jtesp

A couple years ago in the beginning I had a partner... he got married, had a baby & stepped away so I took full ownership. I kept going, bootstrapped and eventually got it off the ground and am currently generating a bit of income. Problem is I'm wearing too many hats and can't grow. Not only is it very stressful doing it alone, it's at the point where it makes no business sense because it can't grow.

I could afford to hire a developer part time, but I really want somebody on the team who's passionate about building something that is theirs. Also, I want another brain to help in all areas of the business, come up with ideas, provide camaraderie and support.

Perceived valuation is currently $1M - $1.2M

I've known a particular candidate for about 6 months and we get along well, I have trust in his abilities, and have an overall good feeling about him. I presented the idea and he expressed interest but couldn't come on full time without pay. I don't really need full-time right now anyway so that's ok. I'm thinking paying a reduced hourly rate (or no pay) and he can build some sweat equity. Does a "working interview" make sense in this situation? Where he "earns" his equity over the course of a 3-6 months through actual work and proof? The tricky part is coming up with the numbers. Any advice greatly appreciated here.

I'm curious about the different scenarios and approaches that can be taken. Also, some do's and dont's and what precautionary measures to take would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

The ubiquitous Facebook & Twitter "app icon" logos. Every website, every TV commercial, every magazine, every poster, even on radio... "Like us, follow us!"

Companies are spending millions of dollars promoting a website because it's "in", cool, trendy. How long can it last? Most of them just have the f & t logo with no explanation as to why they are there. Just f & t. What does that do to benefit them?

You can't click a TV, magazine, poster or radio. How many of you actually watch a commercial or read a magazine, see the f & t logo and think to yourself "I'm gonna go Like or Follow a laundry detergent company."

Obviously f & t are proven and effective ways to connect with consumers, but how effective is it for companies to promote them on their own ads without any incentive?

Seems that the "hype" is dying down for f & t and that it's become common place. I wonder how long it will take for people to become numb and uninterested in them and move on to the next latest and greatest thing.

I'm interested in learning what other hackers think about this. Please add on. Thanks.

Social networking is convenient and entertaining, but is that it? I can count my best friends on one hand and none of us are friends on Facebook and we don't even email each other. When we want to communicate, we give each other a phone call. Text messages are very rare as well.

Is this normal? Why?

If pageviews are consistently high, but registered users are not, is that bad? How much does it matter?

I know user data is good, but is it critical for investors? I want to understand what's critical and why.

Can someone suggest the most important/relevant stats of the following?

Registered Users, Visits, Pageviews, Pages/visit, Avg. Time on site, New Visitors.

Thanks!

I've been working on my start up by myself for nearly 2 years and there's been some interest from a handful of potential advertisers to finally start bringing me some revenue. I'm at the point where I can't do it all myself and need to bring on some partners. I've got well over 4,000 hours into this and over $25,000 personally invested but I still own 100% of nothing at this point. Can I even put a valuation on the company yet? How do I determine how much % to give to new partners?

My question is, if I bring on some partners how do I measure the amount of work required by them and for how long? Say I give a programmer 5% in return for 25 hours a week minimum to start with. How many weeks does he have to work to earn that 5%? And what happens when that time is up? He owns 5% but doesn't have to do anything more? I'm assuming if someone is invested in a business that much, they will work beyond the minimum...is that common? Perhaps a sliding scale would work in this case.

I plan on bringing in a couple people to take this to the next level and just want to know what I'm in for. I know this subject can go on for ages, but I'm hoping to get some insight from seasoned people.

Thanks!

Dailybooth just got 6M on top of a previous 1M round and I see no revenue model. There's tons of sites and companies that get funding before a clear revenue path is defined. How are they convincing people to invest? Traffic? Users? Is there a rule of thumb as to how much a user is worth or how much a certain amount of traffic is worth?

Or do they invest because they believe in the idea or see proof of a concept?

Thanks

Any advice on where to buy discounted equipment in bulk? Looking for some cheapo Atom or the like computers, 19" LCD/LED monitors, and basic peripherals. They can be no-name brands.

Is there a minimum amount before such items get discounted? Say I was looking for 10, 20, 50 or 100. Or anyone have any secret spots to purchase items on the cheap?

Any info or leads appreciated. Thanks!

Hi...first post here. I come here from time to time to read people's stories and listen to advice from the many helpful & knowledgable people around here. Figured it was time for me to reach out, so here we go.

I've been working on a startup for over 2 years and have been expending ALL my time, energy and money into it for the past year. It's been a great ride and lots of fun, but recently I feel like I'm running out of passion, desire, motivation, and most of all confidence. I have been full of all of that up until 4-5 months ago and now I'm wondering if I'm just wasting my time.

Brief history: The product is an entertainment device with an accompanying website that will be leased to entertainment establishments. There's a physical gadget that had to be designed & built from the ground up. So it's not just a web project, there's lots of pieces to it.

When I tell people about it and especially when they use it, the response is always "this is one of the coolest things i've ever seen/heard of. you're going to be a millionaire." Sure, that's flattering and (used to be) validating...but they have no idea what they're talking about. You can't just snap your fingers and roll out a million units and expect people are going to sign contracts. In fact, I've been snapping my fingers, clapping my hands, running around, fine-tuning, re-thinking, testing, focus grouping, pitching, and alot more for 6 months. And guess what? I've only convinced 2 people to lease the thing... and at a price point so low that it will take me over a year to turn a profit.

This is why I'm losing my confidence and motivation. I spent so long on research & development and came up with a working prototype. Then I spent more time improving and making it legit along with filing a patent & trademark. Lots of time and money into this project... all out of my pocket and my personal life. I just sold my car and have enough money to cover about 2 more months of living. So now I can't spend any more money on my project.

There's glimmers of hope from time to time. I get calls from fairly high profile companies that are interested, but it's all been smoke for the most part. This is very frustrating, because the interest is there but these corporations are so bureaucratic and elusive. "Hey I saw your product and I really like it. I'm going to discuss it with the marketing team and get back to you." They never get back to me and never respond to phone calls or email. What gives? Thanks for the tease.

The bottom line is that no matter what product you have come up with, how cool anyone thinks it is, if a corporation doesn't know who you are, they don't care about you! They'll get back to you when they feel like it. And if you're trying to cold call them, forget about it.

So what's left for me is that there is some interest, but there's absolutely nothing I can do other than wait. And wait. And wait. And pursue another company to wait on. Or go door to door and get rejected because "it's really cool, but it's just not in the budget."

Then I fantasize "If a big order does come through, how the hell am I going to pay to get them manufactured? Who's going to handle support? Who's going to manage things? Oh crap, will the server be able to take the load? What if I get 100 of these out there and theres a bug or the website crashes? Is my revenue model completely wrong? Should I seek investors or partners? Who can figure out how to sell this thing? How am I going to come up with rent next month?"

Arrrrggghhhhh. Please help!

Thanks for listening! jtesp