I think this is an amazing story. You guys are flexible and ready to change. You saw a new opportunity and you grabbed it and it worked out great. I think in the whole process, you gained something that are more valuable than money ... the experience and the connection. Great job ... and thanks for sharing.
Best of luck to you. We are a bootstrapped startup here in the SF Bay Area. It is true that living expenses in this area can be higher, however the opportunities you would get is also better, IMHO. From what people who live in SF the city told me, food is actually cheaper than the suburban cities.
Once you are here, start networking (you can start by looking for suitable meetup groups in the meetup site) because in general people are very willing to help.
Once again, good luck.
As the admin of the forum of my own website, I understand the Quora admin's wariness for "oddly-named" users (definition of which is highly subjective, BTW). However, in my opinion, one is innocent until proven guilty ... so unless they provide proof that they are spammers, as admin I don't think I should do anything. But of course I'm sure Quora would have this covered in their Terms of Service details. As we can see, the result is bad PR and the site gives a very unfriendly image.
Agreed with cschmidt about some visual clues that there are tags on the photos.
The site mentioned you'll host the photos uploaded by the users ... is it for free? I'd imagine if the idea takes off this won't be for free for long.
From my experience, I know one type of bloggers would love this idea very much ... hand-crafters, e.g. knitters, crocheters, quilters etc.
In my opinion, this still doesn't solve the problem of beefed-up resumes. Or one can spend 40% of his time working on PHP doesn't tell exactly how good he is in PHP. The best is still to have the candidate really showing how good he is, for example to have the candidate work on customized puzzle targeting the skills an employer needs.
46 ... started last year with my husband. Never imagined I would be doing something like this. A lot of new things to learn ... very exciting actually.
When I first starting working for the previous startup, I took an accouting for small business course at the local small business bureau. It was extremely helpful in that it gave you the rigt mind-set of how to do right with the company's bookkeeping. At the end, we may still need to get some professional help (software or people); but at least we won't end up with a shoebox of receipts mixed with useless papers.
Very good idea. I won't worry too much about idea harvesting ... idea alone won't succeed, it has to be coupled with excellent execution.
However, even when I typed in your suggestion "sell stuff online", no results were given. Perhaps you might want to check into that.
I can share some experiences with you as I launched my site about 2 weeks ago. My co-founder is the tech guy and I take care of everything else, including the design. I am not a designer either, but when you don't have the dough to spend on hiring someone, you just have to suck it up, I suppose!
One thing we tried to avoid is empty page. For example, those footer links "privacy policy" "terms of service" etc. Most would think they are not essential, but our thought is that with them properly put there, your site just gives a more professional impression.
Then there is the blog. I found this is very common for new sites ... there is no way to go back to your main site from the blog. For us, it is very important as spending time on our main site is essential.
Since we have 2 persons sharing the work, it is a bit easier for us. So I would suggest you finding someone to take care of little things like these for you. Maybe a good friend?
Never rush into any decision because the buyer told you that they are not going to negotiate ... they all put on a poker face playing the game. Your business is highly profitable while on paper their offer isn't really that exciting. I think there is plenty room for negotiation.
In that case, CoderCharts would be helpful since for beginners, they don't necessary have to take part in competition. We have non-contest puzzles of various levels for users to try their skills. We have plans to push out more social features to enhance the users' sense of pride in their skills, so this would help nurture freshmen's interest.
I would encourage you come to our site and play around yourself, so that you have a better understanding of how to make the most out of it. :-)
I agree with davorak. What you want to achieve would be a long term project. Since you are in your final 2 years, start attracting attention with projects that would stay in the campus longer after you graduate. Also, start from the freshmen ... they are the ones you pass the baton. Make use of external programming competitions, for example, Facebook Hacker Cup, to lure them into programming. For beginners, the Hacker Cup might be something intimidating. You can try smaller competitions like this one: http://codercharts.com/contest/january-snow-fest-contest (pardon the little self-promotion ... but our goal is actually the same as yours).
I really really like the concept. One page a day ... bit by bit, I would be able to finish a book! However, considering how many emails I receive every day, I am already skipping some of them so I can't guarantee to myself that I won't skip the page sent in the mail!
But still I think it is a great idea. Wish you all the success.
Yeah, I think "intimidated" is the word! Very often, I find others knowing a lot more than I do and talk a lot more intelligently than I do ... but hopefully this will wear off a bit with time.
I am very new here and not sure about establishing friendship here. Honestly I don't have a lot of time digging into every piece of news. I think I spend more time reading the comments than the stories themselves ... very often you learn much more reading people's reactions.
I agree. For a non-coder like me, I've been working intensely with CSS and html and some PHP the last 4 weeks. Things that got used over and over again will gradually stay in your mind after a while.
I always try to keep a balanced perspective when reading news like this ... not to panic too much but at the same time not to get too complacent. Actually, reading this news reminds me of checking my earthquake emergency kit.
My experience was that if the name we wanted was taken, it is worth spending time thinking of another catchy name instead of spending extra bucks. At the end, it's the quality of your service that contribute to your success, rather than your domain name.