startupstella

This article is great because the author has an authentic voice and explains how she achieved a measure of success without succumbing to outside pressures or norms.

It's a good framework for thinking about any high stress, competitive career track. Ultimately, stress/pressure greatly affect performance and peoples' perceptions of you, both of which are paramount in ascending hierarchies.

you have to crawl before you can walk. before people will make connections, they need to have a good relationship with you because their reputation is on the line when they make connections.

Check out matchist.com

We've got top developers from around the US (many, many from this community) and we match you to developers who fit the skillset, timeframe, and budget you're looking for. Instead of a million bids, we match you to three top notch devs who can get the job done (any of the three can do your project, we just assume you'll like get along with one more than others)

DISCLAIMER: I'm a founder of matchist, but started the company because I was sick of freelancer outsourcing sites not being able to match my talented dev friends and entrepreneur friends.

I think this is a great example of how a celebrity can use star power to impact the lives of other women. I only wish she had not done this in secret...if there are tabloid reports of pregnancy and weight loss, why not on such an important issue that can have an impact?

I also wish (for the first time ever) that she had introduced herself earlier in the article. Just like many readers, I didn't realize this was Angelina Jolie until very late in the article (which doesn't minimize her story, it just puts it in a different context).

we definitely experienced this at matchist, and it has made us waste valuable months. now, we don't build ANYTHING unless at least 3 customers request it and unless it will affect the bottom line (no fancy feature upgrades)

"Range" can be confusing though....how does range compare on an open freeway vs stand still traffic?

I just drove a Tesla Model S last weekend. Here are my perceptions, as I was SUPER curious about the car before I drove it:

Pros: 1) The drive is AMAZING. The car is quiet, it accelerates amazingly, and the regenerative braking is really cool. 2) It feels like the future. The huge computer screen is cool (but distracting, you can go on the internet at anytime). 3) The ability to get software updates all the time is cool when thinking about cars.

Cons: 1) It is impractical for an urban dweller in a condo building: you have to pay for an electrician to come install a special outlet, then pay for the electricity (which is fine if you own a house, getting this through a condo association is a nightmare). 2) The whole time you are thinking about the battery charge. What if you forget to plug in your car at night? 3) For the cost, it lacks feature a luxury car should have: park assist is one feature. The model i drove was around 90k and the more "luxury" features felt like a standard sedan (the leather, the wood, etc). You are definitely paying for the tech. 4) What if someone hits you? How much compared to other cars does it cost to get repaired? The salesperson couldn't answer this. 5) The car is connected to 3G for maps (unless you upgrade) and at some point, you will be paying for this service. 6) You have to plan out where you power up for a trip longer than 200 miles...so annoying.

If you have the capacity or need for a fun, toy car at this price point...check out the Model S. I don't find it practical as a main car in the city.

A great point not mentioned here is that if you've hit the ceiling where manual scaling no longer works...that's a good thing! That probably means you have enough resources due to successful hustling to devote to making things more efficient.

As a "business cofounder" I'm a little frustrated by this post. While I am technical (I can code) I choose not to because it's not my strength: my technical cofounder builds the product and I focus on getting customers, making sure they are happy, and making sure they tell their friends. Without my work, the business wouldn't exist. Without my cofounder's work, the business wouldn't exist.

Neither one of us is more important than the other: our value exists in our complementary skillset and our ability to collaborate in order to create value. We are very respectful of each other's skillsets and understand what each person brings to our company.

I think a mutual lack of respect is what makes posts like this still exist.

Hey Philip, thanks for posting this. As cofounder of matchist i want to make sure everything on our site is transparent to all users involved. In this blog post, you posted only a partial message the client sent. In the end she specifically asks for using kiss metrics. As we mention to all developers on the site, communication is key to a great relationship. An initial reach out with no information about your background or interest in the project is not a great start. Neither is recommending another tool. If you had consulted with the client then decided mix panel was a better tool, that is completely different. We also do not monitor messages, just check in infrequently to make sure expectations on both sides are being met.this is standard. We expect a level of professionalism which was not met.

website is: http://matchist.com/talent

matchist has clients prepay so no chasing for money

(you should join matchist) (full disclosure, i am a cofounder and we are looking for more wordpress devs) :)

There are speakers available at public institutions and low cost events. While I agree that privilege absolutely helps, the point the author is making is that it is more about HUSTLE and less about who you know.

Fixating on the privilege in this case is just like making an excuse about not knowing anyone in the first place.

there is a great planet money podcast on this issue:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/12/13/167055503/why-lego...

