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Don't show points? | swombat: I'm not so sure. How do you know that groupthink is the problem? Perhaps the problem is instead that the new users fit in a different groupthink pattern than the old users. In that case, you want to encourage groupthink when it leads to the correct behaviours. |
Don't show points? | almost: I think this is a very good idea, but for a slightly different reason.
The whole points-for-posts thing creates a meta-game of accumulating
points above the normal game of participating in discussion. This
leads to those annoying meta-disucssions where people complain about
being down modded and all that goes with that.The modding system is useful for ranking comments so that when I read
a massive thread the most interesting ones tend to be around the top.It may also be useful for users as a feedback mechanism to figure out
when they're doing something that's not cool (like the things we've
been discussing in the guidelines thread today) but I don't think you
need a precise numerical score for that. And I think it's the precise
score that gets people in the karma-game mindset. It certainly does
that for me. |
Don't show points? | babo: Good idea, that could be an easy way to prevent the absurd up- or down-voting phenomenon. |
Is a team of work-at-home employees realistic? | ralph: pg, please re-visit the decision to have the post's text in gray-on-gray. It's awful for long initial posts like this one. No doubt I'm not the only one that selects the text to get it the slightly better yellow-on-black. It makes me less likely to bother reading the text through no fault of the writer. |
Don't show points? | jules: Maybe we could do an experiment with randomly upvoted/downvoted new posts and see how much more likely the posts are to be upvoted/downvoted? |
Is a team of work-at-home employees realistic? | ojbyrne: I don't think it's harder to manage remote people. In fact a random Jim Collins (ugh) quote applies - "If you have to actively manage someone, you've made a hiring mistake" - people who have a history of working remotely are much more likely to be self-driven and disciplined. |
Is a team of work-at-home employees realistic? | iuguy: Yes it can be done. We have a setup like this, but we try to spend 2-3 days in the office a week and a minimum of one (Thursday) for everyone.The key thing has to be communication and the ability to maintain motivation. We use Google Apps Premier to handle most of the comms, motivation is maintained through electric shocks... ok, maybe it's more regular meet ups and social events as well as making sure everyone has and gives feedback on everything.There's a golden rule of recruiting that becomes even more important for telecommuters: Don't hire pricks. It doesn't matter if they're rock starts in their given field or if they're able to do something you otherwise can't. Don't hire 'em - they'll cause more problems than they solve. |
Is a team of work-at-home employees realistic? | Harkins: Check out the book "Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It" about the "Results-Only Work Environment". It's mostly a case study of how Best Buy implemented a workplace culture that made office hours optional.Maybe also the books of Ricardo Semler, a business owner who did similar things. |
How to you create and manage passwords? | myav: I like an very simple approach, which allows me to avoid using password managers.For all accounts which are of little importance to me (in other words, for ones which can be recreated without any problems) I have got the one easy-to-remember password. "foo87b@r" is the good illustration of what I mean. There are two simple words, separated by a number, and one special symbol. It's very easy to commit in your memory, doesn't look easy to brute force.But what if there is a malefactor which knows your universal password? If so, you are in trouble. He has all the keys to your e-money, mailbox...To protect things that matters I'm using unique passwords made on basis of the general pattern. It will prevent your accounts from being accessed using the insecure "foo87b@r" pass.To illustrate that, suppose that our patter is: __&_1_H@ckN!ws (placeholders for further substitutions are marked by "_")Let's generate password for the [n]ew[s].[y]combinato[r].com site (which characters of url are used when generating password is up to the user).Here is your secure password: ns&y1rH@ckN!wsSo, to use it you should be able to remember one simple password, one pattern and the princible describing how to get new passwords from the existing pattern + URL.I've been using this scheme for the last two months. |
Don't show points? | 10ren: Seeing the scores doesn't affect my opinion! I'm impartial!... except that a few times, I've observed my attitude towards a comment change when its score changed. What is a little frightening is I have also witnessed a struggle within me between what seems to be true to me, and fitting in with the group's opinion.This psychological phenomenon has been confirmed experimentally (though I have met one extremely detached person (borderline autistic?) who I would bet would be above it). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experimentsA struggle for perception of reality is a struggle for reality. |
Is a team of work-at-home employees realistic? | seed_funding: Hi,I am trying to do the same thing. Does anyone have any good recommendations for online collaboration solutions? For example I currently run a virtual private server to serve my email, wiki, website, git etc. I think it's still good for these things, but I might switch to say, Google Apps for email + the collaboration. Basecamp seems like an option but they don't provide email. I have also found hyperoffice. They provide email + collaboration. I haven't had the time to evaluate any of these yet. Do you have other recommendations? What do you think of VPNs?Thanks! |
Is a team of work-at-home employees realistic? | pjhyett: GitHub doesn't have an office, nor are we in any hurry to get one. We work out of our apartments and 1-2 times a week we'll hang out at a cafe and get dinner/drinks afterwards to discuss broader ideas. The company was built with the sort of people that can work autonomously, so while we stay in constant communication with Campfire, it's not a situation where you need to look over the other guy's shoulder to make sure he's still doing a good job. Until that's no longer a reality, I see no reason for an office; it's money better spent elsewhere. |
When Does a Startup Need Management? | sarvesh: If you have a team already there is some sort of management going on. What exactly do you mean by bringing in with someone with management experience. Can you elaborate on why this idea came up? Are you looking for someone to manage the product lifecycle? Are you looking for someone who will market you product? Are you looking increase sales? |
