How I Quit My Job and Bootstrapped My Startup with Tutorspree (opens in new tab)

(blog.tutorspree.com)

65 pointszds13y ago8 comments

8 comments

8 comments · 4 top-level

ktusznio13y ago· 2 in thread

This is really cool. I'm currently bootstrapping my own startup and have tried to find tutoring work on the side to boost my income. It's been tough to find clients though, and navigating Craigslist and Kijiji is a pain.

How do you intend to promote Tutorspree in other cities. I'm guessing it is biggest in NYC right now?

ryanb13y ago

What city are you in? We have a bigger presence in certain cities than others, but we're definitely national. I'm pretty sure we could help you find clients.

ktusznio13y ago

I'm in Waterloo, Ontario. :)

akharris13y ago· 1 in thread

Almost two years ago, we started recruiting hackers as tutors by saying that they could bootstrap their startups by doing so (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2236188). It took us a little while to get there, but it is so awesome to see that it actually worked.

There was a lot of high fiving in the office when John told us what he was doing and how.

And, incidentally, we're still looking for more programming tutors, it's one of our most popular categories - everyone from 11 year olds to professionals looking to switch careers are asking for it: http://www.tutorspree.com/update-profile/new

ipince13y ago

Related to tutorspree:

Why can't I see a tutor's rates before contacting you? What if I want to compare a few of them before making a decision?

There's too much friction :-(

markerdmann13y ago· 1 in thread

I've been meaning to do some iOS tutoring for a while now, but unfortunately the site I was planning to use, TutorCloud, shut down recently. Is Tutorspree the best alternative? Does anyone have additional recommendations?

istvanp13y ago

Shameless plug: We recently launched Tutor With Me (http://tutorwith.me) with the hypothesis that there is a need for tutors to tap into a much wider audience than locally. We built it so that the session is hosted directly on our site with video conferencing and other presentation tools. Since we just debuted we only have a tiny user base but I recommend setting up your course and availabilities and you will get pinged if you receive any requests in the future.

colindoc8413y ago

“We are working with Tutorspree to market our weekend development workshops. These workshops give absolute beginners the ability to create an Instagram-like app by the end of the second day: hands on, project focused learning. Maximum 12 students, 2 teachers, 1 assistant”. If you’re interested in the workshop, drop us a line at workshops@tutorspree.com."

Call me a cynic, but it's one thing to argue from a technical skills background, but there's no way anyone could bootstrap 'an instagram'.

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