Ask HN: Starting a non-traditional startup
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I have a few ideas I've been floating around in my head for a while now - some I've even got a fair amount of exploratory code for - and I'm toying with the idea of making a go of one of them.
I know "lifestyle business" can be thought of as a pejorative term, but to hell with that. I'm a little older and a little greyer than the poster boy rockstar-ninja founder and I have far more important things in my life than work. This doesn't mean I don't work hard, but it does mean I'm not sacrificing the things most precious to me for a web app. Paradoxically this could mean I need to work much harder within my constraints and I'm fine with that.
I have a few thoughts on how I could go about this - and they are only ill-defined thoughts at the moment, but I would be much obliged for any input this community has to offer.
Ideally I'd like to work with others on this. I've tried the sole founder thing before but I miss having people to bounce ideas off, share the workload, share the spoils or just without them knowing it, getting me through one of the dark days that are bound to come along.
I'd want to split things as evenly as possibly, skewed just enough in favour of the person who is best to guide things along (this doesn't even necessarily have to be myself, though I don't foresee it not being). When money comes in, we each take our split. With a little luck we've all got some walking around money without any of the burn-out inducing hours and load that can happen.
Which brings me onto my next thought: time. I see this as being a part-time venture in terms of the hours put in. We all work say 16 hours/week - as much as possible on a schedule convenient to that person. I haven't thought out the exact number too much yet but I think 16 is low enough to fit comfortably around a fulltime job, yet enough to get things done if there are at least a couple of us.
This isn't something to make you rich beyond the dreams of avarice, but with a bit of luck and a bit of time, maybe it will be provide a nice little income. Maybe one day it will turn into something worth going full time at (and compensated accordingly of course). If it all blows up, then fine, we go our seperate ways and hopefully everyone had a good time, at least got a little money out of it and can still go back to the day job.
Like I said, these are still-forming thoughts at the moment and I'm sure there are huge holes to be torn in my thinking but I do believe that somewhere in here is a system that can be made to work. It won't be for everyone, but your traditional startup isn't for me so I'd rather have likeminded folks on this anyway.
I may still be a little drunk from last night but I'm a long-time member of this site (even if I'm cowardly hiding behind a throwaway) and I value the insights I know a lot of you can offer.
Have at me! :)