Startups Tuesday Operational Roundtable - A Forum to Ask About Legal, Accounting, Project Management, or How to Get Started |
- Tuesday Operational Roundtable - A Forum to Ask About Legal, Accounting, Project Management, or How to Get Started
- Lessons Learned from Hiring a Remote Team
- Reflections from a young entrepreneur
- What could go wrong in giving the entire source code of a system to the client?
- Building a Startup That Will Last - HBRs article on focusing on something else other than growth.
- How do I manage as a sole proprietorship
- Which startup business models can't be supported with PPC advertising?
- How do you deal with opensource license compliance & security?
- Is It Cost-Prohibitive For A Startup To Hire More Freelancers?
- Shareholder suggestion - is it fair?
- How did you go about finding a freelance ad expert?
- What things did you find the most difficult when starting out your business?
- Should I ditch my co—founder? I do pretty much all of the SEO + traffic acquisition for my company’s services.
- CS Senior and only developer at 3 person startup. How should I mention this on my resume?
- Market Validation slide for my pitch deck
- Graduating student trying to launch themselves into a career of Fintech
| Posted: 09 Jul 2019 06:06 AM PDT Welcome to this week's Operational Roundtable Thread. Ask about anything related to legal, accounting, project management, or how to get started. Don't be shy. The purpose of this is to learn and share ideas and methodologies with one another. Any question is a good question! If you are answering questions, remember to be kind and supportive. Many are just starting out and have no idea what they are doing. That's okay! We all knew nothing before we knew something. You can also find more support using instant chat on the /r/startups discord. [link] [comments]  |
| Lessons Learned from Hiring a Remote Team Posted: 09 Jul 2019 09:26 AM PDT Hiring and managing the team remotely is not the easiest path. For me, with three active projects at the same time, this path was even harder. Here are the seven costly lessons I've learned while hiring remote teams for my CV Compiler, Relocate.me, and GlossaryTech projects: 1. Do not neglect test assignments, no matter the role you're hiring for. The test tasks should be as similar as possible to the real ones of your prospective employee. It's reckless to judge a candidate only from the perspective of their resume/portfolio. 2. Put some 'traps' in the job description. For instance, ask candidates to replace the subject line of their job application with a specific phrase. Such 'traps', as a rule, works well for initial filtering. 3. Search for locations with low local competition. If the employers in a particular city/country don't offer competitive compensations and work conditions, talented specialists will start looking for remote opportunities. What you need to do is to offer decent perks to the candidates from the areas where the employer competition is low. 4. References work when hiring a remote team, too. 5. Talk about life with your candidates. I have one simple rule: I don't want to work with people whom I wouldn't invite for coffee. When hiring a remote team member, I always talk to them about their life plans or favorite books. This small talk shows me whether a person will be a good fit for our team. 6. Pay well. 7. Take care about proper onboarding. Source: Hiring a Remote Team for Your Project: 7 Rules I'd be curious to hear yours in the comments. What's your 'recipe' for hiring remote team members? [link] [comments]  |
| Reflections from a young entrepreneur Posted: 10 Jul 2019 12:44 AM PDT I thought I would share some thoughts as a young entrepreneur who has seen success and some of the things I've seen and experienced. I'd like to state that I'm extremely fortunate for the position I'm in and the success that I've seen and don't mean for this post to discount that. Background: I started my first company when I was 12 it was acquired when I was 17 by a development partner in the mid six figures. I took a 6 month break and joined a start-up that had about 35 employees and had raised about $5mm. That startup has now raised over $300mm and is nearly 500 employees I'm now 20. Things that people don't tell you: The highs and the lows: This is the one that I've only recently really locked down. The thrill of start-up chaos, the constant fires and the $$ involved in many of the deals is absolutely intoxicating. I have dabbled in drugs and there's nothing that comes close to the startup thrill. However, just like drugs when things are in a low (like around the holidays) your head resets and it's painfully difficult to adjust to normality Friends/Dating: The startup grind takes the vast majority of available time. It's well known that it's difficult to be a founder and date. Add in an age bias and dating becomes next to impossible. My youngest friends are in their mid-late thirties 30's. I feel so removed from culture and there are few people under 25 focused as heavily on their career. Socializing: All of my consciousness is around work. Since I was 12, my identity has been around entrepreneurship. I don't know who I am, what hobbies I have or what to talk about outside of business. I'm terrified of retirement, family life, relationships,etc.. as it'll force me to encounter how I'm nothing more than a shell of a human, a robot addicted to the dollar sign. Analyzing: I over think and analyze every situation. From leaving parties