maxbrown

Curious - why would you not have created a new company when you started working with this person, instead of joining their legacy company with the long-gone co-founders holding equity? What is the existing company organization bringing to the table if there was no product released, and now there is a product released with 100% your IP?

1. Unfortunately, you are choosing to work somewhere where your work is "kept secret". In other companies, this might not be the case. You should consider this and how it may or may not affect your future job opportunities.

2. Is it possible to take chunks of your code and "scrub" them so they are not revealing anything proprietary by sharing? (still need permission of course) I do this on the business/prototyping side a lot, not sure if it transfers to the development side.

I think it may be down now as well, FYI. Getting an error when I try to load it.

Here's my issue:

You say you value a $0.99 app as throw-away, and that the more you spend, the less throw-away it feels. Sure, if you priced your app at $20.00, I agree that it would feel less throw-away (if a customer decided to buy it, they value it at >= $20).

But you're not pricing it at $20.00. You're pricing it at $2.50-$20.00. Really, anything I pay above $2.50 is a donation to you, for your work. But in my head, it's still a $2.50 app, isn't it? Because other people are paying that amount even if I'm not.

I think what you're talking about is setting my expectation of the value it will add for me. For a $0.99 app, the creator thought it would typically only add $0.99 of value. For a $5.00 app, they thought it would add >= $5.00 of value.

It just sounds like you're not sure how much it's worth (or you have customers who it's worth $2.50 to and customers who it's worth $20.00 to, and you can't choose who to target).

One more point/question... wouldn't it be better for them to "pay-what-they-want" after they try it? Before they use it, they can only guess how much value it adds for them. Are you expecting that they've already downloaded and used your trial, and then return to the website to buy?

Just because the reward system is not proportional to the profits the project makes doesn't make it any less of a reward system.

One more note - I really don't think this is a "get money and don't give investors...anything back". With all the rewards he's offering, particularly all those voice and video recordings, he's going to be working hard to make good on all these "tchotchkes".

Instead, could you possibly turn this into a mentorship relationship? Maybe figure out what personal advice you might appreciate from them instead.

Efficient or inefficient, there must be some market force at play here.

Is it that that's where the largest amount of fund-seeking companies are at - seed stage - and so money is being put into that stage because the deals are there and then it's already committed so more companies seek it and around and around?

Whether you want a a PhD job, a corporate developer job, or a startup developer job, I don't think it's clear from your resume, and it needs to be.

Quick feedback...

The excerpt at the beginning - just get rid of it. It's negative, and it's your first impression.

Native/Fluent/Rusty - need to find another way to represent this, if it's necessary at all. You don't want to say anything is "Rusty". If needed, in an interview you can clarify that you haven't used it recently but you could pick it back up as needed. If you think you couldn't, it shouldn't be on your resume.

2. Have great visual design

3. Social media marketing, targeting influencers in the area

* Is it reasonable to expect him/her to be able to provide much help with our overall application look-and-feel, or does that tend to require a more highly specialized designer? - You definitely want someone with UI design experience... a "designer" who's just made a couple of logos and a flyer for their university club isn't going to cut it.

If this is an afterthought, hire an intern and see if it works out. Look at their work samples and ask - if I got this same quality of work from them, would I be happy with it (aka don't expect anything better than what's in their portfolio).

If this is essential to your application and delivering value (I feel UI/UX often is) then you should find the resources for an experienced professional instead, even part time, instead of a full-time intern.

Find a way to get an intro. Talk with people at their portfolio companies. Meet with non-VCs in your space that likely have VC connections, make them advisors in some capacity, and ask them who they can introduce you to. Send them something exciting, that they'll talk about. You have to find a way to make yourself a qualified lead, or at least interesting.

If you're getting the meetings, but no interest, that's a different issue.

Have you thought at all about price point? IMO I wouldn't try to enter the hosting space, at least not yet. That's not the value for me. I think you have a great product in the works just as a front-end development platform. If it works as described, I'd put money down for it today (customer validation, check).

FWIW, I don't think you should apply to any company for "any role."

I've heard people say that a lot lately - "I'll take any job in _____". If I'm hiring, that's not what I want to hear. I don't want someone that's looking to do anything, I want someone who's looking to do something specific that I need done.

Sure, maybe I want someone who's willing to make copies and coffee, but that's just to see hustle and work-ethic. To hire you, I want to know how you're going to make the overall pie bigger.

How are you going to provide value to the VC firm? This is key - if you're going to reach out to a VC you need to be able to convince them why it would be worth hiring you in the first place.

And the answer to your question (IMO) - it's unlikely that you'll find many job postings at VCs. They will almost all have strong networks to tap for their hires, rather than spending time on public job postings. I don't think you need to attend B-school or have a successful exit (though these things certainly build credibility for you). I do think you need to find a way to enter their network (like any resourceful entrepreneur would do to pitch them). Figure out how you can add value, then reach out and try to get a meeting. If they don't have a position now, they may in 6 months. Get on their radar.

If you're insistent on Photoshop first, I would start with a bunch of tutorials: http://webdesignledger.com/tutorials/20-high-quality-photosh... http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/

Hope this helps!

Two thoughts:

1. Run a targeted e-mail/direct-message campaign Can you creatively find some e-mail addresses/other accounts of potential customers in the target market? You can check blogs, forums, Twitter, etc. Draft up a well-written (and designed, if e-mail) pitch and send it to them directly and you may have more success getting those first customers who will help you spread the word. I think it's all about getting it in front of some customers.

2. Create a pretty infographic with some interesting information about the space you're app is in. They may be close to cliche, but I think they're still all the rage now, and bloggers and more traditional media sources may run your infographic with a small pitch about your app (+ your logo's in the image).

My (Jewish) great-grandmother left the USSR in the late 1910's hidden in a hay cart at the bottom of a freight ship. I wouldn't be here today if not for that feat.

Also, my understanding is that a lot of schools use district-wide IT admins and may not have staff available who would even know how to format data or use your API. I think this is less a question of the best way to handle it on your end, and more of how can/will they get you the data at all.

If you're looking to find more free Android apps I have a little side project up at http://randomfreeapp.com that might be handy :)