DirtyAndy

I know a lot of "Web 2.0" sites are all look a bit the same, and I appreciate you going for a different look, but for me this doesn't work. If you look at other sites they tell you exactly what they are trying to sell in big letters, with clear screen shots on the front page.

Your video tells me little (well done though, that must have taken some time), three different sign-up options on the home page is messy, the link to screenshots down the bottom is just hyperlink, "Product Tour" needs to be at the top somewhere.

Do you really need a Captcha? I find them a pain in the arse, why not wait until you have a spam account problem.

As another commentator says, depending on your audience the Killer Startups and Best of the Web logos may actually devalue your product. If you are aiming for HNers etc definitely, however the general public seem to like these sorts of things sometimes.

Question: Are you looking for an angel investor, or has one approached you?

If you are looking for one and have no contacts then I don't think there is really an answer to your question, but somewhere close to zero.

However if someone has approached you then that is a different question. I've talked about ideas in the past and had people ask me about investment. The way I value that is if I am going to work the next five years at startup levels of stress and hours I value my income at US$200,000 a year. So five years (commitment I would assess putting into it) x 200K is $1,000,000. Then it is up the investor as to what percentage they are after. So 10% means I would want them to invest around $100K.

That all needs to be balanced by your level of experience, financial expectations, how much you need the money - and how likely you perceive the potential to accept the concept.

I assign no stereotype to any OKCupid users (I am not even sure I have heard of it before), I do feel perhaps that some peoples insecurities about using a dating website are causing them to take this out of context (I accept my wording may not have been delicate enough). In 1995 I dated a girl I met through IRC or a similar such service, and the few single friends I have I often encourage to at least investigate online services, so I don't fall into any category of people who judge people who use these services. I would say that (at least in the UK) probably a slight majority of the people I know are still uncomfortable with the idea of meeting someone online. It is likely that online dating will become more and more prevalent, will it ever totally eclipse other ways of meeting people, I don't know - and yes I am a dinosaur in that I honestly hope that finding love doesn't come down to a computer metric and getting along via a few emails. The spark of meeting someone special in the flesh, eyes meeting across the room etc is something I hope is never replaced by a computer matching you to someone with similar interests (my wife is amazing, we have an amazing relationship and I am pretty sure no computer would ever put us together - zero interests in common, that is what keeps it interesting).

As for no data, I did write my comment with no data to back it up. I would imagine less than 10% of comments I see on HN are made with solid information to backup someones thoughts. Most people on here are smart people that can make up their own minds and provide information from the world they see around them.

Did you have any data to back your comment up? Here's a start, OKCupid claim the median number of partners for both men and women, gays and straights is 6. I've just gone out and googled for such numbers, and whilst I didn't find anything definitive, I didn't find one median or average as low as 6, in fact looking at 18-35 as another commentator points out as OKCupid being representative of, 9 would appear more likely (my guess would have been 8). So that probably supports my assumption that there is a bias to some degree - OKCupid users appear to be getting less than the average. I have no idea where OKCupid falls in the spectrum of dating sites, I have no idea how many active users there are in the world of dating websites, but I would be staggered to see statistics that extrapolate to the user base of a singles website being indicative of overall society. In 10 years time, maybe, but at this point in time I doubt it. This article is trying to claim it has real facts, all I am saying is take those facts with a grain of salt.

I'd take all of this with a grain of salt. This is a survey from a dating site. The majority of their members haven't been able to get any in other ways and hence use the site - so comparing partners, experiences etc is not necessarily a good subset of general society.

I'm not putting down anyone who uses such a site, in this day and age I certainly would if I was single, but I am not sure the sexual habits of single people who use a dating site is really a good subset of data for this.

Are you sure the relationship has broken down. Have you talked about it with them or are you just pissed at them because you are working 16 hour days and they are working 6? Before I spent a penny on a lawyer I'd spend some money on a six pack of beers, sit down with them and make sure you really are no longer a team (especially as you mention in one reply a partner being a friend?).