if people are Snapchatting bong hits to how my personality as a brand comes off to those around me. Socializing becomes exhausting and I've definitely become more of an introvert because of the startup world. Age bias: I can't go to many team activities, have to actively plan travel around age restrictions and am generally treated as lesser due to my age. Burn out: I'm exhausted but terrified of who I am outside of my professional persona. So I just buckle down and pretend to love working. When trying to come up for air I face the age bias of co workers thinking I can't be burnt out due to my youth energy or feeling like I can't take time off to try and prove something. Depression: all in all I'm incredibly depressed. There's not a day that goes by that I don't wish I could go back and finish high school, go to parties, just generally grow up on my own. I have a horrible sleep pattern given hours I held when working over seas and hyper tension. TLDR: I feel that I was in such a hurry to grow up and prove something to the world that I missed out on so many things. Pursue your dreams but don't forget to just enjoy life as you're getting there as life will fucking suck when you finally get there. [link] [comments]  |
| What could go wrong in giving the entire source code of a system to the client? Posted: 09 Jul 2019 01:26 PM PDT Hi. So I'm a young entrepreneur with a privately registered company, running it with 2 of my colleagues. I'm in a big predicament right now and could really use your insights and wisdom. Basically, we developed this system for a potential client. Now that the system is developed, tested and ready to be launched, we'll be signing our contract. The biggest issue here is that our client still treats us as students and is playing around with the terms and conditions as best as it suits them. For one thing, they've included a clause in which they regard to this system as a donation by us to them (the client is a non-profit organisation), and then they're also asking for the complete source code. It has always been made clear to them in the past that whatever development we've done prior to the launch is complimentary, and that any future iterations will be charged accordingly. They're okay with the latter, but they interpreted the former as a donation, and are hence playing with their terms. I don't understand what to do. Is it wise to give them the entire source code? Should this 'donation' clause be altered? What could go wrong if I give them the source code? The client is huge, well-known and really good for my company's goodwill, and I'm also scared of losing them by refusing to give them the source code. We're also young entrepreneurs, so we don't know what risks to take at this stage. Really stressed out, please help! Thank you. EDIT: I forgot to mention this earlier, but we've already included the clause that prohibits our client from reusing, reverse engineering or modifying the source code. At present, nothing is written in the T&Cs that concerns giving them the code, but they're asking for it. [link] [comments]  |
| Building a Startup That Will Last - HBRs article on focusing on something else other than growth. Posted: 09 Jul 2019 05:38 AM PDT
Any thoughts? [link] [comments]  |
| How do I manage as a sole proprietorship Posted: 09 Jul 2019 07:32 PM PDT Hello all. So I am in Florida trying to build a small cash flow in web development and funnel that into my own SaaS "start up". I'm really just trying to build some cash flow positive low maintenance software. I have a customer ready to take on as my "first" client and I want to know how do i manage the funds and taxation. I already make about 100k full time and this would be a side business. I want to ideally burn all of the money I make from this side venture on expenses to build out the software. I don't plan to form an LLC unless I have to. What should I do? Do I go to the bank and open a business account under my name? And then take that first check and cash it in to the business account? The client also said they could serve me a 1099. What exactly does that mean? I guess for all intents I would be a sole proprietor correct? If I want to make sure I burn all the revenue before the end of 2019 would I be able to put my own money into the business account and say I had a loss for the year? Some guidance would be incredibly helpful! Thank you [link] [comments]  |
| Which startup business models can't be supported with PPC advertising? Posted: 10 Jul 2019 01:06 AM PDT I'm interested to :
Thanks JT [link] [comments]  |
| How do you deal with opensource license compliance & security? Posted: 09 Jul 2019 04:12 PM PDT As the number of opensource components used in any programming language to build a commercial product increases, what are the steps you follow to keep track of and manage these third party software especially concerning license compliance and security in a commercial product/service? [link] [comments]  |
