Ways to bootstrap a startup: on the side

http://joel.is/post/2890790294/bootstrapping-on-the-side

by joelg87 • 16 years ago

40 16 16 years ago

LeonW• 16 years ago

great post. "Constraints make you focus." I couldn't agree more. Since I am going through a similar thing there was no time before when I thought my work was so efficient when working on this startup.

jswinghammer• 16 years ago

The biggest down side to this approach is potential IP hassles if your employer decides they want what you've been working on. It's always a good idea to look over your employment agreement carefully before heading down this path. Better yet tell them what you're thinking ahead of time just to cover yourself.

joelg873• 16 years ago

Yes, that's a good point worth mentioning. I guess it's important to be very careful what you sign. I've known other people stuck in work with crazy employment agreements, I really don't understand it. Luckily I'm working on contract and I have multiple clients so I have a little more flexibility.

rst• 16 years ago

Better yet, tell them what you're working on, and get a signed statement that they're cool with it. Informal agreements may not survive a change in management.

(It may be less important to take care of these details in California, where, as I understand it, state law generally keeps employers from claiming rights to what their employees do on their own time, with their own equipment. But the devil's in the details, and it's probably best to talk to a lawyer about the limits of those provisions before taking anything for granted. And most other states are far less friendly to employees than California...)

danmux2• 16 years ago

Joel.

Spot on, I commented on some of the problems I'm facing on quora....e.g. "You also have your day job keeping an eye on your proceedings, and if its a good place to work you will inevitably get sucked into putting some extra effort in towards the end of projects, detracting from your startup."

joelg873• 16 years ago

That's a very good point. I guess if possible it is best to try and make your "day job" contract or freelance work with more flexibility than employment. That way you can to some extent dictate how you work, i.e. you can make it fairly clear that you only work 9-5 and that work outside that would be charged for.

I have two great clients at the moment who I am doing contract web development work for and since they're also both startups it works quite well and I can contribute a lot in terms of startup experience as well as just development, and I think that is valued. I'm always aiming to do my best for them and help them move forward as fast as possible, but there is definitely a clear distinction between that work and my startup.

otaku_coder• 16 years ago

I'm currently in the same boat, working fulltime for a UK accelerator/incubator project, and then working on SlideReach (http://slidereach.com) in my evenings and weekends. The big challenge I'm facing is of choosing what to work on in my limited time, but thats where getting feedback early and often should help.

manoloe• 16 years ago

i also think it's a good idea to get a 'bootstrap startup' partner on the side that can help keep your project moving forward when you get stuck with real work (and can't get back to startup for a while), smooth out the burnout risks, and help overall momentum and morale when things get tough.

ideally, it would be someone that shares your 'ramen profitability' and complements your skill set.

fedd2• 16 years ago

i'm working at work, coding side project at some nights, read some hackernews, techcrunch AND have one wife and two small kids. imagine how focused i am and on what! )))

danmux2• 16 years ago

My family is taking the brunt of the impact of my project. My 3 kids are a bit older, youngest is 8. My wife is doing virtually all the parenting and household management. My weekends and evenings are written off to coding, but the biggest sacrifice if from my wife and kids.

When you have a family don't underestimate the impact that running a startup has on them.

I only hope this turns out not to be a false economy.

fedd2• 16 years ago

thanks... sure i can't code in every evening, or i go blind or mad.. or single, all of which are not the options

stefanobernardi• 16 years ago

A lot of true stuff in there, but I don't see a single "way" to bootstrap your startup. A "why bootstrap" title would have been a bit better, this one is pretty misleading for me.

joelg873• 16 years ago

Hmm, I guess that is a little misleading. What I meant was to bootstrap by working "on the side" instead of "working in waves" (long stretch of full-time work to build up funds and then a long stretch of full-time on startup). That's the "way" I was talking about in this article, by contrast to my previous article on "working in waves" - http://joel.is/post/2106915988/bootstrapping-waves

rwhitman• 16 years ago

There's a really good comment on there I'd like to quote:

"I'd only add that, from my own experience, it is more fruitful to avoid emulating the larger team mentalities when you're a single soul company. Specifically, don't aim for MVP, where your first version is this pale shade of your bigger plan. Instead, aim for MVB, or 'Minimum Viable Business'. Make that first version the whole enchilada. It forces you to think about small products that can be profitable on their own without additional effort, rather than always waiting for the next sign post. When you build up several profitable but small businesses, then you can choose which of those to evolve into a more ambitious version of itself. "

This is probably the biggest lesson I learned as well when I was trying to build a startup product on the side of freelancing for a living. When you are solo its infinitely more useful to build up a functional business with cashflow than work on something where you need to scale up to hit milestones before you make money.

When you need cash to pay your bills, it is very difficult to prioritize putting new effort into something that won't make money in the short term...

pipeline_tux• 16 years ago

I do this and the biggest issue I've had so far is trying to talk with people from the businesses in my target market, who only work from 9 until 5.

krisrak• 16 years ago

Great post, I'm trying to do the same, Its a really hard to make decision to quit day job and work on startup, especially if you are working in a good company and benefits, working on the side until the startup is profitable/raise money is the way to go.

Ways to bootstrap a startup: on the side

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