So then assuming it is all over, next thing to do is to question why. There is a lot on HN about how amazing multiple founders are (personally I'm more a ME kind of guy). The other two don't want a piece of this action anymore, why? I've met very few people who are lazy and lack commitment when the rewards at the other end are worthwhile - does 2 out of 3 of your team think the idea is going nowhere. If so take a deep breath and think about it (I am not saying they are right, but take a deep breath anyway).

Are you at a point where you all hate each other? If not why not just say I assume you guys want out, you are not working towards the goal etc, I want to continue. I am not a lawyer and have little legal knowledge, but if you and your business partners agree that they don't want to continue with the business as it stands, and they are happy for you to continue by yourself, and they sign a simple document you all agree on (doesn't have to be a non-compete, just that they agree), then in 5 years time when you are the next Facebook they aren't going to get far - and you'll be able to afford the lawyers to protect yourself.

On what I assume is currently a zero revenue startup, where you are about to lose a large amount of 6 months of work and start again, communicate with your partners for free before you spend any money on lawyers. If they do not say what you want to hear, then go and talk to a lawyer (a decent one).

Numbers 1, 2 and 4 are very easy to satisfy. Several people have already posted lists of ideas that they and others maintain. I seem to recall Y-Combinator posting lists of the types of projects they wish to look at in the future too, so it would be worth searching for them. If you can't self host then .NET hosting is going to cost you around US$10 a month, although there are deals to be had - I think I pay $35 for 6 months of web and SQL Server hosting with a company that is passable for what I need it for. Unless you have a real passion to learn something new, I'd stick with the languages you now, it will be much quicker to get to where you need to go than if you learn a whole new language.

But the problem is in monetization. Firstly if you can get an idea from start to making money in 6 months (for example) then I don't think there is really a cap on what you can make, I can't see a reason why $400 per month would be all you would want to make, and if you make something that can make money you should always be able to find new users (an exception to that might be if you made something very specific to only a few people and had an easy way to market it - eg something 100 HN users might like and no one else).

But defining a web app that you can develop and easily make money is not easy. Most people's "idea lists" have lots of very interesting ideas, few of them I can ever imagine making a penny. My suggestion would be to look around you, you have a job, is any of the software you develop something you can clone and sell to other businesses (there are legal issues there, but you can often work around them and it depends where you are). Are there everyday tasks that people are using spreadsheets or Access DB's or paper to do that you could create a system for and charge $10 a month? Find an idea like that, spend 10, 20 or 50 dollars on Google Adwords pointing to a fake sales page and see if you have a market. Good luck.

I hate to sound too negative, but 99% of that "Rate My Startup"'s I see on here are worth nothing now, and will be worth nothing in 5 years. Don't spend too much time debating whether you deserve 90% or nothing or 20% of nothing, because they both equal the same thing.

Unless there was a overriding reason for one partner to have more equity I would only ever do 50/50 or 1/3rd each etc. Equal shares means everyone has the same amount riding on it. Everyone suffers the same stresses. Everyone gets the same wins. Reasons that would make me do it differently, if one partner has a proven track record (has had a major success in the past, that they were truly part of), if it was an extremely technical project (getting better search results than Google for example) I think the technical co-founder is probably worth more - if they can deliver, similarly if it is a very hard sell the marketing/business person might deserve more (although if it is that hard a sell I'd stay away). Lastly if the business needed money and someone had a contact that could bring in that money it would be worth considering giving them more equity (if it was me, I'd be demanding more).

I'm pretty sure in general YC gives the company equal money based on number of founders. I would imagine as a general rule that means they see all founders as equals. Seems like a pretty good guideline.

(Would be interesting to hear what PG and co do when they meet a team and think 2 out of 3 are awesome - do they fund, not fund, tell them to lose the other guy etc?)