Time tracking | scorpioxy: Echoing on what @mkuhn said, i would normally like to use a stopwatch mode when i would be doing something for a long period of time. For example, half a day's work for project A and then switching to project B or something like that.Otherwise, i tend to just use time slots and fill then in at the end of the day in a spreadsheet. Mechanical and tedious, but it does the job. Of course, it doesn't really help unless i remember to fill the information in. |
Favorite Technology Company Superbowl Ads? | sarvesh: The Apple 1984 commercial is my favorite www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8.Unless you are releasing something as significant as the Macintosh I think it's too much money. |
Favorite Technology Company Superbowl Ads? | DanielBMarkham: Note: a 30-second ad this year is running somewhere north of $3 Million |
Is a team of work-at-home employees realistic? | abalashov: Is there some particular reason a lot of you recommend Campfire over, say, running an internal Jabber server? |
Favorite Technology Company Superbowl Ads? | donna: I LOL and i still remember their name, so money well spent.Super Bowl Ad (2000) E*Trade - "Out of the Whazoo!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0_tfoTTGOQ |
Time tracking | chris11: I've just been keeping a time log for the past few days. I'm not sure how long I will keep doing it, but right now it works so I just my cell phone for the time, and a piece of paper to write down what I'm doing throughout the day. |
When Does a Startup Need Management? | eisenkr: There's a negative stigma about "managers" in the startup world because the word manager is associated with pointy-haired bosses and TPS reports. A manager can, however, be a very positive force when the technical leads on a team are spending a lot of time on management related tasks like meeting with investors, doing financial projections, and revising the business plan. A manager can do these things to free up the owner-developers' time.In general, I like to think about hiring a manager the same way most startups think about hiring a designer. While all programmers can do some UI design, many startups realize that they're not going to do UI design as well as they write code, so they hire designers. The same principal can apply to hiring management, hiring lawyers to handle patenting, etc: You can do it all on your own, but it might make your life a lot easier if you hire somebody who loves and excels at the specific challenges you're facing. |
When Does a Startup Need Management? | mkuhn: I think a StartUp needs management from the beginning.Maybe its because I'm a business student, but I think if there isn't someone with a perspective on strategy, finances, marketing and management in general the StartUp will fail because of lack of direction and the costs involved in changing direction later on (and I'm not saying it needs to be someone who has an MBA or something similar)You ask what someone with management experience could contribute to your company. I would suggest that someone with a business perspective can help you to get a new perspective on things which might be quite different from your technical point of view. Also, as mentioned in other comments, a manager can ease the workload and help others to focus on what they are good at. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | JustAGeek: Real-time stats, that's really something I miss a lot!
Esp. considering that it's available in other stats tools... |
When Does a Startup Need Management? | sachinag: In every successful startup, even ones founded entirely by engineers, someone wears the pointy-headed hat. Unless one of you wants to take on that role, recruit a pro. A pro will cost you more, and there's no guarantee they'd be better at it than one of you, but you get to focus on the technology that way. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | dangoldin: I'd like a simple way of looking at individual visitors.Every GA report I looked at has it aggregated somehow. |
When Does a Startup Need Management? | critke: I think it's not so much a question of whether you need management or not- it more about assessing the core competencies of the founders and then determining what's missing. And also whether a new hire fits in with the team - not just in terms of what knowledge they bring to the table, but also whether their values and ethics are a good fit. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | sachinag: Honestly, it's just not intuitive enough for me. That said, some suggestions (technical feasibility disregarded)* Show me referring URLs, not just domains
* Click a day on the graph to see that day rather than having to reset the time period on the drop-down menu
* Weighted averages: sorting by Bounce Rate is useless; I have lots of these one-off 100% Bounce Rates from one-time referrals. Weighted data so that I can see where my Bounce Rate sucks (or any other metric/Goal) only by those sending some useful level of traffic would be a godsend. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | abalashov: Have an API so I can pull the data out and use it elsewhere. |
First startup / cold feet. Any advice ? | suhail: You will fail, especially if it's your first time. Many of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world failed 6-7 times before they figured it out.The best thing about failing is learning why you failed. If you're afraid of failing, you should give up now because you're not cut out for this thing.Depending where you are in life, you'll need to assess your risk. It's going to be hard if you have a wife and kids. |
When Does a Startup Need Management? | inerte: Since day one. Someone has to manage, because there are resources and efficiency involved.The hacker founder might not think of himself as a manager, because of the PHB stigma. But there's always management to be done.I understand you didn't ask exactly this. You want to know when a "pure" manager should be brought on board. But if you realize that there're always things to be managed, the question becomes: Would this company run better if the engineers didn't have to manage? If they were free of worries about how much soda is left at the refrigerator, if the revenue/income ratio is sustainable, if John's productivity is better with one monitor or two, if there's money to buy these monitors, and if there isn't, when the budget will allow it, how to explain to John why the extra monitor will only come next month, actually research the monitors, price, negotiations with suppliers, the wall socket where it'll fit, etc...IMHO, "pure" managers should join the ship when more work can be outputted with him onboard. BTW there's nothing wrong with "promoting" an engineer to management. S/he doesn't have to be a manager all day, and this person knowledge about the products will actually help with the management part.But really, just mutate your question. It's not when, it's how. