master54

ok. i'll be watching out for you. don't disappoint me :)

What's Xobni all about? Using Bayesian inference to categorize the importance of emails?

How many of you have a comprehensive time-phased marketing plan for your startup that goes beyond getting on digg, techcrunch and delicious?

precisely. some people just don't get it

I only have 2 words to say "mein kampf"

What if the 2 startups are complementary?

Like say, you are doing a dating site and a social networking site, which was the case for Intermix Media, parent of Myspace

how was it? Do you regret it?

hehe. I knew that.

By the way, how do you downmod?

This dude is far smarter than I expect. I am fairly certain Facebook will overtake Yahoo as the premier go-to site within 5 years. I'm deeply humbled.

Side note: My karma is 21, baby =)

I'm not referring to those blatant buy-a-mailing-list-and-spam kinda process. I'm talking about the more subtle invitation "spam" executed by the likes of plaxo, hi5 etc.

better than a yale kid

Given how users got banners-blind after some years of conditioning, how long would it take for them to become Adwords-blind, especially with 99.999999999999999999999% of websites forcing these ads on them via Adsense?

Startupping came about first. So why didn't you hang out at their forums there instead of here?

The first version of Trulia was bad. Jackass bad. It's like those crappy Google Maps mashup site built by a kid overnight. When Zillow came out, I thought they had won the real estate web sector. That's it. Then suddenly, out of nowhere came a revamped Trulia with a better site than the first version and most importantly, MORE HOUSE SALE LISTINGS than Zillow. What's a real estate site without real estate sale listings?

davidw is right.

p(success | more than 1 founder) is higher than p(success | only 1 founder)

Did you have to pitch your startup to them? How many tries did it take before Techcrunch feature you?

i don't see how that would help you get buzz. maybe a sneeze but definitely no buzz

It seems that the ones getting the most buzz are those who are the best connected, even if your product is better than theirs. In this case, what is the best way to strike back?

(assuming trying to network yourself into his level is futile)

You need at least 2 founders to build a successful startup. Don't try to deceive yourself into believing one person is all it takes. Once your startup get traction, you'll get burnt out if you are doing it all alone

er. is twitter popular? No one except the techcrunchers are using it. None of my friends are using it

hi5 is inherently viral too. heck, i receive lots of invites through this

no way man! they'll do an amazon !!!!

I remember at one point of time they were smaller than bebo, hi5 etc. Suddenly, they obliterate these people

Oh. He'll be paying for the equity. So assuming i value my company at 100k now, he'll pay 40k for 40% equity now.

Ok. This is what i have in mind. Do comment. The min. he will get is 10% and the max is 40%. Starting from 10%, he get an additional 1% for every $1m increase in company valuation during the funding.

So if the valuation is 30m or more, he get 10% + 30% = 40% If valuation is 20m, he get 10% + 20% = 30%

Fair?

I was thinking of 60-40 or 70-30

I created a 7 months old startup that is growing well. Not fantastic but ok. Now i'm looking for someone to be the CEO.

He wants 50% equity, if he could get VC funding based on a high company valuation, say USD 20 million (which i think is really high for my startup). If he can't reach the target, then he'll settle for less.

Is this fair? I put in the hard work for this past 7 month. All the idea is mine. now he wants to be on the same level as me, just because he can get funding based on high valuation.

If not, how much do you think he should get. Considering that he's being hired in an important position - CEO.

How much did Pierre Omidyar give Jeff Skoll?

yeah. how can you give the coder stock options? if you don't tie him down somewhat with options/equity, there is the danger that he might run away with your company's intellectual property

Like say you like this coder from UK and you're based in US. You allow working remotely, so him being in UK is not a problem.

But what about the legal side? The tax you have to pay for this foreign worker? etc.

This realization comes from insights of our startup and our competitors. Collectively, it is pittance.