
Ask HN: Are you a founder? - hajrice
Hi everyone. I'd like to know....are you a founder of startup? if so, which one? what's your role?
======
mojombo
Currently cofounder of <http://github.com>, previously founder of
<http://gravatar.com>.

~~~
defunkt
Me too! Well, not Gravatar. But GitHub.

~~~
defunkt
To elaborate: I think we've struck a really good balance at GitHub when it
comes to our roles.

mojombo has a background working with distributed systems (at Powerset) as
well as in design (he freelanced for a few years). Which means he's our main
UI / design person as well as the guy overseeing the "big picture" backend
stuff. For instance, right now we're in the process of sharding all of our git
repository data to get away from our network file system bottleneck. mojombo's
leading that project and it's going great - we should see the plans come to
fruition in the near future. He's also the guy that makes changes to the git-
daemons and other sysadminy stuff.

pjhyett, one of the other founders, is a seasoned web developer with
experience in (among other things) Java and Rails. Which made him the ideal
head of our Firewall Install product (since it uses JRuby). He's currently on
a trip to NYC to meet with potential FI clients, and is in charge of adding
features to it, fixing bugs, basically lording over the product.

schacon isn't technically a founder, but we're a very flat (and small)
organization. He's a Git expert so we deploy him on any and all things Git:
weird server errors, crazy new projects (like the Fork Queue and Gist), and
our issues scaling Git itself. He's currently experimenting with a Cassandra-
backed git-daemon to help speed up clones (specifically the "Counting objects"
/ building packfile phase) and give us the ability to easily put mirrors in
other continents.

Tekkub is our customer support expert: he hangs out in irc, on the mailing
list, and oversees the help site. He has programming background (we found him
because of all his Lua stuff on GitHub) which means he can write his own tools
and knows Git very well.

I'm the third founder. I mostly hang out here.

------
nostrademons
Former founder: <http://diffle.com>, <http://bootstrapacitor.com>,
<http://randomicity.net>, <http://whatshallidonow.net>, and GameClay (which
never launched). All dead now, my cofounder was the one that paid for the
hosting, and he let them lapse when we gave up. I was the technical end of the
partnership, writing the software.

Heh, it looks far more impressive when I just list URLs. Most of those
"startups" were pretty lame side projects, and the one that wasn't was the one
that never launched.

------
ezmobius
I'm one of the founder of <http://engineyard.com>

~~~
hajrice
Oh awesome. I've heard great stuff about you, keep up the good work! :)

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ryanspahn
Currently - <http://sleep.fm> and some other things too, soon to be released.

~~~
hajrice
Love the UI!

~~~
mgrouchy
It does look quite snazzy.

~~~
ryanspahn
Thanks everyone!

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mid
Yes, <http://www.fatfreecrm.com>, also co-founded White Pajama, NextAge
Technologies, and Fat Free Software.

~~~
csbartus
+1, we need it!

------
lux
I started Simian Systems (simian.ca) when I was 20. Still going, so I guess
it's not a startup any more...

Also co-founded Dojo Learning (dojolearning.com) which is still a work in
progress.

I'm considering a switch to a "technomad" lifestyle and becoming a full-time
touring musician, which I guess will be my next business venture. I don't
think that quite qualifies as a "startup" though :)

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PStamatiou
Yup. <http://skribit.com> "cure writer's/blogger's block"

~~~
knightinblue
Love this one.

------
jamwt
Cofounder of <http://shoptalkapp.com> .

At this point, we all three (co-founders) participate pretty evenly in the
hacking, strategy, marketing, etc.

~~~
hajrice
Neat, I like the website. No offence but I think you guys could use a bit of
UI improvement. If you need any help please feel free to contact me.

------
kbrower
Yes. Founder of <http://www.recipepuppy.com>

~~~
udfalkso
Very nicely done. I'm gonna use this.

The name is a bit weird though. I own makefoodnow.com and
usemyingredients.com, let me know if you're interested in a trade of some
sort.

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markbao
Yes, <http://avecora.com> , <http://ramamia.com> , <http://tickrtalk.com> ,
<http://classleaf.com> , <http://adaptance.com> , and <http://debateware.com>

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colinplamondon
Yup.

Product: <http://freebooksapp.com> Company blog: <http://spreadsong.com>

~~~
csbartus
very nice idea, web site, and price! your blog is added to my reader :D

~~~
colinplamondon
Thanks! Guess I should go and publish the post I wrote today, then ;)

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wastedbrains
Currently cofounder of <http://devver.net> currently acting at CTO mostly
doing development.

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swombat
Looks like there are a lot of founders here!

Me too. Cofounder and CTO of <http://www.woobius.com>

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dmillar
Yes, <http://pacsdrive.com> my role is founder (what doesn't that include?)

~~~
babyboy808
Nice site, looks alot like campaign monitor

~~~
billydean
A LOT like Campaign Monitor. The bold white headline and subhead, blue
horizontal nav, 4¢ graphic, the location of the screenshot, etc.

~~~
rksprst
Nothing wrong with being inspired by another site, IMHO.

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hikari17
I'm a co-founder -- along with my wife and a friend -- of
<http://www.genlighten.com>, an Etsy-like marketplace for genealogy research
services. My role includes pre-code IA/UX design, usability testing, customer
development, sales/marketing, and general management.

