Poll: How many HN readers are working on a Startup?

I moved from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur and I can attest that it's quite an enormous saving on rent and food. I must preemptively qualify Malaysia as a fabulous location for a web start-up as it scores extremely well on my PEST analysis and other essential factors. Also being physically away from my "rock and roll all night and party everyday" friends indeed dramatically cut down on my socializing budget. It all rosy here, up until now that is.

1. Get high paying contract work.

2. Live as cheap as possible, live with relatives, clients, whatever cheap thing you can find.

3. To keep you working hard, hire some part time help in areas you suck at. For me this is design.

4. Bum food, complain about lack of money. You'll get more pity and help these days.

5. Spend money wisely, don't get services that don't give back at least as much value as they cost.

Free rent (thanks sis!) and a small savings since I was laid off. I keep a vestigial social life and cook at home. This has been since January.

I was able to sign up my existing contracting clients to my new product in a sort of paid private beta. That covers the business expenses 4-5 times over while I finish the product and can really push with sales, and other than that I live at home with the parents - gives me a nice runway, and I'll probably give my parents some profit share / equity for their support :)

>More bluntly, how do you pay for rent and food?

I am working on a startup part time while a (grad) student, and I pay the bills by being a TA (which refunds tuition and gives me just a little more than I need for living expenses). Keeps me pretty busy. :) Don't think I could do it full time (i.e. drop the TA job) though.

I don't think it's accurate to assume that all start ups have absolutely no money--my fulltime job came about due to part time work with friends after hours--when they raised just enough cash to pay salaries I came aboard. I'd still consider it a start up.

I saved money while working at my last job.

But I'd point out that working on a startup full-time does not preclude receiving cash compensation. Aside from the founders, the current employees of my start-up are earning competitive cash compensation.

Venture capital. I know it's not as hip as ramen but it sure pays the bills.

There seem to be 4 routes:

1 have rich parents (not kidding)

2 work part time until you can get angel investment

3 a pre-angel incubator ala YC

4 live somewhere really cheap and use savings

In the two startups I've worked for, I personally saw routes 1 and 3.

Same here, except that I've been doing the off hours thing for a couple of years, but switch project every few months. That's not a good way to get anything done :-)

Also, 5 hours? How do you do that? I have way less than 5 hours if I subtract (sleep, groceries, cooking, housekeeping, work and commute) from 24 hours.

You might be giving up on projects too soon, or you're not thinking hard about the market potential and income options.

It's hard to "start" a company, that's why it's better to keep all your resources and retool or specialize on a certain direction as the market dictates.

Or you might just be calling the wrong thing a "startup". Software developers might be prone to this error, thinking of any application project as a business (note the multitude of "iphone startups")

What happened to the other three?

Nooooo, there are a WHOLE lot more full-time people now.

Meh. I suppose being terminated provides good incentive to go full time?

I work 16 hours a day, and the other 8 I am on hold on the phone or waiting for bureaucrats and various types of desk-jockeys in several timezones to wake up and answer my emails or pick the phone.

Being a transnational startup is really hard :-P

I believe mine will change the world. Fashion suicide will be the thing of the past.

i think so, otherwise it's just a hobby.

buzz me :)