| Is It Cost-Prohibitive For A Startup To Hire More Freelancers? Posted: 09 Jul 2019 10:59 PM PDT Hi, This is a general question about freelancers and startups, but I'm also asking it for the sake of my own situation. I write for a mid-sized tech startup. They've been around for about eight years. I've written for them for over a year, and the relationship has been solid on both ends. My assignments are all shorter pieces with rapid (24-48 hour) turnaround time. Recently I had some health problems and had to take a week and a half off, then I had to cut down on how many pieces I can write per week. I didn't want to do this, but it was either that or turn everything in late and become unreliable. I've had to remind them about the assignment limit a couple of times, and it feels like they're getting salty about it. I don't think they'd have trouble finding more freelance writers, but it looks like they're not doing it. Is it really expensive to add more freelancers to your workforce? I can't tell if I should worry about being replaced, or if they'll just fill the gap with someone else. We're designated as contractors (1099), and there isn't an extensive onboarding process. [link] [comments]  |
| Shareholder suggestion - is it fair? Posted: 09 Jul 2019 09:23 AM PDT Asking here as I'm genuinely interested in experienced feedback and just want to ensure my business partner is being fair (The new one, not the original one). Working with a close friend to start a business. It's his idea, and he bought me in to help due to my experience. Super excited by the business and very keen to work on it, however, I currently work full time so can't give it ALL The hours in a day, but am motivated. Currently in a seed funding round with a gov't programme and going very well. Originally my bus. partner and I were 60/40 shares, with the plan to bring in another person we know on the sales side who would share some of that. He's now in the picture, and has some background in startups (successful) and has suggested that He and I take 10% each, my partner takes 50% so he has a majority share to keep control of the business when investors get involved and 30% is kept to the side for when investors come into the picture. While I TOTALLY get the thinking here and it makes sense to me totally, going from 40% to 10% is a bit of a blow hence this post. However, my partner is going full time soon on the project and it was his idea in the first place. Interested in other opinions on this to see if it's good thinking based on your experience. Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| How did you go about finding a freelance ad expert? Posted: 09 Jul 2019 07:08 AM PDT My wife and I have prepared our ecom website, ready to start marketing it. Problem is that neither of us know anything about ads, and probably best to get a freelancer to help us on contract first. But it seems so hard to separate the snake oil from the actual professionals. Any advice? [link] [comments]  |
| What things did you find the most difficult when starting out your business? Posted: 09 Jul 2019 06:23 AM PDT Did you find things difficult or have any difficulties when starting a business what were they? I'm trying to understand what the key struggles are that come for people when just starting out their business so any insights you guys can provide would be really informative. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2019 10:50 AM PDT My partner never answers early morning customer calls, doesn't do any online/SEO work, never updates anything in our system, doesn't follow up with correct grammar and punctuation. The only thing he does is invest in 50% of our whole spend and receive 50% of the profit + actual labour if we go out and service somebody in person. Should I just move on to my own start up with my own investing money and keep 100% of the profits? Should I feel bad? Has anybody had a similar experience? Edit: Typos [link] [comments]  |
| CS Senior and only developer at 3 person startup. How should I mention this on my resume? Posted: 09 Jul 2019 10:05 AM PDT I am a CS Senior and a few months ago i started working for a tech startup on the side. We are a 3 person team and I am the only developer which means I am building the whole product fromscratch. We are gearing to launch our beta soon if that is relevant. Meanwhile, I will graduate soon and so I am about to start job hunting. I am quite confused about how should I mention this on my resume? More specifically, should I (and if yes, how should I phrase it) mention that i am the first and currently only developer building the product for this startup. [link] [comments]  |
| Market Validation slide for my pitch deck Posted: 09 Jul 2019 06:05 AM PDT I'm creating a pitch deck for my company and had a question regarding the 'market validation' slide. Currently I plan to have 3 competitors on the slide, one with estimated annual revenue, the other 2 are fairly new but were either partially acquired for a 7 figure sum and the last had received Series A funding. Because I don't have revenue figures for the last 2 companies is it okay if I put their financing information instead? That technically does make they're validated correct? [link] [comments]  |
| Graduating student trying to launch themselves into a career of Fintech Posted: 09 Jul 2019 08:20 AM PDT Hi everyone, I am just entering my last year of school and I need to start heavily considering career opportunity's. My passion has always been in startups and I feel this is best suited for myself. I have 3 past internships in equity research and as an investment analyst at a top bank and hedge fund. With this experience and my working knowledge of python, I want to find out how to break into the startup industry (fintech might be my best fit) in Toronto and I'm unsure how. Is there any events, strategies, or networking opportunities where I can learn how to get involved in this? Any help would be greatly appreciated [link] [comments]  |
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