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | hopeless: The ability to add notes to explain traffic spikes etc. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | fortes: This is quite simple, so I wouldn't be shocked if it's been done before, but providing an RSS feed for stats/new referrers, etc. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | teej: We can all admit that Google Analytics has a few failings. Maybe there -are- lots of companies who find it doesn't meet their needs. Personally, I feel like the issue isn't one of features, it's one of communication.There are a large number of companies out there with websites, but very few of them have the time or talent to effectively configure a statistics package. These people have a problem - they want more sales/conversions/phone calls - and they have a tool - google analytics - but they can't be bothered to map their business objectives on to analytics.In my opinion, if you can solve that problem, you're in business.------------------------------Completely off topic - why hasn't anyone built a hosted version of Mint? (http://haveamint.com) |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | tom_rath: Add an 'exclude weekends' option for reports on a given date range. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | sounddust: I'd like the ability to share part or all of my data to anyone, privately or publicly. And in the case of data I share publicly, I want it to be available on a page that is indexed by Google and doesn't require someone to login with a Google account.Also, I'd like to see Google rank sites in a similar manner to Alexa, but with real data. I know that Quantcast does this, but having both GA and Quantcast JS beacons on my site is a waste of my users' load times and privacy. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | markessien: Email me when unusual traffic spikes happen. Send me a daily email with my largest referrers and how much traffic they sent in. |
Is a team of work-at-home employees realistic? | MoeDrippins: The company I work for was, until recently, completely WFH, with ~20 or so people. (In the US. In Europe, its HQ, there was always an office, and in other satellite offices.) One of our WFH US locations is, in fact, Atlanta.It works fine, IF you can find the right people. Not everyone can work from home. Not everyone wants to.Our biggest hurdle was training. We had nowhere really to meet to get the new guys up to speed after they were hired. In Atlanta there are plenty of "remote working" locations like ROAM, Jelly organizations, etc.We have since leased a small office, mainly for this purpose. But it provides a place to "land" when we need to, and for those of us with families, a place to get OUT of the house once in awhile to get work done. |
First startup / cold feet. Any advice ? | pg: What you're feeling is the reason even people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs needed cofounders. I'd recommend finding one. It will also greatly improve your chances of succeeding. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | albertsun: An API or some way to feed it other statistics and visitor information.For example, you could hook it up to sliding door sensors or something like that and track flow of people entering and exiting a store. |
When Does a Startup Need Management? | swombat: "Manager" is such a vague term that it's hard to give any useful advice here.I'm going to make an assumption that what you mean is not "product manager" or "project manager" or any other kind of specialised manager, but a "general manager", aka a managing director or CEO of some kind.I read somewhere that start-ups go through 3 phases to become established companies:1) Develop the product (build something that can be sold)2) Sell the product (create a process of selling it that makes money)3) Optimise the money-making process (i.e. squeeze every last drop out of that process).You don't need a non-tech CEO before phase 2, but at that point, if your team is mostly technical, and don't want to learn a whole new field (sales), or feel that they won't get good at it quickly enough, then it might be worth bringing in a CEO with sales experience to help build your ability to sell the product. Selling is a difficult problem, as difficult as building a product, and putting an expert in the lead can make a difference. |
First startup / cold feet. Any advice ? | raffi: At the end of Feb, I will have gone one year without a job. By choice. I spent that time finishing grad school and working to get some things off the ground.I used to have cold feet and sometimes I really hated my own guts for throwing my savings away for what felt like "spinning my wheels". I was also afraid of losing my bargaining power/credibility in my old community the longer I spent time away from it (unfounded fear FYI). Oh and I had months where I felt like I wasn't making progress fast enough and I had many days full of questioning myself. I should note I launched two projects during this time that saw very little interest--finding this out early is a great argument for release early, release often.Anyways, there is a happy stop gap in here somewhere. I launched a project in November and it gained interest and started making money. The profits are nothing huge but making that first $1 is huge to developing that entrepreneurial confidence. Its a small milestone but celebrate it anyways.Now I'm getting close to ready with my big startup effort. Its based on one of the aforementioned failures but I'm using the lessons I learned and I'm really excited about it.It took awhile but after a few breakthroughs I'm glad I took the jump. If I don't succeed now, I feel its certain I will later. Each effort I'm learning different things and starting to develop a mental model of what works and what doesn't.Its one thing to read "write to bloggers to help market your product". Its another to write to them get zero response, refine your pitch, add a mediakit, and then try again and succeed.My point is--you may have some growth to experience before you're ready to run a successful company. However, no matter how much growth you've got to go through, you may as well start now. It doesn't happen on its own.Oh last point--to quit your job is a decision only you can make. I find when my personal needs are met its hard to force myself to do things that are painful but necessary for growth (i.e. get started). Even when I had significant savings left, I still felt too comfortable. Seeing my savings dwindle offered a great kick in the ass to move :)I'm consulting now to meet my financial obligations but am nowhere near comfortable. This makes the whole thing feel like a "mission" and I love it. YMMV.Good luck! |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | EGF: I currently use two providers for my analytics and stats - GA and SiteMeter.As many have mentioned here the ability to have real time information is key to addressing possible traffic spikes and commentary that are happening about your site elsewhere. 