Startups How did your startup fail? |
- How did your startup fail?
- [HELP] Equity Question
- What are the difficulties of service app/web companies?
- Recommendations for high quality iOS dev shops?
- How long does it takes to see results from a blogging startup?
- Random Startup (Side Hustle) Questions
- Lessons Learnt from a Professional Athlete
- Planning to sell cool technology , how to proceed?(software that lets you control video games with gestures using your webcam only...)
- How to protect IP if you're not incorporated yet?
| Posted: 23 Nov 2018 06:30 AM PST My first startup failed due to lack of business development. I stopped looking for new clients after the first big client. I made trading software for hedge funds without reselling rights. So I also lacked the manpower to redevelop. My second startup failed in the market discovery phase when I discovered very few people need privacy protecting routers. Most people would rather let some megacorp record everything happening in their home in exchange for the ability to have an intelligent personal assistant. How did your startup fail? There ought to be a website that lists case studies of failures. Perhaps if we just avoid common mistakes we don't even have to do everything else right to make it big. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 23 Nov 2018 11:56 PM PST I was offered for a non-technical role for a fintech company. 45K USD in NYC + "potential equity" + "potential bonus based on company discretion". They are on series B and have about 75 workers with a valuation of ~70M to date. After talking to my HR, they said that according to their company policy and UK laws, they don't disclose the amount of equity to all employee hires until 6 months in. (HQ is located in UK, but im hired in US office) Apparently the board wants to see how we work first and determine what our equity is after 6 months. On top of that, my contract states that we have the potential eligiblity to receive options in the contract, so its not a guaranteed essentially. No numbers were written in the contract for the reason stated above. I asked HR if this was the same for all the hired across the board and they said yes. I kept questioning them, eventually they gave me something to chew on as I kept pushing for a number. I was told only verbally, that I would potentially receive 2500 options worth 1.33 each currently, which equates to ~3k USD. There are currently 26M shares outstanding, not sure if preferred is included. Again this is all verbal, and can be easily changed since its not in my contract. Also this is 2500 options at series A valuation, but the company is on series B. Is that normal as well? Am I being low balled and potentially scammed since the numbers arnt mention in my contract? Thank you in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| What are the difficulties of service app/web companies? Posted: 23 Nov 2018 04:48 PM PST I checked why Uber is losing money and still makes no sense, looking at the expenses. R&D 362M, sales and marketing 734M, general and administrative 704M, operations and support 344M and other 97M. Look at this: https://news.crunchbase.com/news/understanding-uber-loses-money/ This seems too much for an app whose core function was built long ago and has been popular for long time from media and p2p. But then again Apple was valued 1T in August yet iOS ♿. So what is the hardest part for online service businesses? For everyone that thinks he's not delusional. R&D, marketing, is it hard to do high frequency small payments, legal work and offering service abroad, taxes-profit margin? [link] [comments]  |
| Recommendations for high quality iOS dev shops? Posted: 24 Nov 2018 12:42 AM PST Hey /r/startups! I'm a technical founder looking to contract out a dev shop to help me finish a new version of an app I built a few years ago. I've created my own team of devs in the past, but found that managing them was more work than I would have liked (and a lot of times to the detriment of the project quality) — I want to be more off-hands with this iteration, which is the motivation behind looking for a [really great] team to outsource it to. Does anyone additionally have thoughts on dev shops versus hiring individual excellent contractors? My dissuasion with it might also be related to the fact I was using Toptal with a lower budget, and wasn't getting the best talent a lot of times. Some constraints for recommendations:
Thank you so much! *Note:* I would love to offer $$ compensation to anybody who refers a shop that I end up going with :) [link] [comments]  |
| How long does it takes to see results from a blogging startup? Posted: 24 Nov 2018 12:35 AM PST www.scitechtop.com I started this website, nearly 7 months ago, but still I am seeing no b est results. I have started to get 4500 monthly pageviews(though I don't promote too much!) but, that makes me no money. I haven't have any affiliate sell till date. I have no ad clicks till now. I think I should have earned 4$ till now, but it is simply not happening. Please tell me how long should I consistently put articles in it? And what are some other tips for this blog that i need to follow in order to get good results? [link] [comments]  |
| Random Startup (Side Hustle) Questions Posted: 23 Nov 2018 09:11 PM PST Considering starting up a business (side hustle) next year and I have a few questions I hope you guys can answer, or at least help me with. 1) Logo design - I have a logo drawn out on paper, how do I go about finding someone to create a digital version for me? How much would this cost me? 2) I have the website captured (and social media sites). Do you guys create your own websites or pay someone to do it? If you have paid someone, how did you find them and what does that service typically cost? 3) Merchandise - I would like to sell logo merchandise on my website. Who do you guys recommend for shirts (under armor type material polo and t-shirts), coffee cups, mugs, etc? 4) For those of you who started out of your home, did you setup a PO box for your mail or use your home address? 5) Trademark - Legal Zoom is having their Cyber Monday sale soon so I was going to use them to file my trademark. Has anyone gone this route? Did anyone file yourself? How difficult is it and are their any website you can recommend to walk you through the process? [link] [comments]  |
| Lessons Learnt from a Professional Athlete Posted: 23 Nov 2018 05:56 AM PST I recently interviewed Georgia Wilson, a 22 year old, professional Hockey player from Australia, currently recovering from an ACL injury. Last year, Wilson was named part of the Hockeyroo's national squad and is currently eyeing off a return to international competition. When she does, it will be her 18th appearance in the green and gold. We discussed her approach to preparation, training, life-hacks and thinking like an elite athlete. Perhaps, what I like most about Wilson is that her success seems to have been built rather than given. Shorter than the average hockey player, Wilson is a workhorse. One whose determination and persistence seem to play a larger role in her success than mere genetics. Even the way she speaks is indicative of someone who appreciates how lots of little pieces make up the big picture. In our hour long conversation, these were the 5 biggest lessons I took from the young Hockeyroo.
