Ask HN: Advice with launching a multi-year "Lone Wolf" project?
3 comments
You've been working on this project for several years; is there a monetization system in place yet? If not, your first step should be to build one. I've found that when you can build something that generates a cash flow, it becomes a lot easier to do all those other important things. Like 10x easier.
Investors are probably going to shy away from something that's been around for several years with no money.
Investors are probably going to shy away from something that's been around for several years with no money.
Yes there is, it hasn't launched yet so I have no cash flow.
It's a big cloud project and just getting it launched and running is going to take at the very least some DevOps people.
It doesn't initially make sense to me that investors would shy away from something with so much existing value. "I've done the heavy lifting, and that's a bad thing?" But I think you're right, I can see how fast-paced technology investors would be more interested in snapping up a large stake of a project with a greedy, determined leader.
I need more of a bank-loan sort of investment, which unfortunately I can't get because I trashed my credit.
It's a big cloud project and just getting it launched and running is going to take at the very least some DevOps people.
It doesn't initially make sense to me that investors would shy away from something with so much existing value. "I've done the heavy lifting, and that's a bad thing?" But I think you're right, I can see how fast-paced technology investors would be more interested in snapping up a large stake of a project with a greedy, determined leader.
I need more of a bank-loan sort of investment, which unfortunately I can't get because I trashed my credit.
Hire someone as a generalist who you trust to just get stuff done. If they are smart, they can figure stuff out or find someone who knows.
This sounds like a good first step, thank you for the reply.
Here are the issues from my standpoint:
Even if I could afford it, I don't know how to hire someone or how to tell them what I need done (or especially actually motivate them or enforce that they'll do it).
I also don't know anybody like this personally, and it's going to be hard to trust random people from the internet.
Here are the issues from my standpoint:
Even if I could afford it, I don't know how to hire someone or how to tell them what I need done (or especially actually motivate them or enforce that they'll do it).
I also don't know anybody like this personally, and it's going to be hard to trust random people from the internet.
My suggestion (if you have the money to hire someone) is to put up an ad on the web (angelList, craigslist(maybe), StackOverflow jobs, etc. (some of these sites cost money for job ads FYI)) and then, if you find what might seem like the right generalist, offer them a week or two week trial period of seeing how you like working with them. That would go a long way towards dealing with the trust issue.
Or you could also find generalists at meetups (in theory, I'm always terrible at networking at meetups).
Or you could find generalist at tech job fairs (those have been easier for me to network with).
A good generalist will only need your passion and the challenge of the problem to motivate them and won't need enforcement that they'll do the work. In fact, trying to enforce that they'll do the work (w/o a track record of bad results, in which case you should let them go) is bad management.
Or you could also find generalists at meetups (in theory, I'm always terrible at networking at meetups).
Or you could find generalist at tech job fairs (those have been easier for me to network with).
A good generalist will only need your passion and the challenge of the problem to motivate them and won't need enforcement that they'll do the work. In fact, trying to enforce that they'll do the work (w/o a track record of bad results, in which case you should let them go) is bad management.
This is a great suggestion. I don't have the extra funds to hire anybody, but if I manage to launch this on my own it's likely I will.
What I meant by "enforcement" is my understanding that leadership/management has a lot to do with things like firmness in language and body language cues, etc. to maintain a power hierarchy. Most of the people I know who are able to assume a leadership role are exactly the kind of person I'm afraid to trust to get on board since I can't defend against them taking control of the project.
What I meant by "enforcement" is my understanding that leadership/management has a lot to do with things like firmness in language and body language cues, etc. to maintain a power hierarchy. Most of the people I know who are able to assume a leadership role are exactly the kind of person I'm afraid to trust to get on board since I can't defend against them taking control of the project.
Huh? Of course you can defend against them taking control. If they're an employee, you fire them. Here's how to do it: "You're fired."
Sorry, that was a bit over the top, but you see what I mean? I sense a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy in what you're saying. If you believe you can't do it, then you can't do it. Leadership and control has nothing to do with firmness of language and body language. Leadership and control has everything to do with clear communication, not necessarily aggressive communication. Aggressive communication makes people leave. Leadership is communicating your vision and finding agreement, and only overruling them if you've discussed the issue at hand but can't find agreement.
You might consider looking for a technical co-founder. Someone you'll give something like 30% equity to, but no salary.
On to another issue:
You need to launch. Think about how this sounds from an investor's point of view: "I've worked on this project for several years alone. I think there are customers for it, but I've never launched it so I don't know if there are actually any customers for it. I'm running out of money..." I would not invest. You will have a lot of trouble finding investment. And if you do find investment, it will probably be on extremely unfavorable terms (giving up control, usually), because the investor will know/sense that you are desperate for the money (in order to have leverage in a negotiation, you have to be in a situation where the other party wants the deal equally or more than you want the deal). The attitude of "I've done the heavy lifting, and that's a bad thing?" is the wrong attitude, because heavy lifting is useless if it doesn't accomplish anything: as far as the investor knows, all the heavy lifting is useless and won't ever generate money.