SEEKING FREELANCER

Hey HN, we're looking for more Java freelance devs to join matchist (http://matchist.com/talent). We're getting a lot of great java projects but don't have too many devs (matchist is a high end technical skills curation platform...ie we match awesome devs to awesome projects)

We deal with educating clients on the cost of apps and MVPS all the time at matchist. We get clients who have been burned and understand the value of not outsourcing overseas, yet I think there is still sticker shock at the costs associated with building exactly what you want. What do you think is the solution to this?

this is one data point regarding how initial perceptions of customer service can influence buyer decisions.

the right clients understand that paying a premium for quality will save them time/money/stress in the future. disclosure: i'm tim's partner for matchist (http://matchist.com) and we definitely see a difference in the motivations of clients who have outsourced with terrible results in the past.

this seems like it assumes that there is only one founder. this is one of the magical moments where you realize how amazing a cofounder can be. at my new startup (http://matchist.com) im the "nontechnical" cofounder and handle all of the stuff this post mentions founders should do so my cofounder can code. and code. and code.

having a cofounder (especially one with a complementary skillset) makes it so much less frustrating in the beginning phases of a startup

As a Russian American, Ive noticed a definite curiosity remnant from the cold war regarding how the two countries live. The difference is that Western culture is all over russia (from copying tv shows like American Idol to Fabrika Zvezd), movies in theatres, etc whereas in the US, it's the older generation that harbors a curiosity about Russian people.

My father, a doctor who emigrated at 35, started practicing in a small town in the midwest about 20 years ago. He had patients who wouldnt see him as soon as they learned he was Russian...and he had patients that displayed a real curiosity over our food, language etc. I'd say that Russians possess a certain disdain for Americans...they would love to enjoy a similar quality of life, but they find the culture too simple/vapid/devoid of meaning. Russians will say they would NEVER move to america, but many of them would in a heartbeat

there is an awesome TED talk by Amy Cuddy that touches on this subject (in addition to how to combat it) http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes...

New startup http://matchist.com connects top freelance developers with projects based on their skills and preferences. Clients are mostly startups/entrepreneurs looking to build apps and MVPs.

amen. i think it's important for stories like this to make the rounds so people see that they have options rather then LETS RAISE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS RIGHT NOW OR FAILURE

i love this article because it gives a real example of the kind of conflict/dilemma real life startups have...ross was brave to buck the VC trend and realize that financial security would allow him to be more risky with his next venture. that kind of perspective is really rare for young entrepreneurs (being one myself, i can appreciate this)

LOVE this point...definitely have felt this before at feefighters. however, there are benefits to TC other than just getting signups (especially for non technical startups as some have mentioned). you just have to keep in mind that PR has varying goals: 1) Exposure- people will remember you and refer you when they see you in top press 2) One TC doesnt build traffic/signups, but multiple articles over a long period of time will 3) Brand equity grows with media exposure 4) now you get to put the TC logo on your homepage=social proof=higher conversion 5) Links!

we are planning on doing a big pr launch for matchist when this kind of exposure will serve us well (timing is everything with pr)

i think you make an important point: the entrepreneur myth that techcrunch/si valley perpetuate is not reality. and people who have gone through it (raising money etc, raising hand high here) often choose an alternative path. although i know i could raise money for matchist (new endeavor) im consciously making the decision to bootstrap to avoid this kind of stress/lifestyle. entrepreneurship is what you make it...entrepreneurshit is the myth

we use wave accounting, and its a different product

as an entrepreneur getting my MBA, i can certainly see what this guy is referring to. it's pretty obvious an MBA is not imperative for your success, however, in general, more education is generally a good thing, especially if an individual is intellectually curious. for me an MBA is a way to get broad business skills without having to actually work in the non startup world. the "mba mindset" is what he is referring to...if you keep your startup down to earth personality while doing an MBA, youll be fine. if you start acting like your investment banker/consultant classmates, then youre in trouble.

i love the simplicity of this, but it's almost too simple. this doesn't take into account things like experience or skillset which I have found to be key indicators for hourly rates. it's also unrealistic in that many freelancers have gaps in work and dont work all the hours they want in a given period (something we are trying to fix!).

as i've been getting top freelance devs on matchist, i've seen hourly rates range from $50/hr to $200/hr with the biggest indicators of higher rates being: self perceived value, years freelancing, and self perceived expertise of skillset.

we've made the conscious decision not to charge devs by hourly rate, but rather project milestone values.

Gentle plug: the site we're building, http://matchist.com is curated matching of projects for top freelance devs.