Ask HN: Lessons For A Service-Based Startup

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1636199

by tommizzle • 16 years ago

4 5 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

As per title. Go.

spencerfry• 16 years ago

Focus on making a really great product. Everything else will follow.

tommizzle2• 16 years ago

I'd say choose your clients wisely - avoid timewasters, and clients which aren't likely to scale.

tptacek2• 16 years ago

What does "Service-based startup" mean? As I was taught to think about it, Reddit is technically a service. My company, Matasano, is a services firm (we consult on software security) and we sell a product. Plenty of companies in my space offer coin-op professional services; log in, push a button, and something will do a network security test for you.

Which kind of "service" do you mean?

tommizzle2• 16 years ago

I'd meant client based, $P/H work. Design, development, consultancy etc.

tptacek2• 16 years ago

Even I wouldn't call companies like that a "startup". There's a VC-backed shoot-the-moon vanity startup bias on HN, for sure, and it manifests itself in arguments about what the word "startup" means --- but nobody I know calls consultancies startups.

You should hit searchyc.com and look up submissions containing the word "Freelance"; they tend to have the best info about consulting.

Ask HN: Lessons For A Service-Based Startup

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