
Kawasaki: How I wasted $12,107 on Truemors - natrius
http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2007/06/04/kawasaki-how-i-wasted-12107-on-truemors/
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maxklein
For a guy earning $20.000 a year, it may be a waste of money, but for someone
at Kawasakis income level, it is a more than acceptable risk. He does not need
to do much, and he has created a very popular site, established his name, and
generated a ton of buzz.

This is a marketing guy, and he pulled off a brilliant marketing coup. Don't
confuse that with starting a mom and pops store.

You guys are soooo thinking within the box. Think laterally, even in business.

~~~
natrius
My problem isn't really with the amount of money he spent or the idea, it's
mainly with his conclusions.

"For not a whole lot of money and time you can get something out there and see
if it works."

This has been true for some time, and anyone with any technical inclination
whatsoever has already figured that out. However, it doesn't mean his other
conclusion is true:

"One thing is for sure: no entrepreneur can tell me that he needs $1 million,
four programmers, and six months to launch this kind of company."

The reason it was _that_ cheap and took _that_ little manpower to build was
because the idea was so simple and fairly derivative. It's basically Digg for
rumors. Hey, it might work and a lot of people might use it, but you won't
find many ideas that can be built off of a Wordpress installation, even though
Pligg would've been a better choice as the linked article states. If your idea
amounts to a list of things that people vote on, then yes, it will take very
little time to build. There just aren't that many groundbreaking concepts that
fit into that mold. I guess it depends what he means by "this kind of
company", although there aren't many definitions that would render his
conclusion valid. The vast majority of ideas will take a couple of months and
a few programmers to put together, although he's right about the $1 million.

~~~
maxklein
Every single idea is derivative. Many successful products are simply about
taking something that exists and then changing its focus or its look.

That's what he did, and he did it for bloody cheap. If you read the breakdown
of his costs, you will see that the actual programming + site + logo just cost
$4500.

Having dealt with code monkeys that need to be micromanaged, I'd much rather
pay $4500 and see a finished product than waste my time micromanaging the
development of such an application.

Is the idea stupid? No. It's a reasonable idea. It's a niche idea that has
some potential if executed right. Did he overpay? No.

The hardest lesson I ever learnt was that it's often times really not worth it
to do things yourself. As a hacker, it's tempting to always do things
yourself, but realise at every single point in your life that it's time that
is your most valuable commodity.

He's not a hacker. If he tried customizing pligg, it would cost him a lot more
time than if he just hired people for $4500.

~~~
natrius
Like I said, I don't have a problem with the idea, but the more derivative
your idea is, the more likely it is that off the shelf solutions can be easily
tweaked to build your product. Truemors is more derivative than most, so using
it as a barometer for how much it takes to launch a startup isn't completely
accurate.

------
pg
I don't think he did this as a serious startup. I think he did it to find out
what the base cost of a web startup is. $12k is pretty cheap for a VC to learn
that.

The only catch is, he may have learned less than he realizes. What he's
learned is what it takes to make a prototype. Most of the work comes after
that.

~~~
create_account
_I think he did it to find out what the base cost of a web startup is._

You're being very charitable.

 _he may have learned less than he realizes. What he's learned is what it
takes to make a prototype. Most of the work comes after that_

Right, and it'll give him the wrong impression going forward.

Imagine being funded by him and having him complain to you that your site cost
more than $12k to build.

That's one VC to avoid in the future.

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staunch
Some startups spend $12k on a fancy conference room table. That's real waste.

Most programmers could have created Truemors for $0 over a weekend. What
options does Guy have if he wants a similar ability?

~~~
neuro
you will be surprised at how obscene wealth or the imitation of it can
influence

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nickb
Pligg does voice to text and also allows SMS submissions?! Well, Truemors can
do both of those things! Some people should really pay close attention to
features of a site instead of jumping to silly conclusions.

Anyway, Truemors is NOT a waste. Guy has learned a lot from it and he will use
the lessons he learned when he decides what and HOW to fund the next idea that
some entrepreneur brings to Garage. He has recalibrated his brain's estimation
tables and will use that knowledge to his advantage. That knowledge is
priceless and I'm grateful that guy has shared it with us. You should be
grateful too and please just ignore the jaded/arrogant/incompetent/jealous
detractors that are trashing Guy in his blog.

To say that he has wasted a lot of money just shows how clueless and
shortsighted some people are. I hope the author of this piece is not looking
for funding or a job...

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leisuresuit
Technically what Guy Kawasaki has is a "web startup"... But it's more like
"web page". Yes, the costs for making a web page are pretty small. It's just a
bulletin board system with voting.

Let's not kid ourselves, if you're a programmer you can make a site like that
in a few weeks in your spare time. Once you incorporate you are a ... web
startup.

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kingnothing
Note to the author of this blog: Your site disables the back button, and I
hate that.

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Raymond_Molinar
Guy's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" books literally changed my life, overnight. He
showed how even the poorest school teacher like myself could get rich with a
little financial know how. With Truemors he's just taking his philosophy to
the next level. I know I'll be along for the ride with him.

~~~
dhouston
you're thinking of robert kiyosaki (also from hawaii, however :P)

(fwiw, i thought rich dad poor dad was fairly interesting -- i'm not going to
hate on it as much as others might -- although it's alleged that some of both
some of his anecdotes and financial success were exaggerated or false. see
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kiyosaki> ; google will turn up other
criticisms.)