If you do go with .NET and you are intending on forming a real company, then depending on which country you are in you can get pretty much all of the Microsoft development software for (I think) $100 - payable at the end of 3 years. I don't think this is open to every country, but a pretty cool programme to enrol in if you can. Microsoft Bizspark I think it is called. There are a few other variations as well, for different types of startups.

Firstly I'd think seriously about mechanical_fish's advice - if you are still depressed get help, and this relationship you are about to enter into, whether as a friend or lover is not going to help, relationships have highs and lows, and people who are already feeling low can get influenced by that - so try and get on top of that problem first.

Next problem you are asking about is should I try my luck or just be friends with this girl. I've never been in your position (not an introvert) but I have seen literally dozens of people in your position. Being friends with someone you secretly fancy does not work. She will get a boyfriend, you will get upset. She will stand you up as friends going to dinner, you will get upset etc etc etc. In my opinion you have to make a move, and if it works then great. If it doesn't then that doesn't necessarily ruin your chances of being friends. I've certainly seen people have lasting friendships after rejecting one party for a relationship - as long as both parties know the score. I have a very good friend who is in your exact situation - for the 10th time in about 10 years - every single "friendship" has ended in disaster because he has never manned up and told them how he feels.

So that last part of your puzzle is how to ask her out. I'd imagine 99% of people on the planet struggle with asking someone out, especially someone they know. The best way is to man up and just ask her out (maybe have a drink first, but not 10). On your way out from the bar after your cycle trip ask her if she'd like to catch a movie sometime, or a meal, or one do one of your mutual interests. Be fairly direct to ensure there is no confusion over the reason. Hard to do I know, but it works the best, and despite all the teen movies you may have seen she is not going to run around telling everyone awful things. The worst she is likely to say is no, or no I have a boyfriend etc. And of course the best she is likely to say is yes :-)

Good luck, it really isn't that difficult, most men and most women are generally keen on meeting a significant other and don't mind being asked out.

It concerns me where you say: We've been struggling with selling our product because many people refuse to change and don't want to learn new technologies.

If you are getting this product in front of true potential clients and they are not saying "wow we need this" then you might be in trouble. Even traditional industries now realise the value of technology and if it is going to save/make them money they wont be against new technologies (and for the few exceptions, stay away from them - they'll soon be dead).

So firstly you need to make sure you are building something that customers "don't know they want/need" as opposed to building something "they don't need or want". Just because you thought it was a great idea and could save money or improve processes doesn't mean they will. So if this is not a spinoff of software you have already done for a company I would suggest you do some serious market research to ensure you are not flogging a dead horse.

The next stage is then marketing. Firstly in doing your market research you should have identified some potential clients that said "yes this would be useful", so target them first. Then target their competitors. If this is a product that costs a lot of money then you can factor in having a sales team that really spends time selling the product to each client.

Then think about how you can market the product. It doesn't sound like your target users are likely to be doing Google searches for this product, they may not read anything online in relation to their industry, but are their industry magazines? Can you get cheap advertising in such magazines. Can you offer to write an article about how "tech is changing the industry" - you don't need to reference your product too much if at all - "Guest article by Yosho, CEO of XYZ Enterprises" will get things started.

And lastly don't forget about face to face with any local businesses that you might be able to work with. I did some work with a small consulting company that was looking for new clients, they decided to go to some conferences to try and get new clients. I found a website in the US that showed approximate turnovers for businesses in the area (can't remember the site but was government related) and we found more than 2,000 business with 10 mill a year turnover (their target clients) within about a 10 mile radius of their office. Here they were all about to get on planes to get clients that would have them on planes and away from family for years, and they had never tapped the 2,000 clients down the road. Anyone close to you involved in the industry you are targetting - cold call them, phone them and ask to meet them and show them what you are doing. If you are young (under 25 say) play the "I need guidance" card - you'll be amazed at how many people might be interested in helping. And never rule out getting these people involved - potential investors etc.

