I really like this article, particularly the part about the gravitational threshold. My overall thoughts about launching products is that there will just be more products with smaller audiences, similar to how streaming broke down linear cable. As a software entrepreneur, this means going wider not deeper. Use your human skills to build relationships with people who have that gravitational pull. If you don’t have those relationships, go create them IRL. For context, I’ve founded and sold a social network to AOL, helped raise over $100m, and had 2 other acquisitions.
I totally agree with you. I am working on a new platform right now for a niche industry. Maybe theres $10m ARR to make total in the industry. Last year, it wouldn’t be worth the effort to raise, hire a PM, a few devs, QA, etc. But for a solo dev like myself with AI, it definitely is worth it now.
I'm a longtime tech lead-level engineer, but I'd rather retire from the industry and work towards this instead! Please share this url with anyone you know who is interested in the combination of physics and ethics, and please let me know your thoughts, both positive and negative. Thanks!
I company a cofounded went bankrupt last winter, and then my first child was born a few months later. I was depressed about the bankruptcy, but it was nice to be able to focus on being a parent.
I was the founding CTO here, and will probably walk away with $0. You can AMA, in the hope that I can help someone else avoid this fate in their future.
Sorry for the outcome. Knowing how much parents prefer known name brands for all things babies/kids, what was your theory for the product working and gaining market share? I could imagine a completely new product being avoided similarly to a generic.
I agree with the vibe of this article. The difference between today versus historical periods of high interest rates is that today there are multiple mature billion/trillion-dollar tech companies, and also a huge population of entrepreneurs who have either tried your idea already, or are in a better position to execute your idea than you.
I’ve been both a cofounder and early stage employee. I think it’s definitely appropriate to ask, but also fine for the company to deny. The cap table can contain some red flags: founders with A class shares and no vesting schedule, for example.
Just to check if I follow - is this a red flag because these founders are then not properly incentivized, because their ownership is a sure thing? (Although I guess you could then still argue that the incentive is growing the value of their share.)
It’s a red flag because they could sell their shares and exit way too early. In my experience, said founders basically cashed out at the A round, while everyone else was left to try and grow the company with little to no leadership.
The usual advice is put your money in an index fund that tracks the stock market, not one with a fund manager who makes decisions.
Vanguard are good because the Vanguard company itself is owned by the funds it manages (which are owned by the customers), not by other people who take a percentage of the profits away.
Sounds like me! I'm moving back to CA after ~2 years in Dallas. I didn't hate Dallas, but my fiancee does. But yeah the weather is awful: 115 degree summers, below-freezing winters.
Here in SoCal the other year we were almost hitting 118 in August (killed almost all of my potted succulents, baked the roots) and that's BEFORE including the concrete factor.
I'm a Texas native. The temps in Texas are nothing like what California gets.
On the other hand, the rockhounding is far, FAR better out here in Cali. But you aren't doing that in the summer. You could do that in Texas in the summer out in the Llano uplift region.
It's hot, but 115-degree summers is an exaggeration. The high is usually around 100 degrees (still too hot, of course). I do much prefer the weather in California.
