

Ask HN:  The Four Hour Work Week model of Startup Financing? - iamelgringo

Problem:
I'm bootstrapping, but I'm frustrated by having to work so many hours to keep money coming in. I don't want to pursue or take funding.<p>Possible Solution:
I just read the * Four Hour Work Week.  I'm thinking about doing the Four Hour Work Week thing to solve the cash flow problem, and use that money to finance my startup.<p>Question:
I'm sure that a number of people here have read the book and have tried the method.  What are your thoughts, problems, caveats?<p>---------<p>* The Four Hour Work Week: http://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Workweek-Escape-Live-Anywhere/dp/0307353133/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&#38;s=books&#38;qid=1226614224&#38;sr=8-1
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trickjarrett
FHWW is a very fun and interesting read. I'm beginning to make better use of
virtual assistants myself.

The problems I foresee are as follows: 1) Your time won't be immediately and
drastically dropped. If you're spending 70 hours a week developing, you're
going to go down to 50 supervising the outsourced developers, and for that
you're going to probably spend more than the 20 hours of free time is
available to you.

2) Outsourced code is not perfect. The outsourcing companies work largely on
quantity not quality. So you're be spending a lot of time doing code review
and fixing issues.

3) Unless you're already profitable, you're now spending money rather than
sweat to earn the money. If you have the money then this is not a problem, but
for many bootstrappers this is a problem.

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dawie
What company do you use for hiring virtual assistants?

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trickjarrett
I use one through my current employer, it's provided by PayChex due to our
premium account with them. I looked at Ferris' recommended YMII (Your Man In
India) and I did some research to hire one but the work I have doesn't warrant
paying for one yet.

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dawie
I recently finished reading the 4 Hour Work and I have been thinking about how
it would work for a web startup. The problem with a web based product is that
it's hard to outsource.

You talk about working many hours to keep money coming in. It depends on what
you do. If you are a consultant, you are selling your time and that is hard to
outsource too.

Doing the 4 Hour Work Week thing and using the money for your startup is a
great idea. I hope it works out for you.

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ram1024
sounds to me like success of a four hour work week relies on writing a book
called "four hour work week" and getting people to buy it...

but seriously, anything truly profitable that can be handled in 4 hours a week
is already being done by people.

unless you find something truly paradigm shifting innovative that only you
could do, it's pretty much a guarantee that you won't be able to sustain this.

you simply can't compete in 4 hours against people putting in 40 if you're
selling the same product. you have to have huge amounts of leverage to do so,
in the form of irreproducible technologies, processes, personnel, design...

~~~
dawie
Read the book. It's not as straight forward as you think, and it's actually a
great read. It will make you a more all rounded, confident person.

The point is not to outsell anyone, but judge how much you can make by putting
in X hours and then deciding what you are happy with. IE It's better to do B2B
and a 3 clients than to sell to 1000 actual customers with lots of questions
etc, that takes up all your time.

