Ask HN: Where do deadpool founders go? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Where do deadpool founders go?

21 pointsHeisenbergg14 comments

Background: Fresh out of college, I cofounded a social media startup with another friend. We've been plugging away at it for the last 2 years making all the conceivable mistakes first-time entrepreneurs make. What finally broke the camel's back was actually not money but my realisation one day that we were not capable of executing the plan. There were many reasons for this but to name a few:

1) We were not end users of our product. Dog fooding felt like a chore

2) We caught on to the lean startup/4 steps schools of thought too late and could have saved ourselves a ton of mistakes by just reading the 4 steps

3) Inexperience all through the board from product management to marketing. Bad mentors giving bad advice exacerbated matters

So the question is for me is really what next?

The context for this question is that I definitely definitely definitely want to be involved in another startup at some point in my life. Call me a masochist but 2 years of microwaveable food and perpetual worry wasn't enough for me. I've been thinking about the question for a while and here's where I'm at:

Door A: Join a marquee name marketing agency and get really good at marketing as I feel this is my primary value add to my future startup. At night, teach myself Python/Django so that I can bust out an MVP and try to use that to get seed funding

Door B: Join an early stage startup that has experienced founders. Learn from them and leech on to the product manager like a bad rash. At night, teach myself to code etc etc

Door C: Do you have another perspective HN?

I missed this on the first posting, just caught it because you linked it from another thread.

There are lots of possibilities on where you could go from here, for sure you need to work out in detail why you failed, so nuts and bolts items listed which would translate in to "If we had know this we wouldn't have started this particular project" or "If we had known this our chances of success would have been better". What use is time spent if you don't really absorb and integrate the lessons you might learn from failing.

Then, take some time off to recharge your inspirational batteries, and - and you're going to hate me for this - try again. But this time with a better plan, with a better way to evaluate the people that give you advice, with a product that you yourself will be the first users of, or that you will be able to sell to a paying customer before launching.

Obviously you have skills, now you need to put them to the right use, it's no point trying to use a saw as a hammer or the other way around and it reads to me as though that was what you were trying to do.

Joining an early stage start-up with experienced founders sounds 'easy' but there are not that many 'early stage start-ups with experienced founders' around, most of them are just like the one you yourself ran and you'll end up being the more experienced employee with a bunch of clueless founders if you're unlucky :)

Maybe take on a regular job and use your spare time to get your 'start-up 2.0' off the ground, some fairly dumb day job is an excellent way to keep your head free for the stuff that you want to do while being able to make ends meet. That trick worked wonders for me in the past, I think that it still is applicable today.

Best of luck, whatever path you choose, your other options are not bad but once the start-up virus is in your blood it is very hard to get rid of it ;)

Thanks for the advice. You're right, I'm infected. heh.

"1) We were not end users of our product. Dog fooding felt like a chore"

This may have affected your motivation. Its easier to stay motivated when you build a product you want to use. You know this already since its your #1 point.

You can learn marketing by reading books on branding, advertising and marketing. Learning Python/Django for an MVP is also great. Combine that with plan B. But you know the situation better than anyone.

I've read a fair bit amount of literature on marketing but I've found that a lot of the books on the market are too high level. It was hard to translate them into immediately actionable steps. I think knowing what book to read at the right time is also really important. Also find the reading books can only get me that far but actually working on different campaigns with different clients will give me a wider perspective.

(mentally) Document every point of failure of your startup, if you're fragile document every point of success too. Thinking through this stuff helps, come up with a single sentence as to why you failed. (just to reiterate your learnings, and ensure you don't do same thing again)

Take 3 months out (live with parents or whatever to survive (to clear head etc)) then take Door B.

Yeah I'm probably going to do that at some point.

Want to cofound a New news startup with me? As a marketing guy who's tasted failure and still breathes, who wouldn't want you?

Why start from the bottom in hacking when you have a lot to offer someone who's inched up that rope over a few years, which is just what they have to offer you.

Hmmm.. Im not based physically in the states and I dont like long distance relationships much.

I would be more than happy to give my 2 cents if you're interested in listening. Maybe we can bounce ideas off each idea as well.

Is this something you might be interested in?

I'm looking for someone to make all sorts of A/V how-to's and be the face of the company. Since I'm looking at small-town America, it would seem unlikely then that we could help each other here. Besides, I contradict myself. I failed at poetry and took up hacking. By my logic I should be writing better poetry :-)

Just don't feel you owe these guys too much.

Sure no prob.

BTW, what does your last sentence mean? Owe who?

The people with free advices.

Take some time off, say 1 month to relax and recap about the learning in writing.

Afterward, go with plan B

I wonder why is everyone advocating option B? Is joining a marketing agency that bad an idea?

Door D: Figure out what you want to do (or create). Read up on people who did something similar. Follow a similar path/pattern.

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