Totally agree, super annoying. I will highlight and re-highlight a paragraph over and over as I read through it. I'm not sure why I do it, maybe it's my impulse to go faster that I can satisfy by moving my cursor rather than reading more rapidly.
Thanks for pointing that out. We switched over to Middleman from Wordpress and we're slowly building it out custom as we go. We get in a little work here and there in our spare time, but I think you've pointed out that we've got a ways to go before it works well all around.
Hey guys, I just want to clear up some confusion that we didn't see coming - The infographic was meant to represent the developers using GroupTalent back in July. I think folks got a little confused when we started drawing comparisons to the industry as a whole.
Sorry about that! We've removed the misleading parts to avoid any further confusion. Thanks!
Agreed. Thanks again for sharing the story, I think it's super helpful to other folks to see where things break so they can either avoid common pitfalls, or avoid the topic altogether!
Maybe, but when you're being offered such a large chunk of equity I think folks tend to think of it more like a partnership. I mean 60% and 40% are relatively equal and generally on par with the kind of split many serial entrepreneurs think there ought to exist, whether you agree with that or not.
Well finding technically skilled people who are available and willing to work on your project isn't exactly easy. He may have embraced that a little sooner than other entrepreneurs and decided to go for something juicy enough that he could make headway.
I'm a founder of GroupTalent, so we've seen a lot on this specific topic...
I'd say the two biggest challenges for hackers who want to take projects is lead-generation and sales. They sound simple, but they aren't and you'll waste a lot of time talking to a lot of tire-kickers.
For lead-gen, that just means finding work. Where do you start? There's a few ways to go, you can network with friends, college alumni, startup circles. You could contact incubator companies and ask if they need any extra help, etc. I have to mention GroupTalent too because this is one of the biggest problems we solve.
When it comes to sales, you don't land projects just because you've got "software developer" in your job title. It still comes down to convincing them that you're not going to botch the project, and that's based on what you've done before. They want to see examples of your work, including anything at hackathons (those are good examples of how quickly you can crank out prototypes). The closer it is to what they've done the better because buyers don't buy you, they buy the thing you'd be building them. It's easier to visualize success with you if they see something close.
On the question of whether to work by yourself or as a team, I'd say go as a team. I've seen first hand that not only will you be happier working with a friend, but the idea of getting a package is a big perk for clients. Speed is often a big deal for them, and 2 is faster than one.
Also, clients gravitate towards hackers who can build web apps, not as much static sites. Anybody can code up css/html, but can you build functioning prototypes? Push that as your core skill-set and you'll have a better chance at finding gigs.
Most developers and designers hate spending half their time shmoozing, networking, meeting and dealing with people who just want to meet for the free advice. It just sort of comes with the territory. In the end, success will come from getting access to the right clients, and traditionally that has meant knowing the right people. This is one of the reasons we're building what we are.
Lastly, don't take projects you aren't interested in. When you're building your own product, and working on the side, it needs to be interesting enough that you can power through the finish and earn the paycheck regardless of what's happening with your company.
Oh – and one more thing, payment can be a huge hassle. Make sure to establish payment terms before starting or you might get burned. I know folks who just don't get paid. We make project owners pay up front for teams, we hold it in escrow, and pay out on a per sprint basis. If you want to do something similar on your own without an escrow-like service, you might do half up front before a sprint starts, and then half after each sprint. But seriously, break it down into sprints that deliver functionality costing no more than $5k. More sprints at lower cost is better, it's easier to get them to pay for $3k + $4k +$5k know what I mean? It's progressive cost increase for progressive emotional commitment. Otherwise things have a tendency to go unchecked, and then people change their minds, and it's wasted work, and oh should we pay for that or not, etc etc.
I think it's worth mentioning that Kyle's consideration of his user base's interests was a top priority, and ultimately the reason we decided to collaborate. He's a class act all the way, and I hope some of you fellas will take him out to drinks. Dibbs on the first round!
The point isn't to educate HN users about why SOPA sucks, it's to throw a roadblock in front of people and say "rather than spending the usual 10 minutes reading posts, pick up your phone and call your representative and complain"
It's about forcing people to get off their lazy butts and make a phone call. And as much as we complain, I bet 99% of people here haven't made that call yet.
I suppose that depends on what you mean by heavy sprint. 3-months long is excessive and burnt me out, but 1 month is not so bad. I totally disagree that it should be a once in a lifetime of a company type event to do a month long sprint. Many companies have a couple of major events a year that present an opportunity to make a big splash. You either take advantage of them, or let others pass you by.
It can kill morale depending on how it's treated, and how the company culture rewards. Just because you choose to meet a goal as a team that requires more than average number of hours put in for 4 weeks does not mean everybody is being dragged along. What does upset the folks doing the heavy lifting is when requirements get added at the last minute with "oh, can we please please just have this one more thing? It would be so awesome" from upper management. That's pure bullshit, and tends to rip apart morale above anything else.
How am I supposed to read this? This makes no sense. Figure out the point you want to make with the graph, and make sure it conveys that quickly and easily.