
Startup Lessons Learned -- Take it with a grain of salt - demandred
http://warholandy.tumblr.com/post/48157830/startup-lessons-learned
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qwertyking
hahaha. this is great- I tried to post my own experience with this start-up
(and in my opinion, citing the _REAL_ problems) and was told to take the post
down (later, with legal text) and now I see this post, trying to parody the
one I wrote with things like 5. and 8. - shame. I might want to add though,
that the author does not have the technical expertise to figure out who wrote
how much code along with other (many) misrepresentations- otherwise, 8, while
very sound and correct advice, might differ in terminology and he might have a
better idea fitting his take into existing context written by PG and others.

Nonetheless, most of the advice is realistic and useful in the sense that the
points raised are practical and might help structure your startup.

~~~
maxklein
So was it like a big fight with drama and crying and all? Did someone get
voted out? Please do tell your side of the story! I love drama!

~~~
qwertyking
I wish I could but unfortunately- the author is very agile with his various BS
NDA, Non-compete and what-the-hell-not forms. I'd rather move on to things in
my life that don't waste 5 months of my time. Anyway, I just couldn't hold
myself back from saying something when seeing the "leader" go on and publish
his thoughts while suppressing mine and then misrepresenting a _few_ things.

I'd rather end it here by saying I don't want to be a part of this new blame
game and that the advice given is very sound and realistic. Tragically, the
author has tried to apply his zero-technical background to very technical
practices when trying to blow out his thoughts into relevant context provided
by others. In the process, he has decided to dish out 50% of the problems,
misrepresenting a _few_ and then suppressing the other _REAL_ 50% through NDA
forms.

Lastly, so that it is clear- the author and his company paid 0 dollars for the
patent- It all came out of my pocket and was the result of years of work.

In my opinion it is wise to file a provisional patent for an idea _you_ think
is worth it in all its uniqueness and by all measures, I (think I) did not
commit a crime by _trying_ to secure my invention/s.

Choose the people who you work for very, very carefully. Things like this (and
probably worse) happen later.

Adios.

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thwarted
"Our biggest mistake in our startup was scrapping a prototype that was built
in a certain framework for first PHP and then eventually Python/Django. ...
This applies not just to the programming language or framework, but to
hardware and software applications — keep costs low, use what you already
know, and move on"

This is one that requires a large grain of salt. Switching technology may very
well be compatible with "use what you already know" and "keep costs low". You
can't switch key players in the middle and expect consistency in either
quality or cost, which a lot of people think is possible. "You can’t afford to
have a religion" works both ways: you can't have a religion based on what you
perceive to the value of what you've already done either. I've come into a few
projects after a not insignificant money was spent on "cheap" freelancers and
contractors to "get the prototype up". Now all I'm supposed to do is add a few
more features and polish it to take it to the next level or deploy it. This is
often an impossible task, or one that will take longer or cost more than a
rewrite because it merely does the prototypical features and wasn't built for
expansion or even deployment. But people fear the "rewrite" because it sounds
like you're starting over. Get the right people in early, use #8 when
necessary, and #6, #7 will come easier (at least in terms of the technology).

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maxklein
I think the hard lesson I am learning is that you really can't afford to spend
time arguing with co-founders about what should be included and what should
not.

I think that every 2 person team has to designate one person as leader, and
the other as adviser. Otherwise there are too many bruised egos and too much
compromise.

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fallentimes
Post was pretty good, but this link within the post was even better:
<http://venturehacks.com/articles/speed>

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axod
Can really relate to #9 "Highs and Lows — Never give up".

One day I think "haha this is going to be _BIG_ ". Then the next day I think
to myself it's an idiotic idea that will never make any money and is using too
much traffic and I ought to just close it now before it uses more. Trying to
average those feelings out over the days is quite hard - especially if you're
a single founder.

I guess if you have co-founders, each founders highs and lows rarely coincide,
so you're able to pick each other up.

