The flow of the site immediately sticks out in a great way. As a user the navigation bar for the lessons is easily understood.
Each lesson has its own key terms that can be used as a mini nav within the lesson which is helpful.
The code layout is simple and not overwhelming. Its nice to see long hand vs short hand
People can argue all day long about the right content but this seems to be a great start. Clearly the author has put much prep and time into considering this.
So nicely put. I could not have said it better myself. Airbnb has the social responsibility to help restore this woman's life and make sure this doesn't happen again. Im concerned with all the attention this topic is receiving, that it will influence other bad people to leverage the missing link in their business model.
Sounds like you should start your own incubator or consulting firm on how you think things should be down. Do you have any money to help a few good startups?
Do not budge. Stick with your asking price. You already made the mistake of not aiming high and negotiating down to 70k so now that you have no room to budge you need to enforce the asking price. Then when they come up to 60 maybe then you can consider going down but I wouldnt until they get to 60k.
Im thinking I agree with you. Startup founder here preparing for a secret launch for number of reasons. 1 to gain most market share right away. 2 our idea is easy to imitate. Do you have any consulting with bringing a working product to a VC without testing the market?
Monster.com? We never considered that route but It cant hurt to post. I like your thought process. We have a developer from Orbitz on board that will help translate the "simple CRM app" haha ;) but thank you. Do you know what a salary should be for low end market right now? $20hr?
After reading HN for 3 months, I got the feeling developers enjoyed working for an equity bonus. But then again if this is not a partner then that doesnt make sense. Very useful stuff, thanks for your time.
Ya, personally I dont feel good about the NDA either. I can understand how it comes off but I think developers should also put themselves in our shoes. I only send it when its someone Im dealing with online or someone that I dont have a personal connection with. I have pitched to a few developers in Chicago based off personal connections because there is no need to worry. Unfortunately it seems as HN is against this but I still have not heard a good enough argument to prove me otherwise. Its unfortunate that developers are judgmental when asked to sign an NDA, however I can see how it can come across. Im def thinking outside the box but at the same time, taking precautionary measures to ensure sustaining our intangible value.
Humj thanks for your insight. You should understand my business partner and I are new to this. We have been reading posts for HN for a few months now trying to feel out the community. Although it seems my statement seems vague, dont mistake it for not being confident. Its purely two MBA's taking a leap. If we had development skills this wouldnt be a problem then would it? Part of the reason for finding "my guy" and your correct could be a woman too, is that we want to partner with a developer. I think you've mistaken my post. When I post an actual offer I will take this advice and not tip-toe. An NDA to us more like a pre-nup. Think of this way, we dont think anything is gonna happen but its there just incase? How can you argue against that as a developer? Im trying to learn here which is why I posted this so I value your opinion.
Well we were trying to stay modest but heres why we make great parnters.
1 - Our Education. MBA Students from University of Chicago Booth. Ranked top 5 MBA every year. The network is extremely strong and we have all the connections a startup could need.
2 - We have seed $. We can pay you to bang out the MVP in no more than 6 weeks with a nice equity bonus. We are looking for a partner.
3 - We are good guys. We want to make it and we think this is it. Simple as that. Its not this is my idea, do this or do that. The developer will be a partner and have insight and say. We hope to sell and then move on as a team to the next job.
We understand there are a million great ideas and its all execution but whats to stop a developer from saying "wow thats a great idea, I dont need them" When you are approaching a VC you already have eyes and a revenue model. They are already too late. I hear you and we are open to sharing our ideas without NDA's through personal connections. We have shared with developers that are connected in Chicago land area and if we could get a personal connection we dont have a problem with that.
Great advice. This has been a learning experience for us. Although this is my idea, I am creating a team. Im letting people in on this. There is no way I can do this myself so we are truly looking for a partner. We are in Chicago with connections to lightbank, and all sorts of great stuff. My busines partner goes to U of Chicago Booth and his network is impressive.
As for NDA's we agree. We know its a sensitive subject but NDA's can be terminated once trust is built ;) In the beginning and over the internet (although HN is supposed to be a safe environment) we have made the decision to have NDA's pre beta release. Its really just precautionary measures...kinda like a prenup! We don't suspect anything bad will happen but its there just incase.
Its a new travel site. We need help bringing the idea to beta so we can test the market. The site will include the right travel API that we can use to customize the data anyway we want. We have a developer from Orbitz on board, he just does not have the time to develop this. We are looking for a sign up page, a results page and an email page. The beta is very simple and less dynamic than the big vision.
Well said. We did break it down to MVP. One reason it was turned down because the developer did not want to sign an NDA. We are not looking for a ninja braniac haha although that would be nice. We just want someone that is ready to join the team ;) They will paid for the job with equity incentives.
It totally depends on the investor. Some investors might see your passion and have tons of money and throw you a bone. Others want the facts and proof. My advice is to cover yourself so you don't seem naive or incompetent.
The problem with this is your one idea could be your "wave" to success. Not to say there wont be any other great ideas but if you can create it first, regardless of competition its something for your resume that people respect. This wave could help fund an even better idea. I know HN is built on sharing ideas and I think thats great but unfortunately HN is not the world we live in. The world we live in is filled with thiefs and liars. Im in the same boat and I keep my startup right now pretty tight. I tell lots of people but only people I trust. Hope this helps
well said. I have hired on elance and I always hire "personal bids", the developer or designer that takes the time to read about my vision. Offshore, although cheaper, just mass bids to anything! Quite annoying for a non developer
Coming from a business standpoint and a non-developer, Elance has worked for me. Although I prefer not to go offshore and to stay with in the U.S and give back to our country, some developers are really too expensive. I have a startup in Chicago and currently looking for a talented developer. If your interested dmlevi [AT] gmail
Everyone can have great ideas but its all about execution and the team. Through my experience when speaking with Angel investors and other people with money, they want to see some traction. They want users and to prove that it works and that people will use your baby. You will need to build a revenue model on projections based off your current traction. Hope this helps.
Good point. Do you have any insight on how much I should be giving him? Obviously I plan to retain 51% and leave the rest for funding. I obviously cant offer him much, is there a standard?