I want to be Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud | Hacker News Reader

I want to be Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud

tawheedkader.com

25 pointsTawheed10 comments

I would be cautious about airing these concerns in front of the same audience that you want to spend money on your products:

  1. Are Braintrust and Tout the right products? Will it make money for me?
  2. Do I need to focus on one product to succeed? Is now the right time to focus?

It's hard to get too excited about using either of your products knowing that you're likely to kill one of them in six months.

Thanks. I now clarify in the post what I actually think about these products and that is unlikely I will kill them (not because its what I should say, but its what I truly believe)

Please don't kill Tout - I'm a big fan! Good Luck TK.

I wouldn't be leaving my six-figure day job if I didn't believe in Braintrust and Tout. They're not getting killed ;)

"I realized that I was getting very fixated on the financial questions, and even worse was jumping to common solutions like “oh.. Just go look for funding.”"

I get so tired of people saying this. Looking for funding is a crapshoot. It's hard. It's grueling. It takes 2-3 months to even take a shot at it, and most people walk away empty handed. And no offense to the OP, but his businesses (on the surface) ARE NOT FUNDABLE. They aren't obviously huge opportunities. Given what he's posted about them, they don't have great traction. He's a single founder.

It makes me grumpy when people triumphantly declare that they aren't going to "choose" to get funded. Great companies fail to raise money all the time (if you want to read a truly outstanding post on the topic from a great company who did fail to raise money: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/seomozs-venture-capital-process ).

The other gem in the post: "Of course I don’t want funding. Of course I should work on my ideas freely. I don’t want to take on any masters."

What the HECK makes you think that early stage investors won't let you work on your ideas freely? Or want to be your masters? At most, the OP's businesses MIGHT have a ghost's chance at angel funding. Angels don't sit on your board. Most of them have very full lives and a large portfolio of investments that they generally ignore. There are very few contractual protections for angels. Yeah, you might have to drop them an update every quarter or two.

Bootstrapping is a fine "choice" here, to be sure. It's a great way to build a business (and it's how I built my first one). But, this whole post doesn't really convey a good understanding of early stage financing (either getting funding or the realities of post-angel funding).

1. Whether I can get funding is a second order question. Who cares if I can actually get funding? The first thing to figure out is whether I NEED funding and whether I WANT funding and all the things that come along with it -- and that is all this post focuses on.

1a. Regardless of how hard it may be to get funding, the value equation has changed. I don't NEED funding to build a web startup, I don't NEED the VC... I value it. And that is a difference you are missing.

2. On me not wanting another MASTER: Why would someone give me money without putting in place some sort of accountability? Some sort of plan? I wouldn't even want to take on funding from someone without being sure that I can deliver on what I am promising, and even more importantly, I wouldn't want to take on an investor that throws money at me and just forgets about me.

"2. On me not wanting another MASTER: Why would someone give me money without putting in place some sort of accountability?"

Most angels don't. I'm not making this up. Sure, there are contractual protections to make sure you don't sell the company for $1 to your Aunt Linda. And yeah, they want an interesting vision (most know that deep planning makes you too rigid, so don't encourage it).

The best balance is an angel that gives money, gives great advice and help when you ask for it, keeps you a little disciplined by asking hard questions, but largely stays out of your way and lets you run the company. Most angels know this-- and that's how most of them behave (I've raised money from half a dozen angels and pitched 15 or so).

It seems like you agree-- you don't want a master and you don't want an angel who "just forgets about you". 90% of them are neither-- so an angel looks like a good fit if these businesses (or future ideas) reach a fundable place.

My contention (which stands) is that your concerns with early stage investment are wrong (i.e. fear of loss of freedom/control)-- unless you're talking about the freedom to build an unfundable business... which is fine. A LOT of really freakin' awesome businesses aren't right for equity investment.

I think you are fooling yourself by thinking that you do not give up any freedom/control by taking someone else's money.

It's interesting that you are the founder of RescueTime, a productivity tool, which certainly competes with email productivity tools that Tawheed has.

Furthermore, this might be the first time I've read a post by a YC founder with that kind of attitude. I usually find YC people to be incredibly humble.

"his businesses are not fundable...they don't have great traction...OP's businesses MIGHT have a ghost's chance at angel funding."

You seem to know a lot about investing. Which companies are in your portfolio?

The single founder argument is getting a little old from the YC camp.

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