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Comment by ars | Hacker News Reader

How are you going to spend $1 million without killing the company/project?

People who previously have made icons for free will now want some of the money, and you only have enough for about 10 people for a year.

I've seen too many companies get money and suddenly, instead of being extremely frugal like they used to, because they had to be, start spending money because they can afford it.

And then the company dies.

This happens to lottery winners too.

Do you have plan to avoid it? You should plan to make the $1 million last at least 10 years without earning any additional money except interest.

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Simplest answer is we're going to use the money to build a product that people want. Now that we have more capital and really awesome committed users, we know more about what to make.

We're 4 senior designers and developers that have been around. We can design beautiful, usable software and deliver it ontime. Honestly, I wake up every morning excited to go to work with such excellent and admirable folks. I could not imagine a better job. Honestly.

As far as the icons, no one else contributed. Just me. We tried external submissions before, but they were more work to manage than making them myself. And I think we've kept a somewhat consistent aesthetic. Starting over lets us tighten all of that up, too.

Please be extremely frugal with your money. I would be very sad to come back in a couple of years to hear that you shut down. I've seen it too many times.

> Simplest answer is we're going to use the money to build a product that people want.

Obviously. But will spend money on extras? A nice sign for the office? A better office? Nice chairs? Phones for the conference room? These are the kind of not-very-expensive extras companies spend on when they get money. But it adds up, and without an ongoing revenue source it's not worth it.

If you can budget no more than $100K per year, you'll keep your company alive for a long time.

> Please be extremely frugal with your money.

We are and will continue to be so. Two of us are sharing a 100 square foot office that we're subletting from a bigger startup. The other two of us work from home. We have no interest in flashy office space or things that won't help us get more done. With age sometimes comes maturity, and I think we're pretty pragmatic.

> If you can budget no more than $100K per year, you'll keep your company alive for a long time.

It's four of us, all very, very senior with family responsibilities. $100k isn't in the cards. But I don't think it needs to be. There's a chance that folks will buy Font Awesome Pro after the Kickstarter is over, so we're going to try that.

Also, this team is absurdly talented. We're told repeatedly that we're the only team at our stage that reliably delivers what we've planned. I'd put us up against any team of 4 on the planet to design beautiful, usable web software and deliver it on time. These folks are amazing.

Seriously appreciate your thoughts. :)

> There's a chance that folks will buy Font Awesome Pro after the Kickstarter is over, so we're going to try that.

If you are willing to accept a bit more advice: Don't rely on that.

Anyone who would buy that already did, via the kickstarter. Anyone who didn't and wants to, probably won't because they'll feel like their getting a bad deal (obviously some people will buy, but it won't be a lot of people).

So don't rely on that, add something new.

> Seriously appreciate your thoughts. :)

Thanks. I hope you don't feel like I was insulting you, because that was not my intent (although it seems some people thought it was).

> If you are willing to accept a bit more advice: Don't rely on that.

We aren't entirely. But we've had 15 million folks on Font Awesome in the past year. Not all of them have seen the Kickstarter, so we're hoping some of them will buy. Other plans too. Definitely not relying solely on this, but we're going to take Font Awesome Pro everywhere we can.

I remember reading somewhere that 8% of what the Kickstarter made per month is somewhat normal. Time will tell though. But it's a good lead for us to try and see what happens.

> So don't rely on that, add something new.

Agreed.

> Thanks. I hope you don't feel like I was insulting you, because that was not my intent (although it seems some people thought it was).

I'll be honest, it came off a bit gruff. But I've learned that often goes along with folks that know what they're talking about. (And the 20k karma here helps you out too.)

Again, thanks. I take the livelihoods of 4 families seriously. We'll do what we can to keep making things better.

> [people may still buy pro post-KS] [anyone who would do so was in the Kickstarter]

I'll be kicking in $20 after I finish browsing HN, and I could see using Pro in developing for clients then having them get their own license (or doing so as part of the project cost). In fact, that kind of seems to be how it's intended to work.

Missed the Kickstarter campaign, so i will by the font next year for regular price.

Seems to me you're being very condescending, telling others how to run their businesses and lives. How many companies have you run?

I'm not being condescending. I care about him and his business and I'm giving him advice.

If it sounds that way, then it's just because I don't know any other way to write it.

I'm betting there'll be an "open-awesome" or similar within three years.

Font Awesome is already licensed under SIL (fonts) and MIT (code), so you're sorta right.

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