
Developers: Earn Equity for Your Code at SF-Based Late Labs - johns
http://tech.co/late-labs-2012-10
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thiagodotfm
I get daily requests to join some random startup guys in their adventure, for
equity.

They are all horrible and I doubt this model is going to work unless all the
startups there are already profiting.

Having 100% of a business that makes $0, "but have the potential" isn't worth
shit.

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nathantross
This is Nathan from Late Labs. Our goal as a company is to create a community
of high level developers who can work on projects together. We are also
playing around with the idea of using successful existing companies to let
developers work on project together for them. What type of horror stories have
you worked on? I know we all have these, our goal in the long run is to help
make sure developers don't wast their time on projects that aren't stable :)

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codewright
>What type of horror stories have you worked on?

If you're a developer, then you know what sort of ridiculous proposals are
common.

"Build my facebook clone for absolutely zero pay, but I'm feeling gracious so
you get 15%!"

I do, however, like the idea of working on granular bits of startups and
distributing my risk in a way that makes me more likely to have something
take-off than committing to a single startup but not necessarily having any
more control than the 'freelancer' mode.

~~~
nathantross
That's our long-term goal for developers. Think of the projects we'll let
developers work on as creating a diversified portfolio of equity. A developer
can either work on one project and take more of a lead position, or work on
multiple projects over time (from Late Labs and from other startups we partner
with), for a specific equity base. We know how much time and effort building a
site/app takes, so we understand. And I've seen so many "facebook clones"
proposals over time so I know the feeling, where the team tells you that they
potentially have a 1Billion user market. We're going to keep away from that
and focus on smart business and marketing strategy :)

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andrewkkirk
Why do you Late Labs to facilitate developers working on "ideas"?

Developers have too much opportunity to work on the "next great thing" in
exchange for equity.

~~~
nathantross
Hey, I'm Nathan, one of the people working on LateLabs, and I definitely agree
that there are infinite project possibilities for developers to work on. Our
goal at Late Labs instead is to create a unique type of community that will
allow high level developers to work together, and learn from each other.

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nathantross
Do you like the idea of working on a project for equity that's more managed
with other developers? And why? And would you use this as a learning
experience?

