the way it is.

At your age it is "acceptable" to sacrifice some level of happiness for your future (in my opinion). There are limits, but moving to a lesser city for $10K more/year might be worth it.

I think you have to think about liabilities and secondary benefits. Can you live with your family in the city you currently live in? What is the cost of living difference? Most importantly what is your debt load. You need to get rid of debt ASAP.

Hey Bill, first of all kudos to you for kicking the habit and making the decision to better yourself. Everyone makes mistakes and you have shown a lot of resiliency which is key to being successful in anything.

I agree with what a couple other people have mentioned. You're not alone. Almost everyone feels that way at one point in time - it's a fact of life. You don't instantly become CEO...you have to work your way up.

Also, you should increase your prices a bit. There is a reason you are getting web jobs and you need other people working for you. You are out of balance. If you can't hire anyone then ideally you would like just the right amount of work for you (meaning you lose some customers by raising the cost).

Finally, don't worry about which languages you know. If you know 5 languages, but you're not fantastic at them then you're just average anyway. Specialize in HTML, who cares? If you're the best you'll make money so keep learning.

By the way, don't buy into this whole American dream where you should go deep into debt to mortgage a new house and car. Much of the world spends much longer at home and 24 is by no means old, especially if you're saving money. Keep driving that clunker and enjoying the time with your family while you save your money.

Send me an email (in profile) if you want to talk some more.

Okay, well in that case let us both hope there are more people like you than me! :)

This is a pretty neat idea. I am not sure if something similar exists (the model is becoming popular, but with tea I do not know).

From a technical standpoint I do not have a whole lot to say. The site is straight-forward easy to share via social media and is pleasant.

In terms of the business model, I worry about a few things. Targeting tea drinkers is fine and even going so far as to targeting organic lovers is good/profitable too. You limit yourself (in my opinion) with the amount of tea. Not everyone who likes tea will like it every single day. Typically this would be fine, but the amount is reflected in the price which is, in my opinion, kind of high. Determine if your margins are too high here because the cost might put some people off. Just my two cents...good luck with it.

Not sure if .co domain names get indexed properly for SEO either so be careful of that.

I do recommend changing your diet a bit. As fezzl pointed out, most Americans/westerners are hardwired to eat more calories than needed. I eat Indian vegetarian food and, ironically, I calculated my caloric intake to be 1500-1700 yesterday. I had to eat a few things once I realized it was far too low.

I usually force myself to block off an hour or two every day for exercise because I was raised with it and if I do not, then I feel strange, then grumpy, then downright erratic. My suggestion: Try to find something that is fun, not boring. I play soccer at an intense level, which is much more fun than running around a track or treadmill.

Also, (and this is arguably one of the most important things) remember how little it takes to workout really well. Your body burns calories much better when it lacks oxygen. Instead of running on the elliptical for an hour, go out to a park after work for 15 minutes and do nothing but sprints. You'll get a workout that is over 10 x better and it takes less time.

Hey, if I were in your situation here is what I would do. Due to the financial needs of your family you should take the sure job with Google. You seem to be making plenty so I would suggest scaling back a bit (if over 100K is not enough), but there could be medical issues etc. that I do not know about so I will not judge.

When you accept the position with Google tell them (without going into detail) that you have this financial situation and you will spend time consulting with this other startup. If it doesn't interfere or compete with Google then I think you should be okay and honesty is just the best thing in this situation. Best of luck!

Hey, this looks pretty cool. I might add that it would be nice for the colors to be the same in both the Time Spent Overview and Weekly Overview. It makes it easier to read / compare.

This is a really good cost-cutting blogger. Lives on $7,000 per year in San Francisco and is happy and comfortable.

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/

Multi-decade time frame required to complete grad study? If you have a master's degree already then you only need two more years for a Ph.D (in most cases - or at least both of my parents did and I highly doubt they were both abnormally fast).

Are you solely working on the start-up? I would suggest going about your business without the need to incorporate right away. A lot of people waste a lot of time and money incorporating when they have no idea if the product can be built, is desired in the market place, or validated.

My suggestion would be to come to the U.S for your Ph.D (if visa requirements allow you to do so). You will have two years to work on your studies and then also validate your startup idea in the U.S, which may be more friendly in terms of validation and (if you moved to startup hubs) could be useful in terms of incorporating and scaling.

Whatever you decide to do, best of luck!

Hey foxhop, I understand your fear (we all do to an extent).

Most people advocate a MVP approach (minimum viable product) for many reasons. First, you can do less work before releasing. Second, it allows your ideal users to help you develop the product further. The few users you have (heck even if it is only 5) will be able to tell you what they like, how it is useful etc. You may not know all the uses for your product and a group of people might find that it is useful for X. Then you can market it as the "perfect solution for X"

Your initial users will most likely be HN members. Most of us know how hard it is to do all of those things so we're not going to worry if you don't scale in a timely manner etc. If your site crashes, we'll calmly inform you, if you take a while to respond to feedback, we will understand.

I'll send you an email and I'll see if I can help you..

Hey, I have a friend who might be in need of this. I will coax him into trying this out.

Send me an email? (address in profile)

It looks nice! Hopefully I'll be of more help shortly.