

Ask YC: Bootstrapping to the Nth degree - How far is too far? - t0pj

I am designing my first web application for the masses at home during nights and weekends.  My day job consists of programming and database design so I do have some coding experience.<p>I am trying to get this one idea to become a reality as cheaply as possible.<p>I have already purchased a domain address and have it pointed at my single-user DSL line at home.  Doing this voilates my "user agreement" with my carrier but I figure that I can upgrade to a business line if I can drive enough/any people to my site.<p>I have my own doubts and would like to know what everyone else thinks about this.<p>Am I not going far enough to get my product established?  Should I be leasing a slice of equipment at a co-lo?  Is there a minimum amount of money needed to have a fair go at creating a successful, revenue generating web app?<p>I know that I should definitely have confidence in my vision, but I do not want to throw excessive cash at something that possibly could not have a chance of bringing money back.<p>I figure I can take more than one shot at a successful outcome if I can keep my costs as low as possible for the execution of any one idea.<p>The big questions:  When bootstrapping, is there a minimum investment beyond which is just crazy?  How far is too far?
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symptic
My partner and I created <http://www.friendfury.com> back when Myspace was
growing popular in 2 days, placed it on some $10/mo shared hosting, and
generated $680 within the first 8 hours.

You don't need the best equipment; just enough to make sure you stay up
through any traffic spikes (we had to upgrade within 30min of going online).

I like to think bootstrapping is the most powerful tool a startup can utilize,
if you consider it a tool at all. It keeps you sharp and always looking for
new and innovative ways to get objectives completed. For us, it paid off
extremely well for a couple 18 and 19 year olds looking for a few bucks here
and there.

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tjr
Upper limit on your own investment should be set by you. Some sort of function
of how much money you can spare to part with and how much confidence you have
that your project will generate a financial return.

I use a virtual private server, atop which I have tried offering a variety of
web services. The cost is pretty cheap. It seems a decent way to experiment
while keeping my dayjob... I built up a library of functions to use, and can
often whip out a version one in a few weeks of part-time work. If my prototype
seems to be a waste of time, and/or I can't convince enough people it's a good
idea, I either move on to something else or try it again.

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nostrademons
Hosting at home over your DSL is kinda crazy. You lose far more in maintenance
and uptime headaches than you win in price.

You can get a shared webhost for under $10/month, and it's good enough for
probably 95% of possible consumer webapps. If it's not good enough, you can
get a VPS or cheap dedicated server for $80/month or so. If you've got a day
job, that should easily be affordable.

A colo definitely isn't necessary at this point, and is probably more of a
maintenance headache than you need.

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pchristensen
If you use a common language (PHP, Perl, possibly Ruby on Rails), you can get
a crappy shared host for cheap (I have 1 yr of TextDrive for $100). This will
let you host a web app (or several) and let you put a toe in the water. If one
of the apps gets some traction, it's easy to move to beefier hardware later.

That's all you need from a money perspective. After that all you need to do is
invest lots of _time_ and _programming effort_. No price tag but a significant
cost :)

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ericb
I've boot-strapped projects while doing full time jobs. I have trouble
imagining not being willing to put a few bucks into it. If you need to
mentally justify it, think of it as the "risky" part of your investment
strategy.

A virtual server can be a good starting point. I recommend rimuhosting. You
can get something at the low end of workable for around 30 bucks a month,
there. Shared hosting can be passable, it depends what framework you're using.
Capacity is a problem to solve as-you-go, though. Legality aside, is your
current problem hosting-related? If it's not, I say focus on building
something users love.

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javierodom
Greetings.

Maybe find four or five other people/businesses who need a website hosted, and
have them pay you for hosting. You can then get your hosting for free, by
becoming some type of hosting reseller or maybe even renting a 1U server
somewhere. If you find a reseller package, you would have less maintenance to
worry about, most likely.

To answer your question, is there a minimum investment beyond which is just
crazy? Well, that is probably too case-by-case to find a definitive answer.
How far is too far? You'll know once you cross that line, i would hope.

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xirium
> I do not want to throw excessive cash at something that possibly could not
> have a chance of bringing money back.

You may need to invest significantly more than that. You may need to throw
your career at the project.

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rms
You can host on port 80 on your home DSL?

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t0pj
Yes, but it isn't pretty.

A static IP is, of course, preferred to using a dynamic address. On the name
servers, you repoint your web address to your home IP.

The DSL "modem" is plugged into my router which I have allowed outside access
to port 80 only to a specific IP on my home network.

Unrelated?: As a hobby, I also like designing my own http server software for
specific purposes. :)

