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
- Adam Neumann suing WeWork for not doing fiduciary duty is the best example of hypocrisy I have seen.
- BuiltWith earns $14m a year in revenue with only 1 full-time employee!
- Sharing market intelligence data
- Founders out there, have you ever had doubts that your ideas/biz can work?
- I made a simple mac app that got featured on Hacker News and Product Hunt with 200+ upvotes. Got great return for a week but what's next? How do I market it now? How to have consistent cash inflow?
- Stock Options for hiring?
- I'm anxious about the world opening up, I've made a pretty decent income doing tutorials online, will it disappear soon?
- How to respond when someone blows off a meeting
- As a non technical founder, what platform is easiest to use to support a somewhat complex site?
- A startup got bought out by a PE instead of VC, what should an employee consider?
- Where are we headed?
- Threatened by co-founder for removal
- First steps to crowdfund my project
- Which is the most preferred: LLC, Ltd or a partnership
- How much equity for an involved consultant?
- When to build for other mobile platforms
- Audio or Video? How are you using Zoom with clients and/or team members?
- How do I get users to talk to us?
- Company vs Feature - How do you know?
| Posted: 05 May 2020 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]  |
| Adam Neumann suing WeWork for not doing fiduciary duty is the best example of hypocrisy I have seen. Posted: 05 May 2020 10:12 AM PDT The guy who took investors money to buy buildings to rent to his own company, the guy who copyrighted a name and sold it to his own company after himself taking the decision of renaming it, the guy who almost did an international drug offence by smoking weed on a private plane, has the audacity to sue another company, however corrupt or wrong they might be, of not doing their fiduciary duty. This is heights. [link] [comments]  |
| BuiltWith earns $14m a year in revenue with only 1 full-time employee! Posted: 06 May 2020 02:34 AM PDT Let's discuss about business/niche as efficient as BuiltWith. Please lemme know if you can think of any, in this thread. It will help everyone generate startup ideas. Employee to revenue ratio has to be great. Example: Sidekiq: less than 5 employees Revenue: ARR 1M IndieHacker: less than 5 employees Revenue: Undisclosed (but sponsored by Stripe so it should be in good profit) What other companies you think are doing great and don't burn much cash? [link] [comments]  |
| Sharing market intelligence data Posted: 06 May 2020 12:54 AM PDT My startup provides market intelligence and I was wondering if there are techniques (such as used in privacy research) where we can effectively scramble the data so that the customer still gets valuable data, but if they share it with others then it becomes worthless? Or is there any platforms that facilitate this? A similar idea is when you buy market intelligence reports for a load of money and then simply share it with other companies/friends. I know this can be "stopped" with terms of service/agreement but is there some technical method? [link] [comments]  |
| Founders out there, have you ever had doubts that your ideas/biz can work? Posted: 05 May 2020 09:05 PM PDT I'm starting out on my own entrepreneurial journey and am wondering if utter conviction is necessary or even, possible. I'm launching the product soon, but I've found myself doubting the idea or myself, sometimes thinking if it can work. Is it normal to do so? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 May 2020 01:00 PM PDT It is a tool for screen annotation (any screen and not just images or screenshots), cursor highlight, and more. It can be useful for online classes, video tutorials, presentations, etc. Hacker News, Product Hunt, and Reddit were my main medium for marketing but want to know more. I have also submitted my app to SetApp which, I think, pays every month to the developers but I am not sure about their acceptance rate. Above was my green strategy for marketing. I hope it is useful for some and would love to know such strategies for marketing a mac app that others follow. Thank you 🙏. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 May 2020 04:58 PM PDT Hello! New to the world of startups (like new new). I'm currently on a job hunt and a friend of a friend is hiring so I reached out to discuss the position. He said he liked my background, but said they are ~2 months away from launching their product and asked what my current living situation requires and if I would be willing/able to work for stocks for 1-3 months then transition into a salary? I don't know much about that side of startups (job I'm interested in is marketing their product), so can anyone here help explain it to me, what are the risks, is this a good deal, what kind of questions I should be asking back to him? I'm not in a position where I need a job right this second, but the job hunt has been going very ~meh over the last 4 weeks and I don't want to turn down a job if it is a good deal. (Edited for typo.) [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 May 2020 10:50 AM PDT I advertised in FB Groups, friends, and locals. It was just a simple how-to make flyers or draw a portrait using photoshop, but it caught fire and I charged at least $15-$20 per virtual guest via zoom and it lasts 40 minutes. Then I was able to privately do 1 on 1 with a couple of clients and got a decent going. Without spending money and time to travel, it was a pretty decent income. Now I'm worried that this was just a lucky streak. The graphic design department gets a lot of bad wrap so I don't doubt that I won't find anything else after this lockdown. Was it just a fluke or should I expect nothing else? Has anyone started their gig because of this global event? And is it just a one-time thing for us who have done it? [link] [comments]  |
