

Ask HN: How to go about getting seed funding? - BornInTheUSSR

I am working a job I like a lot and hacking on my own ideas in my free time.  I kinda fell in love with one of them and now I'm wondering what would be my best course of action:<p>a) continue hacking nights and weekends - slow going with building site, app and infrastructure<p>b) outsource some of the work so work gets done while I'm at work, faster but will get expensive<p>c) try to raise some funds based on current prototypes, leave job to give it a go full-time<p>Any advice from you guys about these options would be great, as well as possibilities I have not considered.  Thanks!
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imjonathanlee
Do you see potential with your new idea? What's more important to you-
financial stability or taking a chance to build something of your own?

If you have to, then a) could work- but I'd worry that your idea might be
taken by the time it takes to build it while juggling a full-time job.

b) is good, but it also costs a lot more time than you might think. I
outsourced for one of my projects and ended up more of a pain in the ass than
having it done myself. The problem is that I have to dig through all the
coding to fix a bug or completely rewrite a section that's coded wrong (your
developers might not understand the exact function or idea you're trying to
achieve) and you have to deal with having to take time out to explain
everything in detail as the project progresses and often times lots of delays
when a developer is no-show for a week.

C) I'd go for this option if you really believe in and love your idea. The
prototype should be able to give you a good idea of whether or not it'll work
and minimize your risk. If it doesn't work out and you can't get funding, it's
still a soft landing and you can continue your work. If it's a big hit, then
you could potentially be pursuing a life goal.

d) You could also sign up a co-founder or someone who's interested to work on
the project with you. This would allow you to not outsource (Saves some
money), have better control on the project and both of you are aiming towards
a similar goal.

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jbhelms
Fundraising can be a full time job in itself. If you are looking for opinions
only, I would suggest option A.

If you can afford to outsource the work with your current capital then you can
do that, but if you are going to fund-raise then you need to be prepared for
it to take up a lot of your time.

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BornInTheUSSR
thanks, would that apply for smaller amounts as well i.e. $30k to spend a
couple months getting a MVP+ made?

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veyron
what about

d) use your own money and go full-time

If you have enough money to outsource the work, you could use that to develop
the product

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BornInTheUSSR
If I keep working, it keeps coming in... If I don't, it doesn't buy me very
much time

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veyron
When you said outsource, I thought you were using saved money to subsidize
development.

How many months expenses do you have saved up? And can you monetize the idea?
(if you don't mind sharing, what is the idea?)

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BornInTheUSSR
I don't have enough saved up, but my income is high enough to outsource
development on a pay-as-you-go basis. The idea is monetizable but not yet. I
will share once I am a little farther along - want to have something to show

