

Ask HN: Can I help you be more awesome today? (No strings.) - mikegreenberg

Hello all!<p>Every once in a while, I like to offer my time to help other passionate people be a little more successful with their goals (and see any awesomeness they've crafted). If there's anything I can help you with, just ask here. No strings whatsoever. I've done this before a few times now, and it's worked out well for everyone. Check out some of the previous "No strings" sessions I've done to get an idea of how I can help. (http://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=mikegreenberg)<p>Please be specific about what you're trying to fix/solve/accomplish. The more details you provide, the better I can help you out. I'll typically reciprocate the amount of effort/consideration that you've shown in your request. I'll accept any requests made before the end of today and will attempt to respond by the end of the weekend.<p>Cheers!
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teem
Hello Mike, I need advice on how to move my idea forward. This idea has been
keeping me up at night constantly. Obviously, I lack the technical skills
needed to personally build my idea. Even though I am proud of creating a
Firework's click-through prototype! I am currently learning to code with
Codeyear, but it's safe to assume that it would take a long time for me reach
a level where I can build it myself. I have personal money (50k) that I am
willing to invest to start the build. Don't want to burn through those funds
by hiring the wrong freelancers or company. Not to mention, I lack the
technical savvy and experience to find a quality person or company to hire. It
is better to pay to have it built, try to learn to code, or hope that I can
find a technical co-founder?

Thanks for any advice!

~~~
mikegreenberg
I have personally been asked by a few people with the same exact problem. I've
even helped one or two of them vet some potential developers they wanted to
hire.

Whether or not you hire someone, you should definitely learn to code. The more
you make yourself aware of the important issues developers need to worry
about, the smarter you can be with your decisions and cash. Happy you're
pursuing it!

Should you hire someone or learn to do it yourself? That depends on a few
things: Are you planning on making money on this idea? Does your interest in
pursuing the idea depend on the success of the idea? Do you have a limited
window of time to execute on your idea for it to be successful? If there's no
urgency to run to market, then I recommend doing it yourself. There's nothing
more satisfying.

If you ARE interested in hustling with this idea, then you need to start
sourcing your network for help. Do you personally know any developers? Do they
want to help you develop a prototype? Do they know anyone who might? Do you
know any computer science/engineering students who might want extra experience
this summer? Do you know anyone who works in a Computer Science program or
college that could help you source interns? Get involved in your local tech
community. Go to meetups and find people who are active and involved. Ask them
if they know anyone they could introduce you to. Ask people if you can help
them with anything they're working on. (Be sincere!)

I wouldn't focus on trying to find a technical co-founder at this point. This
can be something that sits at the back of your mind while you're looking for
help, but going around asking for a co-founder is like asking the girl to
marry you too soon. It would be a shame to pass on good help because they
weren't "founder" material. When talking to people who might help you, ask for
small portions of help. People are willing to help a little here and there
without thinking twice. If they like interacting with you, you'll definitely
feel comfortable asking for more assistance (and it's likely they'll offer
without you having to ask).

Show the people you're talking to that you've invested a lot of time on this
already. That this isn't just some idea you've been toying with the past few
days. Let them look over your mockups. Talk to them about the vision for your
idea. Try to validate some assumptions about the problem you think the idea is
solving.

Scatterbrained delivery, but the principles have worked for the people I know
facing the same issue. Let me know if I can elaborate on anything.

~~~
teem
Thanks for the help! You have added much need perspective.

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blacktar
Hi Mike, if you have the time and access to an iPhone, I'd love to know what
you think of our new app called "Gauss - The People Magnet" on the AppStore
and give us your advice on what you think we should change or improve in the
next iteration. As we're a bootstrapped startup, we have to focus our time and
resources and can't do every thing we'd like at once. Your opinion and advice
would be very valuable to us! Thanks! Best Regards, Vidar

~~~
mikegreenberg
Hey Vidar. I'm afraid I don't own an iPhone. I have a few friends who have one
though. If I can persuade one to let me install your app, I'll report back
with my feedback. I'll even share theirs, if any. :)

~~~
blacktar
Awesome! Much appreciated! The more feedback, the better! :) Thanks!

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fezzl
Can you tell me how many hours, minutes, and seconds there are left in the
timer on this page? Can you also tell me your timezone? Thanks!

<http://test.fezzl.com/deal/1270066/?preview=yes>

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tstegart
I don't need any help today, I just wanted to say you're awesome for offering
your help.

~~~
mikegreenberg
Happy to. Thx!

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youngdev
Mike,

Can you please provide feedback on our idea: www.diglig.com. Also do you think
we can get better traction by releasing a mobile app vs. WebApp?

Thanks in advance.

~~~
mikegreenberg
Someone (you?) asked me about this 6 months ago. You haven't made any evident
progress from the first time I saw it and my original advice still holds. (Re:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3005256>)

Whether you should launch with a mobile app or a web app does not seem to be
your problem. Just release something and see if someone uses it. Stop killing
your idea with analysis paralysis. If you want to reuse as much of your effort
across a web and mobile implementation, create a agnostic API that abstracts
your main logic. Then you can build a view for whichever implementation
without rewriting much else.

~~~
youngdev
Must be my partner. Things slowed down a bit after one guy had a baby and
other one had to move. Anyways, I'll check your link for feedback. Thanks.

