Comment by dpcan | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dpcan | Hacker News Reader

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Initially I thought "failure" as well. But it turns out, I could care less about "failing", it's my fear of PROBLEMS that stop me from launching.

I have a lot of stuff in my life to take care of already. If launching a product means more problems and little extra money, I definitely procrastinate.

Here are just a few problems I worry about before launch (just off the top of my head):

1) Connection problems that aren't even something I can personally fix (client-side)

2) Feature requests. Tweak requests. People that don't understand that the app isn't a CUSTOM program and wonder why they can't get what they want even though they are paying for it.

3) Credit card payment processing problems. Denied cards, expired cards, overdraft cards, PayPal, Auth.net, 2co, etc. The problem of what to do with accounts when someone isn't paying or when someone says they are trying to pay, or will pay, but don't pay... blah blah blah. PROBLEMS!!!

4) Meetings and Training. The app can be STUPID SIMPLE, but there are still those corporate people that want a training session, or a conference call, white papers, or a live meeting to discuss the benefits of our app. Seriously. Pay $20-$100 and just find out. If you are thinking about my app that much, it's probably not for you.

4) Monitoring backups, restores, server problems, data center problems, storage space, vps, dedicated servers, s3, e3, cloud, load problems, twitter api, facebook connect, etc, etc, etc

Problems, problems, problems, problems.

Maybe this isn't an issue when you have VC, but in the bootstrapping world, failure doesn't matter as much as PROBLEMS do.

These still exist in the "VC world," and then there are added constraints as well, such as expectations and pressure on yourself not to let other people down. Bootstrapping is simple; just get the fucking work done. Pardon my french, but that's what it comes down to. People find it easy to let themselves down, so when they do it's not a big deal, but letting a guy (or gal) down who took the time, effort, and money to put into your company will make you try that little bit more.

Find the motivation to get these small un-sexy tasks out of the way and then focus on growth. it doesn't matter how or where you find the motivation, just get your work done. Now I don't mean work 15 hours a day. Just stop wasting time when you are working. Come up with systems that optimize your time. And feel free to outsource. If you're familiar with economics, there is an opportunity cost to everything; odds are it costs you less in the long run to pay someone to keep up with your servers' status or to fulfill customer support so you can focus on what you are truly skilled at.

I was saying that I wonder if the reason VC funded companies don't launch is also because of possible "problems". Back when I worked at a "funded" company, we didn't launch because the programming team was never finished with anything.

As for just getting my f work done?? Are you serious? As a bootstrapped company, I already work all day on my company that MAKES money, then I have the side-project. The reason the side-project doesn't launch is because of the upcoming problems it creates.

Get the work done? Again. Seriously?

These are problems that come back daily or weekly, problems that don't just "get fixed", problems that recur endlessly and you have to stay on top of them. If you are working full time at your one business, developing constantly for the side-project you launched, THEN have to add the customer support problems, systems problems, live code bugs, etc..... THAT is why I don't launch.

The reason I don't launch is because the "problems" create a whole new "job" for me that I just don't have time to handle.

As I said, there are means to overcome these maintenance problems; outsourcing the work being just one of them.

There seems to be a fair amount of cognitive dissonance going on here, and it seems to stem from the fact you feel overwhelmed and I am suggesting that more can be done. This dissonance is probably part of why your response is as aggressive as it is.

Get off HN and do the customer support. Skip that trip to the bar and get that next bug fixed. I know and am surprised from my own personal experiences at how much time we spend on small unproductive things. Personally, I think they are essential to being happy, but there can be stints where neglecting happiness and relaxation has a greater payoff; where doing the work and getting the customer support done will give you enough cash flow to hire someone to do it for you.

There is this little voice in everyone's head, saying that the extra work is too hard, that it'll be better not to stick it through. It's like there is a constant battle with yourself on what level of self-dominion you can achieve; meaning, your ability to actually get yourself to do what you want to do. It's running that 5th mile when you've run 4 and want to call it a day. It's coming home from work and putting in 2-3 hours into your side project when you just want to lay down and watch TV. How hard is it really to dig in and get it done?

I say what I do not to be critical of you--I don't know who you are, and I have no conflict with you personally--but because I know how sticky that emotion is. Feeling like that extra work isn't worth my time; I've been there. What it takes is doing small tasks, one at a time, to build momentum. Taking the trash out leads to cleaning your desk, which leads to writing up a short brief about things, and eventually, you're flying through and getting task after task done (not just work-related things) and you are 100% confident in your ability to say, "okay, so today I'm going to do X, Y, and Z," and at the end of the day you will have done those things.

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