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How much credibility does having a PhD or Masters from an Ivy League school give you in the startup world, all other projects/skills being equal? If you have ideas and drive then is it more important to spend 2-3 years networking and working at startups in Boston/Cambridge/Silicon Valley than finishing a higher degree?
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Oct 22, 2011 23:22
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himurak posted:I can't say much to the credibility aspect, but I'm going for my Masters for the extra earning potential to backup the startup. In my mind you can never network to much. Thanks for the perspective. It sounds like having a masters will set you apart. Do most unconnected tech startup guys start with only a good BS degree? I feel like networking is harder in a geographically isolated university, but a higher degree is valuable to me for a lot of other reasons so I don't want to throw away opportunity.
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Oct 23, 2011 00:24
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Leperflesh posted:Amazon and Steam, together, will be impossible for you to compete with. Honestly I don't really understand how Gamestop is even still in business. Also Gamefly and eBay. The small town nerd emporium is on the way out in the US, despite how many great memories we may have of them.
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Nov 7, 2011 06:19
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Malloreon posted:I don't entirely agree. I get all my board games from local stores in Missouri and Florida. I agree that these places will be around a while longer, but I don't see how they're ever going to attract enough kids and teens that care about local businesses and non-electronic media to replace their aging userbase. I played 3rd edition D&D and patronized local video/boardgame stores up until I realized that you could get every book out there as a searchable PDF and that games were $5-$15 cheaper online, with infinitely better selection and time efficiency.
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Nov 7, 2011 07:42
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I thought that founders were expected to dump-and-run after the IPO. Why would you accept the extreme risks and workload associated with entrepreneurship without that extreme payout? I ask this as a naive grad student who would only start a business using that model, and I really want to know who people consider to be "fair" founders. I presumed that businesspeople were dicks by default.
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Dec 14, 2011 08:01
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Like you, I think that it's a terrible thing to do to your employees without warning or with overt lying. But I thought that no one ever expects to get rich outside of the founders and VCs, and so it isn't a dick move by deception. More of a predictable dick move that happens when rich investors try to minize the amount of wealth exiting a company and going into profits for tech guys.
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Dec 14, 2011 09:26
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I've been looking for good news sites and blogs with info on entering entrepreneurship from a science and engineering perspective, and I really like Hacker News and TechCrunch. Is there something I should know about them before I put stock in these communities' opinions? They seem better than blind Google searches, about comparable to Slashdot's higher rated comments, but I don't want to be following poo poo advice if I can help it. I know I need firsthand experience and a mentor more than Internet advice but I need to make do in the meantime.
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Mar 20, 2012 06:10
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I've read reports from many sources (random Google hits, YCombinator, TechCrunch) that Berlin is aiming to be the Silicon Valley of Europe, but that few companies have had successful exits or received large VC funding. It seems like a more risky location to work than California or the East Coast (especially for an American), but I've also heard that the cost of housing/office space/actually enjoying the city is ridiculously low compared to everywhere else.
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May 24, 2012 21:01
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If I want to eventually spin off a side project into a startup, do I need to incorporate the business through Delaware or something ahead of time? In the show Silicon Valley they get an investor's check made out to their "company" before it's been legally created which causes problems. Obviously it's TV but I'm worried this is a common mistake for founders without business experience.
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Feb 2, 2016 23:01
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Gounads posted:Spin it off when you start looking for investors or another person joins in. Probably a good idea as soon as you have customers as well to limit liability. Notorious b.s.d. posted:Incorporation isn't a magic totem. A one-man corporation may not protect you from very much in court, and all the company's debts will be in your name anyway (because the corporation won't have enough credit) Thanks for the advice, sorry for the late reply. We would have two founders and maybe freelance contractors. I'll look into corporation credit and LLC stuff.
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Feb 21, 2016 06:33
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Weed Wolf posted:I just managed to land a YCombinator interview with my startup (we already are in Alchemist accelerator, which has been awesome, but YCombinator's network would be incredibly valuable). Anyone deal with that interview process and have words of wisdom to spare? Read the 1st half of Chaos Monkeys
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Oct 28, 2016 00:01
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Weed Wolf: The 2nd half is great too. You won't find a better piece of long-form journalism relevant to what you're attempting. There are also tons of good single-issue blog posts out there that someone can recommend. Edit: And congratulations man! Jesus is that a big deal. Good luck, just remember that Paul Graham hated Airbnb's original pitch. lord1234 posted:Friend of mine wrote that. Great book. Though he never mentioned it your friend would be a much better writer for Silicon Valley than the Disrupted guy. That book was good in its own way but his criticisms were very New Yorker/McSweeneyes, while Chaos Monkeys channels Yospos. Analytic Engine fucked around with this message at 04:36 on Oct 28, 2016 |
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Oct 28, 2016 04:29
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