
Ways to bootstrap a startup: on the side - joelg87
http://joel.is/post/2890790294/bootstrapping-on-the-side
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jswinghammer
The biggest down side to this approach is potential IP hassles if your
employer decides they want what you've been working on. It's always a good
idea to look over your employment agreement carefully before heading down this
path. Better yet tell them what you're thinking ahead of time just to cover
yourself.

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rst
Better yet, tell them what you're working on, and _get a signed statement that
they're cool with it_. Informal agreements may not survive a change in
management.

(It may be less important to take care of these details in California, where,
as I understand it, state law generally keeps employers from claiming rights
to what their employees do on their own time, with their own equipment. But
the devil's in the details, and it's probably best to talk to a lawyer about
the limits of those provisions before taking anything for granted. And most
other states are far less friendly to employees than California...)

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rwhitman
There's a really good comment on there I'd like to quote:

"I'd only add that, from my own experience, it is more fruitful to avoid
emulating the larger team mentalities when you're a single soul company.
Specifically, don't aim for MVP, where your first version is this pale shade
of your bigger plan. Instead, aim for MVB, or 'Minimum Viable Business'. Make
that first version the whole enchilada. It forces you to think about small
products that can be profitable on their own without additional effort, rather
than always waiting for the next sign post. When you build up several
profitable but small businesses, then you can choose which of those to evolve
into a more ambitious version of itself. "

This is probably the biggest lesson I learned as well when I was trying to
build a startup product on the side of freelancing for a living. When you are
solo its infinitely more useful to build up a functional business with
cashflow than work on something where you need to scale up to hit milestones
before you make money.

When you need cash to pay your bills, it is very difficult to prioritize
putting new effort into something that won't make money in the short term...

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manoloe
i also think it's a good idea to get a 'bootstrap startup' partner on the side
that can help keep your project moving forward when you get stuck with real
work (and can't get back to startup for a while), smooth out the burnout
risks, and help overall momentum and morale when things get tough.

ideally, it would be someone that shares your 'ramen profitability' and
complements your skill set.

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stefanobernardi
A lot of true stuff in there, but I don't see a single "way" to bootstrap your
startup. A "why bootstrap" title would have been a bit better, this one is
pretty misleading for me.

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joelg87
Hmm, I guess that is a little misleading. What I meant was to bootstrap by
working "on the side" instead of "working in waves" (long stretch of full-time
work to build up funds and then a long stretch of full-time on startup).
That's the "way" I was talking about in this article, by contrast to my
previous article on "working in waves" -
<http://joel.is/post/2106915988/bootstrapping-waves>

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fedd
i'm working at work, coding side project at some nights, read some hackernews,
techcrunch AND have one wife and two small kids. imagine how focused i am and
on what! )))

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danmux
My family is taking the brunt of the impact of my project. My 3 kids are a bit
older, youngest is 8. My wife is doing virtually all the parenting and
household management. My weekends and evenings are written off to coding, but
the biggest sacrifice if from my wife and kids.

When you have a family don't underestimate the impact that running a startup
has on them.

I only hope this turns out not to be a false economy.

~~~
fedd
thanks... sure i can't code in every evening, or i go blind or mad.. or
single, all of which are not the options

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otaku_coder
I'm currently in the same boat, working fulltime for a UK
accelerator/incubator project, and then working on SlideReach
(<http://slidereach.com>) in my evenings and weekends. The big challenge I'm
facing is of choosing what to work on in my limited time, but thats where
getting feedback early and often should help.

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danmux
Joel.

Spot on, I commented on some of the problems I'm facing on quora....e.g. "You
also have your day job keeping an eye on your proceedings, and if its a good
place to work you will inevitably get sucked into putting some extra effort in
towards the end of projects, detracting from your startup."

~~~
joelg87
That's a very good point. I guess if possible it is best to try and make your
"day job" contract or freelance work with more flexibility than employment.
That way you can to some extent dictate how you work, i.e. you can make it
fairly clear that you only work 9-5 and that work outside that would be
charged for.

I have two great clients at the moment who I am doing contract web development
work for and since they're also both startups it works quite well and I can
contribute a lot in terms of startup experience as well as just development,
and I think that is valued. I'm always aiming to do my best for them and help
them move forward as fast as possible, but there is definitely a clear
distinction between that work and my startup.

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krisrak
Great post, I'm trying to do the same, Its a really hard to make decision to
quit day job and work on startup, especially if you are working in a good
company and benefits, working on the side until the startup is
profitable/raise money is the way to go.

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LeonW
great post. "Constraints make you focus." I couldn't agree more. Since I am
going through a similar thing there was no time before when I thought my work
was so efficient when working on this startup.

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pipeline_tux
I do this and the biggest issue I've had so far is trying to talk with people
from the businesses in my target market, who only work from 9 until 5.