~~~
csbartus
nice ui, clean & fresh & still warm. keeep up!

------
brianr
I'm the code-writing founder at <http://www.lolapps.com> .

~~~
hajrice
Cool office.

------
lyime
I am the founder of <http://mugasha.com> So far my role has been focused on
development. As we get closer to our launch my role has been shifting and is
more of other things. Honestly, I pretty much have to have my hand in
everything.

------
mgrouchy
Not yet, but working on it!

~~~
pchristensen
Well put. Similar sentiments from me on GeekStack <http://geekstack.com>

------
alain94040
A founder of <http://fairsoftware.net> : "build your [iPhone|web|desktop] App
Together"

Previously co-founder of <http://eve-usa.com>

PS: not listing projects I launched that never went anywhere...

------
bdmac97
Founder of <http://www.launchly.com> \- we provide feedback and analytics to
other web startups to help them succeed.

Currently the only "employee" so I guess I'm CEO, CTO, CxO too!

------
shafqat
I'm the cofounder of NewsCred. <http://www.newscred.com> is our consumer site,
but we are more focused on a B2B solution (not public yet).

------
abyssknight
I guess technically I am, but I tend to be more of the hired-help role. ;)

Things I've founded alone:

<http://fragtweet.com> A simple Twitter & OAuth app in rails. Proof of concept
and left dormant for now. It appears a competitor has been born that does
everything I planned on doing, and does it well. Who am I to argue with
progress? ;)

Things I helped build, but did not found:

<http://ordercounter.com> I helped these guys bootstrap when I was in college.
Both founders are friends of mine, and I was asked to join in as a 30% stock
holder but turned it down. I built the web based back-office interface and the
online ordering system which allowed restaurants to specify a polygonal
delivery area. Most of this was in PHP with some PERL for the Geocoder::US
interface.

<http://theamericancritic.com> I took this project as a contract in college.
Everything was built from scratch sans libraries in PHP. Another dev stepped
in to _help_ but that didn't work out for my client. I still have a backlog of
O&M updates to do for this one.

<http://mybloglog.com> Little known fact, I did actually sort of work on
MyBlogLog before its acquisition by Yahoo. I helped test the app internally at
Cloudspace and designed the VC diagrams for the negotiations. I left the
company before the sale, but it felt pretty good to be a part of that in any
capacity.

------
dannyr
Founder of <http://www.launchset.com>

~~~
run4yourlives
That's a pretty cool site... have you had issues getting people to sign up on
either side?

~~~
dannyr
Thanks.

Right now, I'm talking to different startups who might need the service.

I think most startups build their own because they don't know there is a
service like this out there.

I ran an ad campaign on Google for some keywords and it looks like people
don't really search for it.

~~~
run4yourlives
Thanks for the response. I only asked because I had thought of that idea as
well and stumbled on how you'd be able to get enough traction to make it work.
Chicken and egg problem.

Good luck to you!

------
callmeed
Yes, co-founder and head of development for <http://bigfolio.com> \+
<http://nextproof.com>

Currently in our 5th year. "Ramen profitable" on day 1, and now "expensive
sushi profitable".

I don't know if we're still considered a "startup" but we still try and act
like one ... new, cool stuff always in the works.

------
mjh
I'm founder of penetration testing laboratories. Site isn't launched yet, so I
fall into the pre-launch founder status.

The idea is based on providing a tool box for auditors and n00bs to do
security testing from. So far the environment is setup and development is slow
coming but I expect it to launch in some form by the end of the year.

------
jgrahamc
I am one of the founders of <http://www.electric-cloud.com/>

------
nkohari
I'm co-founder of <http://agilezen.com/> \-- lean project management app based
on ideas from the Toyota Production System.

I'm in charge of developing and maintaining the product, and my other co-
founder/wife is in charge of keeping the business running.

~~~
yannis
Great application! With a bit of work it can jump!

~~~
nkohari
Thanks. :)

------
arohner
Founder at <http://reasonr.com> It's an improvement on forums/Yahoo Answers
for troubleshooting technical problems. Similar technology to hunch.com but
applied to a practical use.

Warning: Still young, obviously needs a lot more polish before prime time.

------
delano
I'm a founder and VP of sales at Solutious Inc.

<http://solutious.com/>

------
nico
Co-founder: <http://www.medularis.com>, previously <http://www.lemontech.cl>
and also worked at <http://www.needish.com>

------
modoc
I founded Spark::red <http://sparkred.com> "The Best ATG Hosting Provider",
with a couple of partners. ATG is a niche expensive (but amazing) eCommerce
software package. All the partners are technical architect type folks.

------
jbr
I'm co-founder of <http://www.stormweight.com/> \-- realtime brainstorming and
voting for small teams. I alternate between title of "technical co-founder"
and "ceo," depending on audience.

------
herval
founder of <http://www.mapservices.org/myguestmap> and a couple of brazilian
projects: <http://www.investidorvirtual.com> (currently being reworked for
legal reasons), <http://www.bloobox.com.br> (not a web service, but still..
tech), <http://www.cnnt.com.br>, <http://www.sollipsis.com> (my current
company) and a lot of pet projects that never seen the light of day.. :-)

------
ikhare
Co-founder of <http://zintin.com> (with now only one real product left on the
iPhone: Scribble). Co-founder of: <http://photophonebook.com>

------
socratees
No. I'm on my H1B visa.