24 hours seems like a short period of time, until you realize that someone has linked to your site that needs a response.Also GA has some advanced features similar to Omniture that are actually hard to flush out. It is truly a powerful product and a simple howto to get this data out of the system would benefit many analytics folks I have talked to.Distinctions between search and organic incoming traffic could be better categorized. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | zain: Visitor paths; i.e. "user A went from this page to this page to this page"Visitor paths really help you see what pages are confusing your users. For example, using SiteCounter, we found that a lot of people would click the "login" link, and then would click the exact same link again, indicating they weren't sure if they got to the right page. As a result, we modified the page to look more like what someone would expect a login page would look like. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | DenisM: Ability to exclude registered users and zoom in on non-registered users. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | davidw: I use antirez' visitors:http://www.hping.org/visitors/It's quick and simple. Sort of the opposite of analytics. But it's a nice way to quickly see what's happening. |
When Does a Startup Need Management? | russell: As others have said, you dont need managers to do what you are doing. You probably do need executives, not managers, when you get to the point where you need serious skills outside of engineering.HR, legal, administrative: just outsource it to an administrative firm.Raising money: get a CEO. You will need to get one in the VC image. Make his remuneration dependent on the investment raised.Sales: figure out your strategy first. Sales forces are expensive.Engineering: probably needed if it's outside your area of expertise, say software for hardware guys. Then you want a doer, not a manager. |
First startup / cold feet. Any advice ? | andr: Don't think about the worst case scenario if you start a business. Think about the worst case scenario if you don't do a startup.You are 40. Every day you work 9 - 6 at the BIG firm. Even after getting promoted several times, getting the corner cubicle in the process, you are a relative nobody amongst the other 1000 managers. You hate your job and you may be starting to hate your life. There have been 5 different economic slumps during your career, having you worry about your job and your family's survival every time.The opposite case: You have started and sold two companies and are now working on the third one, after taking an year-long sabbatical in Egypt. True, your first startup failed and you had to eat ramen for a few months, but it only made you stronger, and no one remembers that now.Of course, I'm exaggerating a little, but you get the idea. You will experience failures, but that's the small price everyone has to pay when they aim for the sky. |
First startup / cold feet. Any advice ? | smwhreyebelong: Thanks for the prompt replies, everyone ! I do understand the importance of a co-founder and am in talks with a couple of people I worked with before.A couple of reasons why I am hesitating are :1. I feel like I should get some experience in a startup before I start my own.2. I know the idea has merit but I haven't done any market research yet so it might end up worth nothing.Do you guys think one should work for a startup before starting one's own ? Is the experience VERY helpful ?I thought about doing that but then I feel I wouldn't have as much control over the proceedings as I would like to have... to take the company in a particular direction. |
To porn or not to porn? | joshuarr: If you don't want to be associated with porn, why would you want to associate with people who associate with people associated with porn?In other words,If you don't want to be associated with porn then don't associate yourself with porn. |
To porn or not to porn? | tjic: > I frankly dont want to be associated with pornHere's some business advice:What exactly is your secret sauce that's going to make your site better than (or even halfway as good as ) all of the thousands of competing sites? There's no free way to make money.Here's some moral advice:Don't spend your time doing things you're ashamed of. |
To porn or not to porn? | alexquick: I've always been under the impression that there's no shame in work done well.Just do good work, then. |
To porn or not to porn? | nostrademons: I personally wouldn't do porn.As for whether I'd do business or be associated with someone in the porn industry: it depends a lot on circumstances, and the particular organization I'm working on behalf of. As a programmer, I don't care, and porn might actually be a plus on your resume because it tends to get high traffic and give you experience with scaling problems.But if it was on behalf of an organization like FictionAlley or the Flash games site(s) my startup was trying to do, I'd stay far away. Because these are largely aimed at teens (and tend to get lots of pre-teen visitors as well, even though COPPA in theory should keep them away), and it's not worth the PR disaster that'd come from any association with porn. |
To porn or not to porn? | vrs: I hope things work out for you without you having to start a porn site. There are enough of those already. Plus if you "frankly dont want to be associated with porn" maybe you shouldn't get into porn business. |
To porn or not to porn? | intellectronica: You should judge this using the same criteria you use for judging any other business idea. Do you feel passionate about it? Do you have something new to contribute to the market that you feel excited about giving to users? Will you be proud and happy working day and night making your product the best there is? If yes, why not porn? If no, then why bother? |
To porn or not to porn? | geoffw8: Register via whois proxy and don't tell anyone... |
To porn or not to porn? | hotpockets: If somebody sues you your name will be outed anyways. |
