Things I've learned from running a business (ie: Don't do what I did)

For some back story:

I wrote the publishing system that powers Ars Technica, with the intention of selling it to other sites. Ars sold to Conde Nast and threw my life into a turmoil. The resulting self evaluation led to this post, and I thought some of you crazy h4x0rs might find it interesting.

This post has so much wisdom in it, I don't know where to start. So instead, I'll just cite one thing:

So I’m now left with a good number of people who’d give me money if I had something… and I don’t!

Bingo! He hits the nail right on the head. There is a certain "binaryness" to a software business (MBAs and vaporware aside). Either you have it or you don't. Period.

Beware spending time on anything besides hacking. Sure, there are a lot of other things to do, but in the long run, all the prospects in the world mean little without a product.

> That’s such an unrealistic timeline for a bootstrapped company it’s not even funny.

thanks for this section

Great post. Content like this is why I love news.yc.

I've made the mistake of taking on work that competes with the startup. It has hurt. People have segued from the "day job" to the dream job but it's likely much easier to do it all at once. PG understands that and funds startups to do nothing but work for at least 3 months.

Unfortunately, it looks like the ars forums are down. Anybody happen to have a copy? These comments have piqued my curiosity.

I have to remember to never to work on any project with "Ars" in the name. It seems they'll always end in tears.