Startups
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- domacle
Hello,
Does anyone have any experience in online startups? I think I have a brilliant idea but no budget behind it.
I've got a very good designer, lawyer and copywriter (friends) who will work for free initially, however, need someone to build it. I don't suppose there's investors out there that you can pitch the idea to?
Longshot I know - but keen to get anyones experiences if any.
thank you,
dom
- JSK0
Go read Art of the Start
- lowimpakt0
find local start up networks,
crowdsource funding,
find business angels
contact local council, chamber of commerce, other business support servocesuse google - http://www.australiangovernmentg…
- orrinward0
I work in a small bootstrap which my boss is bankrolling on the back of a previous product he sold (what became seesaw.com).
We've been offered some decent bank from about 3 months into the proejct (we're now 9 months old) but the cost of that money we decided was too high, as my boss is happy to continue out of his own pocket.
http://www.meetup.com/ is great for entrepreneurial and technical events where you can start to form your team and Angel Investors tend to lurk as well.
Only take the money you need, and try and get income directly from the product as early as you can, as this puts you in a much better (no desperation) position down the line when it comes to negotiating investment.
Be tightlipped with what you do until you get your IP sorted out.
Hone your elevator pitch. Keep it concise, enticing but without giving the product away.
In the UK a lot of Universities these days are running business incubators, which means free/cheap office space/equipment and it throws you in with other likeminded companies.
If your idea is far enough along and strong enough, and you're really keen to go for it, look into organisations like Y-Combinator. http://ycombinator.com/
In London there are loads of regular meetups for early-mid-stage entrepreneurs - Most are findable through meetup.com
http://www.meetup.com/minibar/
http://www.meetup.com/DevTank/I'm the odd one out in my team. The other 3 guys all met through some networking event.
- domacle0
wow, thank you orrinward, very helpful.
- flashbender0
I'm just going to throw this out there - don't know the pros and cons of it myself, but maybe it is something for you to look into:
- domacle0
Long shot:
I don't suppose there's any developers out there who would be interested in hearing more? It's not an overly complicated web build (not rebuilding Facebook by any means), but it's not simple either.
Shoot me an email if you've got some spare time on your hands :)
- zaq0
- registe0
The Word of the Day for you is: "Technical Co-Founder"
http://www.chubbybrain.com/blog/…
& Google http://www.google.com/search?q=t…
- You are on a website full of lazy designers who waste 60% of their time on forums and chattingclearThoughts
- domacle0
Very pertinent post linked through to zac, the author raises a lot of good points.
I'm an interactive producer by day so genuinely have an idea of how much things cost, how long things take and how developers are creative too. I've also got a business model for marketing the idea online and OOH.
Have bought Art of Start @JSK for my kindle now too. Will read over the weekend.
- lifeindev0
Be prepared to work harder than you've ever worked before
- ukit0
Realize that involving outside investors = losing control to some extent
I would build it on your own time and money if possible, get it out there, and see what the response is.
- SteveJobs0
do you have a solid business plan? do you know how you're going to make a profit? do you have any competition in your market? what does your offering have that your competition's doesn't? what experience do you have in the role you'll be taking?
i'm always keeping my eye out for startups, but when someone wants you to work for free, you're looking for more than just a good idea. you're looking for someone who's a risk taker and is ready to commit fully to the venture. someone who's ready to pull 14 hour days.
- identity0
Epic thread guys. Thanks for all this info!
- SteveJobs0
do you know the exact kind of talent you need?
http://www.hirelite.com
- shellie0
http://www.kickstarter.com < good ideas can make a lot of dough, although it's usually stuff that can't easily be stolen if you talk details about it.
- SteveJobs0
that's another thing. are you trying to fund a company or a project? two totally different approaches for this.
- raf0
Move to Chile perhaps?...
http://amix.dk/blog/post/19617
- sublocked0
Start it yourself.
I designed & programmed http://cashboardapp.com solo.
Funded by doing client projects and taking out a small business line of credit so I could purchase some things relevant to startup costs.
You're not gonna find someone to invest in an "idea". Everyone has ideas. The $ is in execution.
On top of that, getting it launched is just the first step. It's actually the easiest step. After that comes actually charging for money and making improvements to what assuredly won't be up to snuff on the first revision.
Good luck to you.
- sublocked0
Also - you didn't mention what you actually DO in all of this besides just having an idea? IMHO you're not going to get very far unless you put some sweat equity in.