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OG KUSH BLUNTS posted:Also the established company is a international juggernaut so it wasnt realistic to continue to develop it. Google Video was launched a month before YouTube was founded. It's possible to compete with big companies, especially in a new field.
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Oct 5, 2011 07:49
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sry4partying posted:Hey everyone, wanted a critique on my startup: One big thing I think you may be neglecting is the IP side of this. The memefront.com and memeoable.com logos in particular look like ticking time bombs, no one really knows who originally created those images, so there is no way to prove that you aren't infringing on someone's IP. There is no way I would want to take that risk with my startup. The PayPleaser logo looks way too much like the PayPal logo, so there's another lawsuit waiting to happen. Also, what exactly am I buying? You're selling more than domain names, so what else does the $199 buy? A PNG file? Copyrights to a logo that you may or may not have? Assistance in building a website or brand? You need to make this clearer.
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Oct 13, 2011 03:55
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"Casual entrepreneur" is an oxymoron. Normally, to start a business you need to make it more than a full time job. You need to be absolutely committed, if something else takes priority over the business then you will fail. Maybe if someone was extremely well respected and had extremely good connections they could make some money on the side consulting, but they wouldn't need marketing since their business would be entirely through those connections.
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Oct 15, 2011 03:28
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One interesting idea in that area would be a premium car shopping service. You sign up, and tell them what you want in a car. The site searches all cars advertised online, and recommends cars that meet your criteria, factoring in things like ratings of certain models and pricing guides. It should be able to say things like "This car is priced 10% less than similar cars in your area." Once you sign up and pay a fee, you get a comprehensive package including things like: 1. A full vehicle history report. 2. Detailed information about the make/model that you are considering. 3. Help with financing arrangements if you want to finance the car, so you get unbiased information about how to do that. 4. A local mechanic, hired by the site on a contract basis, will go out and inspect the vehicle before you buy it. 5. If you need to ship the car, the site will refer you to a reputable company that can do that.
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Oct 17, 2011 13:47
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In general, I would define a startup as a small company that aims to make millions of dollars in a relatively brief period by creating a new product or service. Software is most common, because you can build and release new software without spending a ton of money up front. I wouldn't consider a financial planning business to be a startup, because there is a cap to the amount of money you can make, and a lot of companies are doing something similar to you.
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Oct 20, 2011 20:52
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I don't think the degree will matter that much. A startup will succeed or fail based on the product, your customers don't care if you have a Harvard PhD or if you dropped out of high school, they care about how good your product is. The skills you learn while getting the PhD may come in handy, and it may help you secure early funding, but that's about it. I would say networking is far more important than perusing a graduate degree if you want to found a startup.
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Oct 23, 2011 10:31
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There is an independent video game store that competes quite well with Gamestop where I live. Here is how they do it. First of all, a lot of them specialize in older titles, which is a market that Gamestop doesn't serve. They also aren't competing directly with Amazon, since Amazon proper doesn't carry a lot of older titles and refers customers to Amazon Marketplace. This means no Amazon Prime, no free shipping, and an unpredictable wait until you get your product. Also, they are able to do well because their staff is highly knowledgeable about their product, and they are integrated with a community of hardcore gamers that form the base of their business. They have an ideal location within walking distance of a college campus, and no other game stores within a few miles. I'm not sure how it would do on the web though, they don't even have a dedicated website outside of their Facebook, and I'm not sure what would be on there.
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Nov 7, 2011 09:02
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To be honest, if you want to aim any higher then the smallest businesses, you need to branch into data retention and management. This is a whole other animal than feeding some documents in a scanner, and you need people who are experts in the legal, technical, and logistical aspects of corporate record keeping. Plus, you'll need to convince your customers that you can be trusted with their critical data. Unless you do this, there isn't any way you can succeed, as you'll be limited to individuals and businesses with maybe a dozen employees at most, and you won't be let anywhere near the lucrative healthcare, accounting, and legal document industries.
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Nov 12, 2011 19:56
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The issue with working for early stage startups as an employee is that you have to make the difference between an employee and a founder absolutely clear. Startups in general require certain sacrifices, you have to work long hours, the company isn't stable, and the work often doesn't utilize your skills. Founders consider those sacrifices worth it because they can implement their vision and succeed and fail on their own terms, with a huge financial reward for success. Early employees, however, have to report to the founders, and if they own equity it has some strings attached. Oftentimes these boundaries get blurred and employees consider themselves founders, only to get a harsh reality check if the big money starts flowing in. Both parties are to blame, the founders may start to think of their employees as peers, especially if they don't have serious management experience themselves, and the employees fall into that and think that they own the company in the same way the founders do. In an insular and informal environment such as a small startup, both parties need to make the effort to maintain those professional boundaries, regardless of the compensation system.
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Dec 27, 2011 00:21
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My guess is that the company is gunning for you more than your app. If you're not interested in working for the company you need to make this absolutely clear. Be sure to add that you will also not accept any arrangement where you're a 'consultant' or have any obligation whatsoever after the sale is completed. My guess is that they will walk away after that, but if they're still interested there are ways to close the deal. You could give them a perpetual exclusive license to the software and source code, or you could start a wholly owned subsidiary, give it the IP, then sell that, or do it in several other ways depending on what they prefer and how much they want to spend on lawyers.