To porn or not to porn? | ericb: Because of how you feel about it, you should not take this route. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | codegenerator: Here is my picks :- more vars (pageTracker._setVar, currently only 1 allowed)- credentials for specific reports- more goals (currently 4 allowed)- mouse movement capture (see http://www.clicktale.com/features/watch-your-website-visitor...)- api- real time at least for the pages/views etc- its corollary : notifications on alerts (spike, %more, %less)- form analytics (see http://www.clicktale.com/features/form-analytics)- automatic outbound links analytics (right now you have to do add some javascript manually to every link)- remove data- have a desktop version (like for adwords)- have a better tracking of the adwords/targeted content network- link google website optimizer to analytics (currently only with goals)- navigation heatmap (show us visually the most common webflow used) |
To porn or not to porn? | staunch: Porn is not some magic industry where all you exchange is your willingness to be associated with it for riches. You're going to end up working your ass off to be successful whether it's porn or not. If your other startup attempts targeted consumers try switching to doing something that goes after small businesses. They're actually willing to pay money for value and on average they're wiling to pay a lot more than people will for porn. |
To porn or not to porn? | cpr: Don't do it. Porn degrades the people who perform it (especially the women) and the people who use it (mostly men, who are conditioned to see women as body parts for their own enjoyment). |
To porn or not to porn? | axod: "still gets tons of traffic...basically, Traffic is not enough to make any real money."What sort of traffic are we talking here? And what sector? If it's the right traffic, you don't need much to make lots of money... |
To porn or not to porn? | mixmax: I think that in ten years porn will be much more mainstream than it is today. Here in Scandinavia, the first place in the world to legalise porn, it is already becoming socially acceptable with ex-porn stars becoming main stream talkshow hosts, etc. The US. is probably a few years behind in this trend due to their strange take on religion and sex.My point is that I would just go with it, I know people that are in that businees, and to my knowledge they have never had any problems. Neither socially nor in business.The social norms may be stricter where you are from, so take this with a grain of salt.For inspiration on how far you can take it if you choose this road look at Private Media Group liste on NASDAQ: http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3APRVT |
To porn or not to porn? | DaniFong: From my perspective, porn varies from positive and affirm to degrading and disgusting. I think that is some sense, we are our actions. At least they long outlive us. Make sure that your actions are consistent with your values, and not just a quick way to turn a buck.From a practical perspective, I doubt that you have a moral outlook to make much money doing it. There are probably easier ways to make money: a tax on your feeling of self-worth and morality is expensive to pay. |
To porn or not to porn? | dpifke: Funny story: when I first decided that I wanted to work for an "internet company" in 1996, nearly all of my interviews were with porn companies. I was a young kid with very little formal experience, so it follows that folks closer to the fringe would be more willing to take a chance hiring me.One of my most memorable interviews was when a company took me through the cubicle farm in a SOMA warehouse where the "live on webcam" girls and guys were performing. (To tell the truth, the setup was a bit depressing.)I ended up taking a job at an ISP, not because I had any moral objection to working on porn, but because it seemed like I'd be working on a lot more interesting stuff and had a lot more potential for future advancement.On my first day, my boss gives me a project to work on: get the streaming porn working for his side business. |
First startup / cold feet. Any advice ? | moe: Did anyone else here feel the same way when starting their first company?Yes. I'd go on a limb and say that everybody feels that way when starting their first company. I'm on it right now and feeling it most certainly.I convince myself by reminding me that I believe in the business model and in my skills, I honestly think I can pull it off.In the beginning make sure you believe in your thing and try to be realistic about your planning. Base everything on pessimistic assumptions. How long will it take you to launch something, how long until you can realistically expect your first $1 of income? What unknowns are there and how will you deal with them? Write down your most important figures, juggle them around in excel, make sure to have a good feeling for what you're getting yourself into. If the figures say you can't do it then re-think your idea. If the figures say you can do it then try again with more pessimistic assumptions. A good business model looks promising even under most pessimistic assumptions. You definately want one that's robust enough to still work even when many factors turn out less than ideal.Also make sure to realize that it will be much harder than you can possibly imagine. You definately need persistence. Easily more of that than you've ever needed before in your life. Stuff will go wrong, people will tell you that your idea sucks, work will overwhelm you. Be prepared to handle that without losing focus. Never panic. Don't torn yourself apart by trying to do everything at once.If you think you have enough discipline to manage that then, by all means, do it. Remember you don't have much to lose. You can stop at any time and the expiriences you gained will help you either way. |
To porn or not to porn? | TomOfTTB: As a kid I helped a friend’s dad start a porn site (on the technical end) and I’ll tell you two things about it.1. As someone with a decent reputation I get asked to a lot of meetings with people to discuss the "big ideas" of non-programmer types. In those meetings big numbers are always thrown around as to how much money can be made. The one porn project I’ve ever done is THE ONLY time I actually ended up with the big number that had been thrown around ($200,000 for 6 months work in case you were wondering)2. Working on that site was one of the most fun projects I’ve ever had (and not because of the pornography). From a technical perspective porn pushes the boundaries more than any other area (except maybe pure research). It involves everything from telecommuting (allowing performers to do their jobs from home) to content delivery networks (my first experience with delivering a high number of quality video feeds) to social interaction (porn is more about an emotional reaction than anything else which requires studying how to create an immersive experience). It really does push all your skills.I mean, in honesty, I wouldn’t do it now that I have some money behind me. But I don’t think there was anything wrong with it and I don’t feel bad about the experience.As far as hiding your identity, it’s called a shell corporation and it’s not that hard. That said, you aren’t going to be able to completely hide your identity. Some people are going to have to know (you deal with a lot of vendors in that business). If you are going to the trouble of creating a new HN account it probably isn’t for you. |