| How to respond when someone blows off a meeting Posted: 05 May 2020 03:20 PM PDT I scheduled a meeting with a potential collaborator. It was supposed to be a product showcase where I demo my product and see if he's interested in joining my effort. He is a friendly acquaintance, but I'm not super close to this person. He proposed the time, and I agreed to it. He is currently more than 45 minutes late and is not responding to my follow-up email or text message. Obviously this is a red flag, but he is talented and I would have been glad to bring him on board if the meeting went well and he seemed like a good fit. Not sure how to respond to him if/when he follows up. [link] [comments]  |
| As a non technical founder, what platform is easiest to use to support a somewhat complex site? Posted: 05 May 2020 02:55 PM PDT Think of the site as one with members and profiles etc. the site isn't too complex other than having users and their personal accounts. I'm a non-technical founder and have a basis of web development and management but some things do tend to get too advanced for me. They don't become impossible to figure out but they do require time and research that I need to allocating elsewhere. I'm asking, is there a platform whether that be Wordpress (which I'm currently using), wiz, etc. that may be more friendly to someone like me and able to support multi user accounts and whatnot. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| A startup got bought out by a PE instead of VC, what should an employee consider? Posted: 05 May 2020 08:42 AM PDT A startup that initially had a variety of investors got bought out by a PE firm. They purchased 100% of shares of the company(except employee owned shares) and all its debt. The startup wasn't losing money with a constant revenue flow, but also not scaling out to make a shit ton of money as some VCs would hope. PE companies tend to hold this investment for a period of 3 to 5 years and then sell it. As far as I understand, they buy hella cheap (especially in this market) and would sell for a higher cost. All things considered, how would this impact a non c-level employee? Pros/cons? What should one worry about if anything or are there any upsides to this? Is this a good opportunity for individuals to stick around for next 3 years or should they move elsewhere? (Also, no one is being laid off) [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 May 2020 01:37 PM PDT This is a semi-rant and self-introspection process. I had an experience with a startup besides briefly having worked on something of my own for a few months. The team fell out and I dropped off as the product-market seemed off. Despite interest from the FAANG guys, I decided to join a small startup hedge fund where I was to get a chance to work on a new project end-to-end. I also had a strong interest in capital markets which I wanted to explore in full. This new service was to be sold/marketed as a B2B product in the financial services space. We basically wanted to use some of our experience building alphas for the market to the broader industry. Being from a data science background, I wanted to use this as an opportunity to both grow my development skills and at the same time not really compromise on pay. The first 6-7 months were great, where I not only build out the model but also completed the data services, a working back-end. Just to be clear, the founder was pivotal to getting the model correct having a strong business idea and know-how. I was able to translate these views into a workable statistical approach. All the while, we started pitching to a set of clients with WIP prototype, I was able to attend these along with Founder. While the response was a bit confusing, we were still very excited and wanted to iterate either expanding the suite of features or the coverage of entities. I was yet to finish connecting all parts of the code pieces together. Meanwhile, I pushed to hire a couple of guys to help with some backend and front end aspects of the product. By the time, these guys joined, we hit the COVID situation in full and both of them joined us online. The two of them really hit the ground running and finished the front-end to be able to get an entire working prototype. The whole online working has suddenly made my life really hard as the founder has started proposing and adding random features on his whim, constant changes to the model structure with tweaks here and there. The biggest worry being, despite the working prototype, a refusal to launch and share the same with users offline. Ours is forecasting/prediction SAAS offering which is incredibly relevant in current downturn markets but the Founder seems to be constantly adding/making modifications to the final product. All this while, none of the proposed clients have closed the deal. While we have had 2-3 meetings with different stakeholders, the progress has been slow. We were also stumped with a pay cut this month. I'm down by 20%. I have been carrying the burden of the backend because I haven't been able to completely onboard the guys due to the present situation. I feel like we seem to be really missing the forest for the trees here, also maybe try and launch whatever we have to the public audience as they will find lots of things useful as outputs, all the while we can continue to add/modify features. I'm primarily concerned about a couple of aspects, I seem to be stuck in a coding abyss since I know the system in and out and everyone's work has a dependence on me. The no sales and slow progress on the business front is really messing up my motivation and the 20% pay cut has been the icing on the cake. I would really like the project to succeed because that's the only way, I can get rewarded but there seems to be zero motivation on that front, all while worrying out small tweaks and changes which are purely on the Founder's Instinct. While his vision and views were pivotal to getting here, I extremely stressed that while a great product, we might really be building something that our intended audience doesn't intend to buy. I want to have a conversation regarding the whole project. While I honestly don't own a stake/equity in the thing and really won't be affected. I do see increasing frustration and urgency on the Founder Side but which unfortunately only results in more dumb changes and lever pulling/pushing than a more nuanced and deep homework. We definitely don't have product-market fit, and it seems that's the first problem we should intend to solve. What should my conversation be like? I also want to voice the fact that I don't enjoy spending 12+hrs on a possible dead scenario. [link] [comments]  |