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May 9, 2012 18:52
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Drive By posted:That's patently untrue. Kickstarting might be all the rage right now but there's still plenty of available resources to take the more conventional approaches. Plus, for a lot of things, the upfront cost for mass production and logistics would be way more than you can expect to make on Kickstarter. Unless your hardware device can be made very cheaply using common industrial processes I doubt you'd get close to the amount you need to get past the prototype stage.
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Jul 5, 2012 09:03
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Maluco Marinero posted:If anyone has some thoughts about what they see or think about what I'm doing go for it, working on your own tends to make it hard to be objective. Please be gentle. First of all, are you sure that all your potential customers will have access to the Internet whenever they need to use your application? A paper checklist works everywhere, and ships are mobile. I know nothing about how connected marinas generally are, but I can envision situations where smaller ships may be without Internet access for extended periods. Second, one thing that would be convenient would be to have default maintenance schedules that correspond to government regulations and industry standards. It's a lot easier for users to modify good defaults rather than start from scratch. Third, on your front page, the phrase "Spanner is designed and developed by James Rakich, that's me!" sounds rather unprofessional. I don't think a description of you really needs to be on the front page at all, I'd put a brief professional biography on an "about us" page instead.
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Aug 17, 2012 02:57
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I agree on the price issue. For $299 you could easily take a similar course from an accredited community college, many of which have well-developed online programs, and earn college credit for it. It will be difficult to compete with that.
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Dec 22, 2012 22:09
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chupacabraTERROR posted:Many college students are first-time renters, so were trying to make searching for apartments as easy as possible. We're also working on some how-to guides for first time renters. One issue is that, in my experience, a lot of college towns have a seller's market when it comes to student housing. Landlords have no trouble finding J Random Student to fill their apartment. The issue is finding good tenants that pay rent on time and won't trash the apartment. If you will eventually charge landlords for this service in some way, they are your users, not the potential tenants. It seems that you know some landlords, so discuss the site with them and see what they want you to do. Once you have a solid profile of listings, the tenants will come, but to get that you need to be able to answer the question "How will posting on this site attract a better quality of tenant to my property than just posting on Craigslist?" Another thing I would consider doing is spending most of your energy on the Los Angeles market. You need to develop a good presence in one area, and it seems that you're familiar with LA. Once you get a solid group of dedicated users there and know what works you can expand, but attempting to attract landlords from all over the country in vastly different real estate markets seems like it would be very difficult.
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Feb 20, 2013 23:05
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In general selling to government entities as a startup is usually a bad idea. The money may be good, but the amount of babysitting and specialist knowledge needed isn't worth it when you need to grow quickly. For something education related, rich parents and smaller private schools will be better low-hanging fruit.
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Sep 24, 2013 08:19
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unixbeard posted:What do you think of this situation if you have an ally on the inside, who maybe won't agitate for you but can at least give solid guidance, about process, timelines, what to expect, what to do next that sort of stuff? If this account is one of many, you can take the inevitable delays without worrying about the future of the company, and it's worth it to spend the time needed to follow their process, then go for it. If you're in a position where you NEED that check to arrive on time to pay critical business expenses, then stay far away.
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Sep 25, 2013 06:34
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A couple questions I think a potential user would have: Will "Mantle" be able to handle heavy user loads? I can see this being useful for larger events/conventions, but those often have hundreds to thousands of people in a confined space. Can it handle that many concurrent connections? Any way to upscale it for something really huge, like a stadium full of people with smartphones? Can I use this engine myself? Will I need to hire a programmer? If I do need to hire a programmer, how is this cheaper or better then just getting a custom app?
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Mar 18, 2014 04:29
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I agree, unless there is rock-solid academic research from neutral parties that says this will increase productivity and morale, I'd write it off as a gimmick. Case studies don't count, anyone can exaggerate the value of anything in a case study, especially if it's written or paid for by someone who benefits from the case study being positive. I suppose it is a tool that might work with the right management team, but any manager smart enough to use this tool effectively probably doesn't have much of a problem motivating his employees, and any incompetent manager that uses this tool will probably misuse it and make the problem worse.
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Jun 17, 2014 03:12
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Do you personally know any farmers, or do you have connections in farming communities? This industry is notoriously hostile to outsiders, and you'll be competing against people who have spent decades building long term relationships with their customers. You could try targeting newer farmers who may be more open to innovation, but they might not be able to provide you with short term capital.
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Oct 27, 2016 04:48
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Fusion Restaurant posted:This isn't related to founding a startup, but does anyone have suggestions on evaluating startups you might work for? I'm having a tough time learning much about the early stage startups I am looking at. If your compensation includes equity, look at the agreement very closely. If there's anything you don't understand or aren't sure about, it's worth paying an independent attorney review it. Set clear boundries about work-life balance, the founders are probably working 80 hours a week or more, if you don't want to work that much make it clear right away and don't work more than you've agreed to. Be absolutely clear about when and how you are getting paid, and if there is any sort of delay, run away. Startups are often cash poor and you don't want to work for free.
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Mar 13, 2017 01:28
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