JamesPeterson

As a general rule (ie I'm not taking sides here) - it makes it more difficult for higher quality options to compete.

Personal development. $5k won't last you long with a startup, but if you can use the money to obtain a better job it might make it easier to work around.

3.5 months is not that long. Say you developed some crazy-cool product in 2 months (!!), you would still need to have completed customer acquisition to the point of $2k profit - not revenue - in just 1.5 months!

What about fixed (ie non-variable) expenses? Will they lower the 3.5 month timeframe?

If you want to pay for the infrastructure and fixed costs too, go right ahead.

Firstly, this is a great idea. That said, it needs to be stressed (and then stressed again!) how important it is that the simplification of the interface does not remove from the seriousness of its application; you should not lead investors to treat the market as a 'game'.

It is important that investors are well educated about their actions. Simplification must not lead to less-thought-out decisions.

Do you have/can you summarize together a portfolio?

Ps - If you can trade your services for what you want ("$$") at a rate both parties agree to... I would see this as 'a fair deal' ;)

My story's a little different, but equally impressive.

I originally purchased my iPhone ~2 years ago. After about a year of abuse (certainly not the fault of the manufacturer), I had a phone with a smashed and no longer functional screen, microphone, wifi issues, etc. etc. Even the mute button no longer functioned.

Eventually I went into an Apple store, intending to purchase a new iPhone 4 (~$1,000USD here without subsidizing). The sales guy asked why I needed a new phone - had I used an iPhone before? I explained what had happened and showed him my shriveled hardware.

He disappeared out back and returned with two boxes. One contained a phone identical to my own - a white 32GB 3GS. The other had a brand new iPhone 4. He explained to me clearly and objectively that while he was happy to sell me a new phone, he could also replace my current phone for a quarter of the price. He explained that Apple was happy to do this as this was roughly similar to their cost price, and that some of the phone itself is salvageable (ie for precious metals).

I loved that they presented my actual options to me in a no-bs way. I loved that they wanted to make sure I wasn't spending an extra ~750USD on something I didn't need.

Both Apple and HTC clearly want to retain their customers for the long-haul. Sadly, it seems HTC are yet to understand it takes work to do so.

Employees who have unrealistic expectations from the start generally keep that same level of expectation, even across other topics; beginning with an unrealistic figure is not necessarily a good idea, as it may dissuade the HR rep. Alot of the time this is a first question too - first impressions count! </cliche>

Nb - this may be different for engineering; I work in an unrelated field.