~~~
aditya
Doesn't mean you can't found a company - you just can't be employed by it
unless it sponsors your visa...

------
jon_dahl
Yep - co-founder of one startup too many. :)

\-- <http://tumblon.com>

\-- <http://zencoder.tv> and <http://flixcloud.com>

------
umbrae
Yep, creator of Kindling - <http://www.kindlingapp.com> \- Incubated inside my
company, Arc90.

Kindling is an idea collaboration engine. Meant to find brilliance within an
organization.

------
tonystubblebine
Founder of <http://www.crowdvine.com>. I built the first version myself, which
was enough to get us to profitability. These days I mostly talk on the phone.

------
bjelkeman-again
Co-founder of <http://akvo.org/>

------
dawie
Founder of <http://docley.com>

------
cullenking
Co-founder of a route mapping and performance analysis site,
<http://ridewithgps.com/> aimed at cyclists. Currently at 1100 users, 4000
user submitted routes and 1300 uploaded trips. Looking to upset the market
leaders in a very lucrative industry that is void of innovation.

There are three of us, Zack and I are code/business/advertising and Cameron is
graphic design. Works really well so far! We have a complete redesign
launching this weekend, with an aggressive feature map after our re-launch.

------
smmcbride
<http://www.familymatic.com/> is my spare-time startup. It's mostly ready for
launch, now I'm trying to figure out how to market it.

------
vdibart
Founder of <http://www.whizkidsports.com>. Still a work in progress, hopefully
ready by beginning of next baseball season.

------
terpua
Cofounder of <http://isyncd.com> going after sharepoint and box.net.
Previously founding country manager for friendster philippines.

------
amitt
Cofounder of MyMiniLife. Was recently acquired by Zynga:
<http://www.myminilife.com>

------
cstefanovici
Founder of <http://www.blibu.com> I'm the developer, designer... and the rest

~~~
hajrice
Hey, the website is down.

~~~
cstefanovici
I am in touch with Twitter API folks to fix problems. Sometimes it goes down
for a few seconds. We are looking into caching results so that the Search API
is not queried on every page load.

------
azsromej
yes, working on <http://rankforest.com> and another unreleased project

------
alexsolo
Yes, I am a co-founder of <http://www.pagerduty.com>.

------
Tawheed
Yep! Founder at <http://AskMyBrainTrust.com>

------
8plot
Yes, I am the founder of <http://StoryMash.com>

------
mrshoe
I'm a cofounder of <http://shoptalkapp.com>

------
johns
Yep. Founder of <http://rimsystems.com>

------
flooha
I'm the founder of <http://flooha.com>

------
raghus
I started <http://feedfliks.com>

------
YuriNiyazov
Yup, <http://facetoflife.com>

------
s-phi-nl
<http://hnstartups.com/> was started to list the startups of HN users.
However, it does not check that a submitter really is a HN user, so it's
mostly spam now.

------
scottdw2
Yes.

Founder of <http://www.transactor.com>

------
zackham
Co-founder of <http://ridewithgps.com> \- we're launching a huge redesign on
Saturday, but have had a positive response to our features so far.

~~~
cullenking
Second co-founder. There are three of us, Zack and I handle most of the
business, code and community relations, while Cameron handles all the
graphics. Cameron's work has evolved into a complete redesign of our site,
which will finally get us away from the comical blocky layout we currently
have.

------
zarqman
Yes, founder of <http://zerigo.com> \- cloud-infrastructure services.

I'm with several others... founders tend to do a bit of everything. I'm no
exception. :)

------
vivekamn
Co-founder Founder of www.radaptive.com an Asset Management and Ticketing
solution(running in Ebay/paypal/danger-now Microsoft! and ask.com. Role: I
handle all things technical.

------
jalammar
Yes, founder of <http://www.Qaym.com>, a local business review site in Arabic

------
jerome_etienne
i'm the founder of <http://urfastr.net> and another one not yet annonced

------
tici_88
yes, founder of <http://wwww.kartamobile.com>

------
tici_88
yes, founder of <http://www.kartamobile.com>

------
sosuke
What qualifies as a founder? If its a one man startup doesn't that give them
every title? :)

------
rbreve
yes, Im working on blipea.com tubabel.com latino based startups

------
oschnaps
co-founder of www.justthrive.com