Good luck, but do check that you are building something someone wants before you go too far!

How much can you expect to earn from a startup? Zero. Most startups fail, or are just not viable as businesses. There is no "build it and they will come". Even if it worked ramping up to post tax post living costs personal profit of US$40K in one year would be difficult. Obviously thousands of people achieve it every year, but that is out of millions that try and get something started.

Also, if in one year you built a business that achieved that, you'd have to imagine it would continue to grow and make exponential amounts of money, so lets say year 2 you make $200K - why would you want to go to grad school then!?

Unless you've developed a minimum viable product and proven that people are willing to pay, if you really want to go to grad school, this would have to be the worst way about it. Get a normal job, a loan or whatever else. If it takes longer to get there then it takes longer.

That is certainly an interesting way to look at people talking to themselves, definitely correct with children. Personally I talk to myself a lot when working at home, and never when in an office (it is rude and distracting for other people). I think I do much better work at home, especially when trying to solve problems. For some reason saying something out loud can often make it clearer, easy to see something stupid you've done etc.

In theory anything you can do in a meeting, talking with others, can be done in email, but IMHO well run meetings are a very good way of bringing ideas together, solving problems etc. Talking to yourself is like having a meeting with yourself :-)

I'm not sure why someone downvoted this comment. They said it was their opinion, and personally it mirrors mine. It is quite a nice little web app when you look at the demo, but I cannot imagine that people will pay for it - there are just too many other options available to people.

This is just my opinion, but I don't see a price difference between $4 and $8. The biggest challenge is getting me to pay. If it is worth paying for then whether I am going to pay $4, $8 or $10 a month is pretty irrelevant to me. Making me put my hand in my pocket is the hard part. I always think $9.95 sounds like a good price for something on a monthly basis ($100 if you pay upfront for a year also sounds OK).

I'd start high and lower the price (A/B price testing?) as needed.

You mention incorporating and in the TC comments someone mentions legal fees. I watched the video and I thought he was leaning far more towards a minimum viable product than a fully functional site - he doesn't really talk about actually having a proper product much - more of getting to a point where you know if you have a goer or not.

I don't know about in the US but in a lot of places you certainly do not have to incorporate to launch a product, or even to make money from it. I'm pretty sure technically in the United Kingdom and New Zealand (markets I have started businesses in) you can make as much money as you like without ever becoming a business. I'm sure the tax department would find it interesting if you declared 50 million revenue on your personal tax form, but no reason why you can't do it.

I know loads of people who have applied for the Greencard Lottery (a couple won Greencards) and none of them have ever had a problem getting into the US. I'd suggest the immigration service had other issues with your friend.

On the Visa Waiver there is (used?) to be a box to tick if you had been denied a visa. I would imagine being denied a visa and not winning a Greencard are two quite different things.

Actually depending on where you are from you can also apply for the Greencard Lottery. Free way to get a Greencard. http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/

I've also been interested in how they get around this.

Technically on a business tourist visa (forgotten what it is called, but if you are from the right country you just tick a box on your way in) I think you are allowed to attend meetings and tradeshows. From an IT perspective I am pretty sure you are able to do analysis if the aim is then go back to your home country and do development. But I cannot see how a startup can go there and actively start a business (although I guess you could argue it is similar to sitting around a pool on holiday checking a blackberry - big argument, but there is a case there - it isn't like you are an employee of anyone there).

Entering the US is always a bit painful, but I think when you come from a country that they don't have a major overstayer problem with then you are probably OK.

I'd be interested in how people from countries that don't qualify for visa waiver get on.

In my initial response I was actually going to write that judging by his written English he would have no problems getting a job in London. I've certainly interviewed and worked with loads of people with far worse English than he exhibits in his post.

Was that back in 39?