Ray Dalio refers to this principle as "2nd and 3rd order consequences". In other words, it's our ability to prioritise beyond the immediate consequences of our actions. A giant choc fudge Sundae might be delicious, but the resulting insulin coma and eventual weight gain are far less desirable. Long term success rarely goes hand in hand with instant gratification. The 1st order consequences of running. (i.e. pain or boredom) need to be endured to obtain the 2nd and 3rd order consequences of fitness and endurance. Wilson takes a similar approach to rehabbing from her injury: "With my knee injury I'm ten months through what will hopefully only be a twelve month rehab. For me, I've learnt to work hard this year. I've had to train most days twice a day and had to work up the energy and courage to get back out there. Even though I'm not getting the immediate rewards, eventually in the long term, I really hope that they pay dividends."
Sometimes we can become so focused on our goals that we get stuck inside them; trapped in a bubble of ruthlessly focused devotion to our craft. All while the world outside is presenting countless opportunities to learn from other sources. "Often when I'm developing and working on other characteristics in my life outside of sport, my sport benefits from it." says Wilson. She credits investing in her relationships, communications skills and higher education with improving both her hockey and overall life balance. "It all provides confidence that if things don't go to plan… that I'm worth more than just being a Hockeyroo." This extends to studying other sports as well… (On being a soccer fan) "The positioning and structure is quite similar (to hockey). In terms of their outlet passing and the way they press and attack. It's a bit of a slower sport, in terms of the scoreline, but we definitely learn about being patient bringing the ball out of defence from them."
When asked what separates good players from those that elevate themselves to the next level, Wilson says analysis is the key. "Initially when I first got into the national team I would only watch myself when I was analysing games. Something that I've learnt from the senior players is that we don't just look at ourselves. We look at the team, we look at the opposition and we try to discover their strengths and any skills that we can add to our repertoire." Study your competitors. What do they do or not do? How do they strategise for success? Could you develop a strategy to counteract their strengths and turn them into weaknesses. When we develop our strategies in isolation, we're really only taking in half the picture. "It's almost like cheating before an exam. If you've invested in that research and effort you really minimise the amount of external variables that can effect you." "What we'll often do as a group is we'll break up into different subsets and we'll watch different games. Often from different tournaments, over a space of several months as long as it's still relevant. Then we'll come back together and really discuss our findings. If we manage to see patterns that several of the groups have brought up we'll know those are most likely to be the tendencies of the opposition." As Steve Blank, (father of the lean startup movement) once said: "No business plan survives first contact with customers." That first contact could come on launch day, after you've built up an inventory and put all your chips on the table: or it could happen in your equivalent of the film room. Through surveys, testing, and engaging with your market. So conserve some energy and allow your mind to learn through observation and visualisation. Don't wait until it's too late.
Training to exhaustion and endless repetitions are becoming relics of outdated coaching philosophies. When training with the Hockeyroos, Wilson says the team is keenly aware of the law of diminishing returns; where the benefits gained are less than the energy invested. "When training for penalty corners, we'll do a set of no more than around fifteen reps. We really focus on executing the right technique, rather than drilling them again and again. After each rep we'll pause for feedback, take a moment to reset and then go again." The training is always situationally specific. Where possible, the team will record drills and use the footage to give feedback in real time. Again reducing the need for endless repetitions and conserving the player's energy. "What the data has found is that we will only have the ball (as an individual) during a sixty minute game for around one and a half to two minutes." Therefore, having a herculean motor that can get to every contest is nice. However, perfectly executing the required skills during your 90 seconds with the ball is far more important.
Human beings are creatures of habit. We can either be intentional about them or unintentional, but the truth is they effect us all the same. Whether Wilson wants to focus, get more sleep or get in the zone, she uses cues to help transition into those positive emotional states. Cue, noun: a hint or indication about how to behave in particular circumstances. A cue is not aggressive or forceful. It's simply a hint that you're moving into a familiar routine. Rather than relying on her will power to ratchet into high performance mode, Wilson transitions there gradually through a series of steps. The key is to build routines that consist of things you can control. Activities like brushing your teeth, washing your face, switching off your phone and switching on a diffuser before bed, are reliable cues that you should be able replicate anywhere. They tell your body that it's time to relax and increase the likelihood of a quality night's sleep. To hear more of Georgia's interview, including her meditation routine, thoughts on leadership and culture in sports just ask and I'll message you a link to the podcast. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 23 Nov 2018 06:58 AM PST Something like kinekt but kinekt despite being microsoft's best selling product ever is a hardware and thus pricey/prone to fracture/loss etc, what I've developed uses my own algorithm + lgpl ai algos to achieve the task. It's fun though proof of concept but i think it has huge potential. I may consider selling it for very low as this is just proof of concept, working demo but it needs some tuning up...possible to do it but i don't have the time. I may have some future in VR too, such as VR + gesture recognition similar to the HTC vive concept but without the joysticks. [link] [comments]  |
| How to protect IP if you're not incorporated yet? Posted: 23 Nov 2018 07:39 AM PST I haven't incorporated yet. I've validated the idea and now building the MVP. The MVP is 75% done. A few people I know from my CS course at college want to help me write some of the modules. For this to happen, I will have to share my source code with them. How can I retain the IP and make sure no one runs away with the source code? Mostly, NDAs and IP assignment agreements are made between companies and people. Founding agreements say that when a company is formed, the clauses apply (IP transfer, non disclosure etc) . They are not co-founders so I can't have these terms on a founding agreement. They will probably only work for a month. How do I protect the source code if the company is not incorporated yet? [link] [comments]  |
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