

Calling All Wantrepreneurs - kenjamin
http://blog.ramen.is/business/calling-all-wantrepreneurs/

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jared314
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.[1]

Wantrepreneurs are "wannabe entrepreneurs", in the same sense that wanksters
are "wannabe gangsters". Someone is saying you want to be seen as an
entrepreneur, but have neither the skills, nor the inclination, to actually
build anything. It is an insult. They are calling you a "poser". Entrepreneurs
who have yet to succeed, but are trying, are just new or unsuccessful
entrepreneurs.

If you are trying to redefine the word, to give it a positive context, I can
only wish you luck.

[1]
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/quotes?item=qt0482717](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/quotes?item=qt0482717)

~~~
angilly
Haha :)

I know what you're saying, but what I've seen is that people are unjustly
called this word simply for being inexperienced. They have all the drive and
are willing to do the work, but get derided for being inexperienced. Those
people, who are incorrectly being called a wantrepreneur, are the people we
are talking to in this post.

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atmosx
> Always be learning. Say “I don’t know”, “I don’t understand” and “I need
> help” EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Jesus, I feel like that all the time on HackerNews and StackOverflow... Okay,
I don't cry out _I need help_ , but I get the _I don 't understand_ and _I
need help_ feeling more often than not.

~~~
nielr1
These days "Always be learning" and "Always be googling" seem to be the same
thing :)

~~~
wickedcoolmatt
Yar!

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romanovcode
Wait, so this is startup that seeks money to make website to help other
startups to seek money?

~~~
angilly
The idea is that we help you find your first 100 customers while your building
your MVP. Money changes hands, but not a lot. Don't think of it like
crowdfunding in the traditional sense. It's simply a way for a founder to come
out of a 30 day campaign with ~100 customers a few thousand dollars committed,
and give them a better chance at succeeding.

~~~
Killah911
Please elaborate. How do you do this? I mean, kickstarter's an established
brand. It seems like a good idea but how will you develop the marketplace that
really will be "better"?

BTW, saw the video on your site, the general idea is really awesome. Wishing
you the best of luck!

~~~
angilly
It's going to take a lot of work :) However, contrary to popular belief,
Kickstarter doesn't drive much traffic to projects with their own discovery
features. From their own stats page [1], 72% of backers only back once. What I
take from that stat is that most people are only going to Kickstarter for a
single project that their friend asked them to back.

It may take a year, but we hope to establish a culture where people browse the
Ramen Marketplace. We look at it like being a zeitgeist of what is currently
being built.

In the mean time, what is "better" off the bat is The Kitchen -- the area
where project owners can collaborate with the customers: vote on features, get
comments on mocks, poll on pricing, etc.... This area gets opened up once a
project hits it's goal.

Thanks for the kind words. We're really excited to get this off the ground :)

[1]
[http://www.kickstarter.com/help/stats](http://www.kickstarter.com/help/stats)

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wickedcoolmatt
For anyone who's not familiar with the term: A wantrepreneur is an individual
that desires to be, but is not quite yet, an entrepreneur. It sometimes has a
negative tone that suggests they'll never be an entrepreneur.

~~~
jared314
I disagree with Urban Dictionary[1] on that definition. An entrepreneur who is
trying to succeed, but has not, is just an unsuccessful entrepreneur. The
negative context is what embodies the "wannabe" in "wantrepreneur", like
"gangsta" and "wanksta". It is an insult. The person using the term thinks you
have the desire to be seen as an entrepreneur, but neither the skills, nor the
inclination, to actually build anything.

[1]
[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wantrepreneur](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wantrepreneur)

~~~
angilly
Yeah the definition on UD definitely misses out on the negative connotation
implied.

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chippy
Is this saying "Invest in us instead of doing it yourself, as it's easier, and
if you were going to do it yourself you would have done it by now"?

~~~
angilly
No that's not what we're thinking. We're not just giving software startups a
place to raise capital. That's just the first bit. Once you hit your goal,
we're building a whole bunch of tools to help you collaborate with your early
customers.

Anyone that's built a startup has done that initial back and forth with the
first customers. It's done with surveys and one-off emails and shared google
docs. It's a mess.

We've looked at these processes, and we're building these features into Ramen
(in "The Kitchen") that help founders collaborate with their early customers
while the MVP is being built. That's the value we're creating.

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annafsawyer
Is the difference between a 'good' wantrepreneur and a 'bad' wantrepreneur
really just effort? Or resources? Team structure?

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jbaylin
by no way is this an endorsement of noah kagan (appsumo) - but i've always
loved his stuff...

this video is great -- "Are YOU a Wantrepreneur?"

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LZU8oa2RqQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LZU8oa2RqQ)

------
angilly
Hey everyone, one of the Ramen founders here. Would love to answer any
questions you have!