When Does a Startup Need Management? | DaniFong: I also work in alternative energy. My cofounder and I are physicists and the third principal is an electromechanical engineer.My cofounder has management experience and technical/mathematical chops, and he's been a joy to work with. He has sort of taken a management role, ensuring that tasks are scheduled coherently, keeping the lines of communication open, and pinging sources for funds, parts, advice, etc. But we all have, to some extent.So it can work. However, bringing in outside managers, especially at an early stage, can be hugely problematic. My advice is to nominate the best of you to take on that role, and grow into in gradually. If you're over your head for a specific reason, then bring in a manager, and measure their success by that metric. |
To porn or not to porn? | gravitycop: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales#Chicago_Options_Ass...[Wikipedia founder Jimmy] Wales undertook was the creation of the web portal Bomis, which featured user-generated webrings and that, according to The Atlantic Monthly, "found itself positioned as the Playboy of the Internet." For a time the company sold erotic photographs, and Wales described the site as a "guy-oriented search engine" with a similar market to Maxim. Although Wales is no longer connected with the company, his involvement with Bomis has been criticized |
To porn or not to porn? | chris11: It sounds like you are uncomfortable with it. Is it because of your own values, or are you just worried about your reputation? It sounds like you have problems with it because of your own morals, and I don't think you should go against your values just for some money.I personally would not even get associated with porn.But if you decide you are comfortable with it, is it really realistic to be running to unrelated websites at the same time? Your friend knows a lot more about it then I do, so how much time a week are you talking about to run a porn site? Are you wanting to create your own content, or just host other people's content? I really doubt you will be able to keep your name unconnected to the porn industry if you decide to create your own content. I think this situation would be somewhat comparable to working full time and working on your masters at the same time. It might be doable,but the quality of both projects will probably suffer, since you are focused on working on two separate things. So I'd advise you not to do it. |
First startup / cold feet. Any advice ? | alexmac: Whether you decide to quit your job or not, do the startup anyway. |
First startup / cold feet. Any advice ? | markessien: You won't lose anything, because you'll compress a lot of learning into that time. Just be quick to release, because you start learning after you release, not before.Pre release is like building a boat. Post release is like sailing out in a storm. |
To porn or not to porn? | vaksel: I wouldn't do it. With sites like youporn, xvideos, redtube etc growing by leaps and bounds, the amount of paying customers will go down the drain.+ don't forget, there are something like a million porn sites out there competing with you, so unless you pick some sick shit involving grannies in wheelchairs or midgets, you'll be hard pressed to gain paying customers.As far as dealing with someone involved in porn? Its honestly not something you have to think about. Once you get big enough with porn(to pay the bills), you won't want to do a legit startup anyways. A porn site is pretty much a license to print money. Even if you have a mere 1,000 users, at $20 month, you already make 20 grand a month without doing any major work. |
What is up with he submissions on the front page today? | andreyf: How do you get 0 points on a submission, I wonder? |
To porn or not to porn? | swombat: I can only speak for myself, as an entrepreneur myself, so not for VCs and other similar types, but as for me, I would consider the fact that a cofounder or employee has successfully run a profitable porn site a plus. First of all, it'd be quite interesting to find out how that business works. Secondly, as others have pointed out, there are technical challenges to this which are useful on most start-up jobs. Thirdly, it shows initiative and a willingness to do things which are not commonly seen as "the right thing".However, I'm suspicious of the "it's an easy way to make quick money" statement. In my experience (and I started a business that used MLM for its distribution with a friend before - not as disreputable as porn, but also generally looked down on imho), even those apparent shortcuts require insane amounts of work... so the suggestion that you can somehow do it on the side to tide you over seems suspicious. You can start a porn site - but it'll take all your time for 6 months to a year... so if your 2nd start-up is about to launch, I'd give it a miss unless you're prepared to forget about your 2nd start-up for a year. |
To porn or not to porn? | SwellJoe: So, you can't make a non-porn site with tons of traffic pay...but you expect to build a porn site that makes money?I will humbly point out that porn clicks are some of the least valuable clicks in the industry. Sites like YouPorn, with huge traffic, aren't exactly making a killing (they aren't going broke, either, as far as I know, but a handful of these sites are in the top 50 on the Internet...there are non-porn sites that are dramatically less popular that are making a lot more money). If you expect an easy road to that level of popularity and traffic, and expect your porn site revenues to be respectable very quickly and without a lot of work, I suspect you'll be disappointed.That said, there have now been a few reasonable exits for adult Internet businesses in the past two years. Before that, it would have been foolish for someone who wanted to be really rich to start a porn site...unless they planned to go "all in" in the industry and become a major player for years to come. It's still far less likely for a porn startup to be acquired than a non-porn startup, and this is reflected in the hesitance of VCs in investing in adult startups (it just doesn't happen, and it's not because the majority of VCs would have ethical issues with such investments). And, going public is pretty much impossible for a porn business, so the VCs that are looking for a huge score are simply not going to be interested. Of course, if you're bootstrapping, you don't care about VCs or exits.All of that said, about six or seven years