

Ask HN: Would you bet on the survival of my company? - zerostartup

My company is like a row boat, a four man crew, trying to get to deeper waters. Except we are two miles from land and we can catch at most one or two fishes at a time. The crew is exhausted after fighting a rough sea and doesn't really know where they are or were to go.<p>We have Roger, a super sailor. He sails with us but actually he's on another boat, a faster boat. It's safest that way, well... it's complicated, but he's with us sometimes, so that's good.<p>Then there's François, a math genius. François took a spear to the knee while catching a whale. He never got over it. He's still a very capable sailor though, he just gets his kicks inland.<p>Jack is a quiet sailor. Jack can command every crew member by the sound of their feet on the deck, the job needs to be done, Jack ensures that it does, even if he has to do it himself. Together Jack and I are the muscle of our boat.<p>Roger, François and Jack used to work in bigger boats, it was easier back then, they didn't get to worry about where the fish was.<p>Leaving the analogy behind, we can't scale sales! The truth is, we never REALLY tried! There is almost no information about the company and there is no willingness to keep track of prospects and contact new ones. We are all developers and no one does sales with passion and belief, no one puts themselves out there.<p>Our team is soon to be split in half, doing work through a clients client, where we obviously won't get credit (or we could potentially steal the client) besides a slightly above average salary (not enough to run a company). These two members are required to be in the clients office for a period equivalent to the one of our own existence. During that period the boat is supposed to be managed by one person with the help of Roger. No growth prospects.<p>In an effort to burst our bubble I wrote this, what do you think is going to happen to my company?
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orangethirty
There is _no_ company right now. Just a group of developers writing code with
no purpose. You have already failed at building a business.

Shoot me an email if you are interested on getting out of the hole you dug
yourself into.

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eduardordm
I got interested in that email, could I also get it?

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relaunched
You aren't doomed, but you have to act. Scurvy is bound to overtake the crew
and now is the time to act...and dropping the boat metaphor.

It's about finding a way to ring the bell. There are no shortage of business
folks seeking talented dev teams and with a little networking I'm sure you can
find someone worth taking a shot at selling the product and making it a
business. The question is would a sale reinvigorate the team. If yes, reach
out and let's chat. Lord knows I've gotten some great advice over the years
and would love the opportunity to pay it forward.

Email is in my profile.

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mikecane
>>>The truth is, we never REALLY tried!

Do you know that you can hire commission-only salespeople? They don't make
money until they've _sold_ something?

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zerostartup
Whenever I meet someone with the right connections/profile I propose this, had
no luck thus far. Hell depending the amount of work he could get us, I
wouldn't even oppose to pay him a safe net!

~~~
mikecane
There are lots of unemployed people out there. You are probably thinking
someone has to have intricate knowledge upfront. No. He has to be able to
sell. He can learn the intricacies later.

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gamblor956
You need to hire a sales person to take care of sales/marketing for the rest
of you.

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jkaykin
Where are you located?

