T-shirts != success for a startup | Hacker News Reader

T-shirts != success for a startup

aaronkharris.com

15 pointsakharris8 comments

There is a specific black t-shirt which is probably a worthwhile goal for a YC startup.

It should be solid orange for the IPO equivalent shirt, though.

This is a pretty odd blog post.

Who would possibly think that success or even a metric of success was owning tshirts? Anyone that even suggests that, well, you probably want to avoid talking to them as they are clearly a delusional, for lack of a better word.

It'd probably take $20 and ten minutes to have bespoke tshirts printed. Did I miss something? Why is this a big deal either way? I'm a startup founder and I cannot stand startup printed tshirts. (I only wear slate james perse tshirts.) I didn't realise I was on such a back foot compared to other startups, irrespective of their funding or aptitude, but solely if they have tshirts with their shitty logo on them.

I can only rationalise this blog post by assuming you are alluding that people worrying about bespoke tshirts is the beginning of the end because you are not focussing on creating a good product or talking to your users

Making t-shirts is not the end goal, but I read another post recently that correctly noted that most people in the startup community are pleased that they have achieved a level of "success" in their lives where they can earn great livings, do great work, and yet be in an environment where they don't have to wear a uniform or business attire, even business casual.

Company t-shirts can be an easy way for your team to keep that startup vibe, without uniforms of any kind, and yet have a cohesive feel about them, a branded vibe, a way of saying to outsiders that they are part of something special. It's a way of boasting about your company, your product, while also saying, "I support this, because I want to, not because I have to."

In particular, making really cool shirts can be yet one more thing your team can be proud of. I wear my company shirt with pride for more than one reason. The first, because it's our company, and I'm proud of that. The second, because it's cooler than a shirt with a collar and a little jockey and horse on it. The third, because it gives me a reason to talk about what we do. And the list goes on.

Getting shirts is not the goal. Knocking out enough goals that you finally have a moment to stop, breathe, and order shirts, is a nice place to be. Don't prioritize it ahead of things, but don't underestimate the value your team places on being part of something, donning the flag, and having an opportunity to show people that they're successful enough to wear what they want, and that happens to be a shirt about a company they're proud to be a part of.

If you wear a tutorspree t-shirt everyday, people will ask you about it, friends will ask to wear them, and employees will wear them to work. You can get t-shirts made for less than 10 bucks each, hell you can make them yourselves with a printer. Sure, having people come up to you and say "Oh I was looking for a tutor for me/my kids/etc, can you please explain tutorspree to me?" isn't scalable, but its a great way to find potential new customers.

And those are some reasons why having tshirts can be good/cool/useful for the company. The key is how you're framing it - as a piece of a larger puzzle, not an end goal in and of itself.

Oh god, people actually do this? I kind of feel pity for people who create companies with "creating t-shirts" being their end goal... unless they are a clothing company. I just think in your case, it would help and its silly not to do it on the aforementioned principal alone.

100%, we plan on getting shirts...it's on the list for one of our interns this summer.

Ha! http://www.michielovertoom.com/pictures/y-combinator-shirt.j...

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