A London company I consult with is currently looking for junior staff and having a nightmare finding anyone. I don't think you would like the work, you wouldn't learn anything, and they are not the sort of company to take the risk on you - so I can't help you there. But there is a massive lack of candidates in London at the moment, so you are probably picking a good time to come.

In terms of finding a position I think you've got two real options. 1. Hope that there is someone that is willing to spot your potential and train you up. I think this is a risky strategy because the majority of recruitment goes through recruitment agencies and/or HR departments - unless your CV says 2 years doing C++ development they aren't even going to look at you for C++ development. Personally I always think skills can be learnt, it is the candidates fit for the team/environment that is important - sadly a lot of people like to check boxes.

Your second option is to basically take the hit and try and go in as a grad - as you suggest. You wont get paid much, but you can be honest on your CV and say you got stuck in the wrong job, didn't learn new skills etc. If you get into a good company you can then start building your career. I think you'd be surprised just how much you have learnt in the past few years, coding is only a small part of a job, so you'll be miles ahead of other grads in other areas. A small step backwards can often result in a big step forwards. Obviously some companies will be hesitant as you are not a recent grad, but really they are getting more for their money because of your other experience.

Alternatively of course you could try your hand at your own startup (or try interning at another - depends if you can afford to live in London without a real income)!

As others have pointed out this is more about the person you marry than the act of marriage. But realistically if they like to cuddle on the sofa and watch 10 episodes of Ugly Betty with you and you want to code, you'll probably work that out a long time before you go as far getting married.

What does make a massive difference is kids. And more precisely sleep deprivation, especially in the early stages. Coding until 2am, going to bed and 5 minutes later a little person is crying and you are up again etc is hard. Also when you are just a couple your SO might not mind you rolling out of bed at 10am, but most aren't going to be too happy about having to get up at 7am 7 mornings a week to look after the kids whilst you are snoring quietly. And even if you do get away with that, don't discount the amount of noise etc that at least stops you from getting a great sleep. Some people get lucky, some people think they "trained" their kids, but for most people the first few years are tired years.

And as they get older your unsociable hours don't really work either. Most kids operate from around 7 to 7/8. They wake up in the morning they want to jump on your bed. They want you to tuck them in. You'll love it too - but family life is hard to balance with the typical lifestyle the average hacker on here probably lives.

Please note it is not all bad, I work from home in an office in my garden and see my kids for hours every day - something most people don't get. You probably also have more flexibility to go to sports days, plays etc. But never underestimate the tiredness in those first few years!

Most of the entrepreneurs that I've met are dreamers and optimists. I'm sure that most get into it wishing to make it rich (I'm betting most of the ones that want to make the world a better place also hope to get a little rich along the way). Most don't succeed.

But that life is definitely sustainable. You might not have the biggest house and nicest car, but you should definitely be able to live an OK life. It gets more difficult as you have dependants, but some things will work, some things wont, and overall you just kind of hope it works out in the long run. There are no guarantees, but I don't know many people who pursue that life and end up on the street.

I wouldn't say I live a truly cutting edge entrepreneurial life but in 20 years of "adulthood" I have never had a "real job", I've gotten married, two kids, nice house in a leafy part of London. I drive a Mazda rather than a Ferrari so I'm definitely not where I'd like to be, but life is pretty good.

Don't worry about the future too much and just go for it, things will work out.

I think that for a lot of entrepreneurs there is probably never a point where they truly give up (and this is probably a bad thing, not everyone is made for it). To me part of being an entrepreneur is a bit like being an inventor, a tinkerer - there is always something you want to fine tune or an idea worth exploring. I can easily see myself following that path until old age, without necessarily ever making amazing money.

Saying that, most careers are dead. Obviously in some areas there will always be a direct path of experience where a true career will exist, but the days where you went from junior to intermediate to senior to manager to vp etc are dying fast, especially with companies people who frequent HN are likely to want to work with. Do you want to take a job where they say you didn't do two years as senior developer or marketing assistant etc so you can't have the job?