ago I did some infrastructure work for one of the top-tier porn empire builders (I won't name names, but at the time, his network was very likely the second largest). He paid on time, was a joy to work with, and had very serious hardware running his sites. He had no problem spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for expenses (his bandwidth bill the month I worked for him was $86k, for example, and that was after he'd negotiated a new deal that dropped those expenses by tens of thousands per month), so his revenue was obviously respectable. But, he'd worked hard to build it--it took several years to reach that level. He worked directly with the content providers who were creating new branded content exclusively for his network, he had his own porn ad network (because he had 30 or so brands to promote, he could buy in large blocks, and also could barter with friendly competitors), and he was extremely focused (which I think might be lacking for you, if you're thinking of porn as a stopgap measure just until your "real" project gets going).I know several people who have had some level of success building small projects specifically for revenue generation, and I don't think you have to go the porn route to get there. Since you're obviously uncomfortable with that path...why not choose something else that provides recurring revenue without a huge investment of time? Widgets, iPhone apps, Flash games, etc. all are pretty small projects that can produce a few hundred a month in revenue.Or, perhaps you should be seeking investors for your "real" project. That's how most successful tech businesses were started, you know? |
To porn or not to porn? | menloparkbum: What does starting a pay porn site entail? Signing up for some sort of porno affiliate link program and just posting previews of other site's content? Or actually buying cameras and lights and hiring people to go to town?I ask cuz I had a friend who was really into this idea about 7 years ago and actually did all the legwork and research into who makes money and how. He decided that actually making any money in porn involved a lot more work than simply getting another job. |
To porn or not to porn? | davidw: I helped a guy I knew with his porn site for a bit, and I wouldn't repeat the experience:1. It was kind of unconventional stuff - not illegal, but more like "ouch, my eyes" sorts of things. Not fun.2. The people involved in it were pretty sleazy individuals, and also fairly lame in terms of simply being unprofessional and not pleasant to work with. Could have just been a bad experience.And, because the whole operation was kind of shitty, it didn't even really make that much money, so, like others say, it's not a free ticket to tons of cash. |
First startup / cold feet. Any advice ? | sgupta: "What if the company fails? I would have lost this time."You're going to learn a lot while doing this - more than you would have at any corporate job - so regardless of what happens I wouldn't consider your experience a failure. The financial outcome isn't the only metric involved in success. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | sharpshoot: Kissmetrics is going to address this problem head on |
First startup / cold feet. Any advice ? | shiranaihito: Work on your project for a couple of months, and see how it feels then.If you're feeling good about it, do continue, if not, think of something else. |
What is up with he submissions on the front page today? | quoderat: They seem legitimate to me, at least reference the guidelines for the site.It's not like you have to read them. |
When Does a Startup Need Management? | sgk284: Managers are not to manage people, they are to manage problems. Most big companies simply get this wrong. Just make sure any oncoming manager understands this. |
When Does a Startup Need Management? | macco: A teacher for entrepreneurship sais to us, that you should not focus about organisation until you have 50 people working for you. But that does not mean that you don't need management. Actually you are doing managent when you are working on ideas. But if you feel you are not have time for your research then i would say it's time to get a partner/employee who focus on running the company and doing administrative work. |
To porn or not to porn? | andrewljohnson: How much traffic does the non-money maker get, and in what market? |
To porn or not to porn? | cabalamat: > Would you do business or be associated with someone in the porn industry?If it made business sense, of course. I certainly wouldn't turn it down on "moralistic" grounds. |
To porn or not to porn? | hardik: During my teens I did build an erotic forum with another partner. It was never intended to be big money but money was good for us teenagers. However, I quit after a month simply because the mind becomes numbed out by sex, you don't enjoy it anymore.
If you do decide to go ahead with this, I would suggest you try to work out a schedule or structure where there is some break time, at least visually. |
First startup / cold feet. Any advice ? | ahoyhere: By "no safety net" do you mean no savings? That's how I read it at first. In which case, run, don't walk, away from the startup until you have some in the bank.BTW, our "startup" is earning money after the first month we shipped. We made $1500 on the first round of 30 day trials. (Now we're up to about $2000, as we're rolling towards 60 days - and thus another wave of charges - but not there yet.)That's not enough to live on, but you can make money right out of the gate if you:1. Solve a real business problem.2. Solve a REAL business PROBLEM. That doesn't mean inventing some new tech thing and then looking for a problem it can theoretically be applied to, & expecting people to eat it up like pigs eat slop.3. Solve a real BUSINESS problem. If it adds actual bottom-line value, people will pay for it.And if you're not doing a service people will pay for, you're going to be freaked out until those savings are gone, because your only option will be a buy-out.EDIT: I have grander plans too beyond this first money-making service, but I do care about it itself, as well. I don't recommend doing something you're going to come to despise to pay the bills. Might as well have a job, at that point. |
To porn or not to porn? | cantsay: Hello,
Thanks for all the great response.. I truly appreciate it.
I dont have a "moral" problem with Porn or even prostitution if all parties involved are over 18.that said, most people I know and deal with on daily basis are against porn in general... the society for the most part is againt porn or hide the fact that they watch it.I have a very good idea for a simple porn site that I can start for 5k (including legal fees) that can get me 2-3K paid users.. its frankly brilliant and the loss if it doesnt work out is not that great.
