Ask HN: Need advice about my startup
I always wanted to launch my own startup and I have managed to save up a few thousand dollars from my freelancing gigs. Nothing significant but enough to get a startup up and running. I planned on building a modern web browser and had convinced a programmer friend of mine (who is very talented) to team up with me. I was very excited about the whole thing, and really thought (and still think) that the idea had a lot of potential if we could execute it properly. I posted the idea for the browser on my blog (http://ashraful.org/introducing-browsr/ and http://ashraful.org/browser-features/), hoping to get some feedback.
While most seemed to be underwhelmed, the idea seemed to have resonated with some big co.s and several lucrative job offers came our way. All of the companies wanted us to join their browser team as programmers, so while my friend is deciding which to join, I am left without a programmer to build the product, and no job offer to mull over.
Being a designer, my coding knowledge is limited to HTML/CSS and some javascript, with zero knowledge of desktop programming. I cannot really move forward on my own and do not know anyone who is capable of building something like this and is interested. Now I am left with two options.
1. I can try to find people interested in building the browser online (if you are interested email me: inlith@gmail.com). The problem is I do not have enough money to pay someone to build this, and I know from experience that its difficult to find good programmers who will work for equity.
2. I can abandon the idea for the browser and move forward with a different kind of startup. Other than the browser I have a few ideas for some cool web apps. I am considering starting a company, similar to Kevin Rose's Milk Inc., that focuses on building a few good products. With my savings I can hire two or three good web developers locally (it costs $500/month to hire decent developers where I live). I can continue freelancing as a designer to make enough money to keep the company afloat (operating costs are low), until we have some profitable apps under our belt.
My third option is to go the traditional way of a business grad in my country and get a job at a bank or some FMCG company. Not something I'm interested in doing.
What do you guys think? I would be grateful for some advice or suggestion.
Thanks for reading.