More and more companies are starting to recognize the experience gained in the field and it is easier than ever to move between fields and jump "stages". Not all companies are like that yet, in fact maybe most aren't yet, but as they lose good candidates to companies that are then they will change.

So I wouldn't worry about what happens if everything fails, if you're willing to try the life of an entrepreneur then survival post that is going to be easy.

Personally I don't think the vendor management part is that useful. Tracking expenses yes, but getting more detailed than that is probably unnecessary. Another thing to track is deposits!

Re pricing make sure you make that clear to users, but things like seating plans are normally done right at the end so it is a good tie in for you to get the recurring income (and the month they forget to cancel whilst on honeymoon) but personally I would still prefer a fixed price part.

Nice site. Still a bit to do but looks nice, easy enough to use etc. You asked for thoughts on pricing. Unless you can get write-ups in wedding magazines (in my experience they should give you a wedding magazine when you buy the engagement ring because that is the first thing the girl buys after the proposal!) then you are going to struggle to get people to part with money without some level of trial, but 7 days might be enough.

Then a charging structure based on a wedding might be best, $50 for a wedding (especially if you can demonstrate the ability to save time or money) would seem very reasonable. Personally too much more would seem a bit steep but I might just be tight. Monthly would obviously seem better as a revenue generator, but doesn't feel right to me - this is supposed to be a once off event - even if it is the third time!

Some thoughts on site: 1. On Signup "Who are you" default who you are should be Bride. You may also want to include Mother of Bride in the list. 2. Timezone - why? 3. When - using US Date. Huge market for this outside of US. Either work out dates from browswer or dd-MMM-yyyy. UK market you'd have to make some changes as they divide wedding into 3 parts (church/ceremony, food, dancing) but it would still be useful as is. 4. Expenses - no total 5. Expenses - possibly you want a flag for provisional and actual - catering supposed to be 50 a guest x 100. 90 guests confirm so actually only 4500 and probably confirmed a few weeks before date 6. Guests - nice flow,liked that you didn't have to enter too many details, because I wouldn't enter much. Maybe make it more obvious they only have to enter a name

Looks good, wish I could have set my wife up in this when we got married. Good luck.

It sounds to me like you need a co-founder, not a PhD.

I've worked from home on my own projects off and on for nearly 20 years and still have some of the problems you describe. Go and do a project on a customer site and they cannot believe how efficient I am. Started a (failed) project with someone, the pressure of having someone else relying on me was great (not that it is the reason it failed, but he didn't quite feel the same way).

Do something at home and hey I'm replying to this on HN :-)

Find someone to team up with and do what you really want to do, don't try and distract yourself with something else you may never finish.

I don't really want to go through the expense of trademarking it (£250 starting price in UK) and on a seperate note I find what Groupon did very unethical (although the guy got a really nice payout).

I'm more interested (if anyone knows) whether I should be sending these guys an email pointing out that I already operate a website in the same space with the same name and whether prior use (without a trademark) counts for anything. They haven't launched yet, and I don't want to find in two years time that I cannot use my domain.

I guess that would depend on why you were sending your phone to Apple to get fixed. If it is completely dead then you are not going to be able to reset it but they may well know it has been jailbroken once they fix it.

People have been buying established businesses and improving them and profiting for a very long time, so whilst the "entrepreneurial spirit" doesn't sort of feel right with buying ideas, it is certainly a viable idea.

Delivering a basic upvoting type system for ideas would probably be interesting to a lot of people. Getting good ideas out of people (especially for free) could be difficult, and finding a way of getting only positive feedback (comments etc) on ideas also difficult (working on the assumption that you want ideas from the public rather than just from an internal team), but solving difficult problems is what it is all about!

I've passed on a lot of ideas that I have had because I don't believe they could make enough money to be viable for me (I live in an expensive country etc) but having an income of a couple of grand a month might appeal to a lot of people in other situations and those ideas could be useful for them.