I need an income badly, disparate times... they really are :(My other site gets 15k traffic a day, we have been blogged 1000s of times in different languages, there are 100s of reviews about us, however, traffic is not getting any better and I have had enough!
My new start up is launching this month, If i do start the porn site it wont be till april/may (if the new startup doesnt pick up)
So its pretty much my last 2 months.. then I will have ran out of money and I will have no choice but get a real job which I havent done in 10 years.thanks again guys |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | brandonkm: I would love it if the analytics script was much less bloated. Seems that the extra time it takes to download what is basically a rather large javascript file could be seriously cut down by minimizing the script in some way. |
To porn or not to porn? | ahoyhere: Hard advice you're not going to like:If you can't convert your traffic, maybe you should spend time investigating how to get people to convert, how to make products that they want, how to market & sell & reach people effectively, etc.Don't just give up on it and flip to the next project, which you won't fully invest in either, like a schizophrenic hummingbird.If you've got the traffic, you can make money with it. If you're willing to study, test, and learn. |
First startup / cold feet. Any advice ? | brandonkm: Having a cofounder != an increased chance of success for your startup. Having the right cofounder that is as excited about your product and is as determined as you are to make something thats awesome will be the difference between failure and success. |
What do you wish Google Analytics would do? | andrewljohnson: Track individuals... tell me all dimensions on someone who looked at a piece of content... more intensive stats like WebTrends used to have. |
First startup / cold feet. Any advice ? | jacquesm: Keep that feeling, it's your biggest asset. The moment you lose it is when you should be looking out real hard for trouble because it is bound to happen.Insecurity at some level is one of the biggest drives to succeed, even if most successful entrepreneurs would never admit to it.There is no such thing as a 'failed' startup, there are no such things as 'bad questions'. Even the worst startup experience will teach you more than years of business theory will ever do and even the most silly question deserves to be heard and answered in a serious way.Don't let anything or anybody stand in your way of trying and give it your best, you'll probably be amazed how far that will get you on momentum alone.For me the turning point came when I was out of a job and my gf was pregnant, it was all or nothing and it worked out pretty good, 15 years and counting. I'd never go back to a day job no matter what the compensation and 'perks', there is no better perk than to know that you are moving under your own power. |
To porn or not to porn? | joubert: Competition in the p0rn industry is stiff. |
First startup / cold feet. Any advice ? | danielrhodes: You don't have a safety net? You'll find you don't need much of one. If you have money saved up, reduce your expenses and figure out a time-frame for it to work. By the end of that time frame you can decide what you want to do. You would be surprised how well you can scrape by if you really want to.What if the company fails? Who cares! You'll learn so much about what you are doing, yourself, and much more that you will benefit either way. |
Time tracking | cheekysod: I use TaskTrack:http://www.bushsoftware.com/TaskTrack/TaskTrack.htmlno setup required, and it tracks exactly how long you spend on each document during the day; so all you have to do is group the documents into tasks and you have the total time spent.its actually made this stuff a heap easier than it was for me, I never used to bother until the end of the week, now I still dont, but the numbers are right :) |
First startup / cold feet. Any advice ? | wheels: When I was talking to one of the local luminaries in the startup scene he said something that seemed really "on":"It's uncertain what the worth of your startup will be. However, you can be certain that your personal worth will grow enormously."If you approach your first startup as one of the foundational personal education experiments that you'll go through it's a win-win. Before starting a company I thought I knew something about business. A year in it's amazing how much I've had to learn just to keep things functioning. If you approach it with that mindset, and keep your cash-flow tight, I think you'll find that as a personal investment it's an extremely worthwhile experience -- even if it's just to realize that the startup game isn't for you. |
Why don't you use email encryption? | quoderat: Reasons I don't use it:1) I'm not terribly concerned with anyone reading what I send, because I've never personally observed any negative consequences from that happening, so that concern is external to me, even if real.2) It's another complexity added to my life that I don't need.3) Since others don't use it, I don't have the time or the inclination to explain to them why they should bother to deal with my encrypted messages.4) If the government, etc., wants to get something out of me, they will.5) Too many different ways to do it, none of them universal (chick and egg problem, yep, but....) |
Why don't you use email encryption? | jdabney: Another question along the same lines is the question of email signing. As a sysadmin I receive large amounts of email asking me to change something on various systems and almost none of them are signed. How am I to know that the real person wants some configuration change or not? I see it as a big security problem. Doesn't mater how much I complain, no-one changes their ways. |
Why don't you use email encryption? | mixmax: I actually tried a few years ago since I routinely sent patent applications, business plans and other sensitive information in e-mails. Unfortunately I couldn't get anyone to install encryption software at the other end (PGP) so I had to give up. Not even our patent attorney seemed to think that it was worthwhile to encrypt his mail.I could probably have gotten a lot of really good patents by sniffing his mail and sending in applications before his customers got around to it :-) |
Why don't you use email encryption? | tptacek: We do, for obvious reasons, but I get why people don't. Email isn't going to be encrypted until email encryption is automatic and transparent.There's also two conflicting standards now; S/MIME and PGP. We have to use both, since roughly half our customers are married to each. |
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