There are two reasons an investor will invest: 1) They believe in YOU, or 2) They believe in the product. You can fulfill criteria #1 by having social proof that demonstrates your brilliance (i.e. Harvard PhD, famous researcher), having a strong team with you of experienced programmers, or having experience starting profitable companies. Criteria #2 is NOT solved by having a great idea; it is only solved by having growth (users or revenue, doesn't matter as long as there is tangible growth).
Sorry, that was a bit over the top, but you see what I mean? I sense a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy in what you're saying. If you believe you can't do it, then you can't do it. Leadership and control has nothing to do with firmness of language and body language. Leadership and control has everything to do with clear communication, not necessarily aggressive communication. Aggressive communication makes people leave. Leadership is communicating your vision and finding agreement, and only overruling them if you've discussed the issue at hand but can't find agreement.
You might consider looking for a technical co-founder. Someone you'll give something like 30% equity to, but no salary.
On to another issue:
You need to launch. Think about how this sounds from an investor's point of view: "I've worked on this project for several years alone. I think there are customers for it, but I've never launched it so I don't know if there are actually any customers for it. I'm running out of money..." I would not invest. You will have a lot of trouble finding investment. And if you do find investment, it will probably be on extremely unfavorable terms (giving up control, usually), because the investor will know/sense that you are desperate for the money (in order to have leverage in a negotiation, you have to be in a situation where the other party wants the deal equally or more than you want the deal). The attitude of "I've done the heavy lifting, and that's a bad thing?" is the wrong attitude, because heavy lifting is useless if it doesn't accomplish anything: as far as the investor knows, all the heavy lifting is useless and won't ever generate money.
There are two reasons an investor will invest: 1) They believe in YOU, or 2) They believe in the product. You can fulfill criteria #1 by having social proof that demonstrates your brilliance (i.e. Harvard PhD, famous researcher), having a strong team with you of experienced programmers, or having experience starting profitable companies. Criteria #2 is NOT solved by having a great idea; it is only solved by having growth (users or revenue, doesn't matter as long as there is tangible growth).
Are you worried that you don't possess the ability to give off the body language of leadership and that eventually there will be a scramble to be the "alpha figure" and have control of the startup?
In terms of the "alpha figure", it's generally not good to have someone that thinks they can have control of the project on the team. Teams should be about having complete and total trust in the other members of the team, and the feeling of "where all in this together" is what pushes the team to succeed.
If you're worried about your ability to show leadership body language, you could start by making a conscious effort to make eye contact with you talk to for the duration of the conversation. This will be uncomfortable, but will force you to push your bounds of how you act and give you confidence to make other changes.
After that, watch Deep Space Nine and mimic everything Sisko does :)
In terms of the "alpha figure", it's generally not good to have someone that thinks they can have control of the project on the team. Teams should be about having complete and total trust in the other members of the team, and the feeling of "where all in this together" is what pushes the team to succeed.
If you're worried about your ability to show leadership body language, you could start by making a conscious effort to make eye contact with you talk to for the duration of the conversation. This will be uncomfortable, but will force you to push your bounds of how you act and give you confidence to make other changes.
After that, watch Deep Space Nine and mimic everything Sisko does :)
I think it is time you launch your project. You are finding all kind of excuses before the product is even out. Launch it, have people here at HN help you beta test it. Show it in relevant forums. You either fail or you succeed.
I have no experience working at startups or real-world knowledge of putting together an office and hiring people, so I don't have a good idea of how to get from guy-in-a-room to office-full-of-people, which is going to have to happen.
I'm not very good at networking, I'm more of a head-down sort of guy and have too many responsibilities just handling the work itself. I'm also pushing myself extremely hard, isolated, and overstressed, and I'm not an easy person to deal with socially. This is a reality that I can't easily change as long as I've got my nose to the grindstone.
I have very little funds other than what I need to pay living expenses for myself, which was originally personal savings, and now loans from friends and family.
I don't believe I can/should get investment capital given my lack of leadership and business experience. The limited experiences I've had with investors has not gone well, I believe in myself and my product 100% but I'm not socially aggressive or good at pitching, and I am easily frustrated by their standard political procedures.
I'd like some realistic advice on how to take off with this. My current plan is to launch it myself and grow organically, but that isn't a solution in itself, it will just give me a little more cash in my bank account and I'm in the same situation.
I need a building with desks and equipment. I need HR. I need Legal. I need DevOps. I don't know what else I need, because I've never worked at a startup.
How does a guy with a product in my situation realistically go about getting this stuff done?