| Threatened by co-founder for removal Posted: 05 May 2020 10:23 AM PDT A couple of months back I found a college dude who was willing to work on my startup idea. Both of us are techies, I'm 1 year out of college while he's in final year. Fast forward to quarantine, I found myself doing all the work- research, documentation, designing and so on. Dude wasn't working at all, just kept giving sweet talk. I gave him a simple task which he didn't perform even after a month. Finally I decided to remove him/walk out and work on this alone. Dude is threatening me with legal consequences for making him work(made him watch youtube coding tutorials). As of project progress, coding hasn't started, there's no company nor any legal paperwork. Research documents are in my private possession. Is there any reason to worry? How should I handle this situation? [link] [comments]  |
| First steps to crowdfund my project Posted: 05 May 2020 09:31 AM PDT Hi r/startups ! I have a new project related to international organic food. I want to start a project on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, but I am not aware of the best methods to reach out and obtain backers. I will really appreciate each piece of advice. Thank you [link] [comments]  |
| Which is the most preferred: LLC, Ltd or a partnership Posted: 05 May 2020 09:25 AM PDT This is addressing a startup company. What would be the best system to form a business under? We're starting up so our main goals are safety and prioritiesing cashflow. However if you have better advice let me know, I'm always willing to know. A large part of this is to get a trademark for our name and logo UK here! [link] [comments]  |
| How much equity for an involved consultant? Posted: 05 May 2020 09:23 AM PDT Creating a new online business that creates digital goods for creatives in the video, music, and photography world. One of my potential partners is a notable figure within his respective niche with many years of experience and can bring lots of value to the table with potential celebrity sponsors and investors. He is interested in helping the company long term as an "involved consultant and business partner" (his direct words) who will dedicate around 10-20 hours per month off the bat (but he offered to increase the amount of hours he can put in if the company really takes off). He would not be involved with the day to day operations obviously, but be more of a strategic partner with lots of high level connections & resources we can utilize to scale. We will also be using his image & likeness in our initial product offer. What are the usual equity stakes for a consultant with this level of involvement and value? I was planning to offer a 5% equity (vested over 3 years) + 10% royalties for any products he helps produce. Does this seem fair? [link] [comments]  |
| When to build for other mobile platforms Posted: 05 May 2020 09:06 AM PDT So our team built a delivery service platform on android. not gonna go into detail but we've just started operations (2 weeks ago), and a lot of the people that were willing to use the service/download the app were Apple users and get frustrated because we don't support iOS yet. The Android app is very ready for the idea validation stage and we've already landed a big customer. I'm wondering if it's wise to put effort into starting development for iOS at our current state or to wait until we have more traction? [link] [comments]  |
| Audio or Video? How are you using Zoom with clients and/or team members? Posted: 05 May 2020 08:04 AM PDT Zoom has become darling of remote workers amid Covid19. The platform can be used for video conferencing meetings and audio conferencing (dialing in via landline or mobile). How are you using Zoom in your business setting? Do you video chat with strangers? With colleagues? Or mostly audio only? [link] [comments]  |
| How do I get users to talk to us? Posted: 05 May 2020 07:35 AM PDT Hi, I made a chrome extension. We've got 300 users now, and they use it a lot. We overlay information on Amazon as people shop, and display 1000+ fairly conspicuous boxes a day. We don't take anyone's email or anything, however we do publish a message requesting feedback every Monday. People have seen it hundreds of times and no one has responded. It says something like: "Hi, how are you enjoying our extension? Is there a company we missed? Did we mess something up? What can we make better, shoot us a message!" People seem to enjoy the extension. What we inject is fairly conspicuous and yet we get no uninstalls. I'm sure we are missing a lot of stuff, and I've been really surprised at the complete lack of responses. We've tested it ourselves and it seems to work. [link] [comments]  |
| Company vs Feature - How do you know? Posted: 05 May 2020 05:02 AM PDT I'm struggling with the vision of my business. The struggle is more visionary vs functionality of the tech product. The product works and the beta users the product was released to all are still using the tool daily. But based on some user feedback, I'm fearful what I thought was a product/start of a company, just might just be a "feature" at the end of the day and not really a company/business. Any advice on navigating the tug of war I'm facing today: Do I have the start of a company, or just a web tool? [link] [comments]  |
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