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An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | est: the thing is, GUI is often connected with some messaging system like D-bus or WM_XXX, and that's platform-dependent. And also API for C/C++ is so different. Some may relate to performance demanding 2D even 3D features. The expansion list goes on and on.The true thing we need is a minimal & native implementation of cross-platform GUI kits. |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | tptacek: You forgot Swing+Java/Jython/JRuby/Groovy/Clojure. |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | termie: Please god don't make yet another GUI toolkit. Pick one and start coding. |
Average Screen Resolution? | dattaway: In a nice table through the years:http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_display.asp |
Average Screen Resolution? | dattaway: And here's the javascript trick:http://forums.devshed.com/html-programming-1/how-to-obtain-t... |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | guruz: Small note about Qt being for C++: There is Qt Jambi which is Qt for Java.http://doc.trolltech.com/qtjambi-4.4/html/com/trolltech/qt/q...http://dist.trolltech.com/developer/download/webstart/ |
Getting accepted into a top level CS program. | gaius: I can get a high paying job in the finance industry maintaining a Java/C++ code base.Ho ho ho. After the ex-Bear and Lehman experienced coders find jobs, then maybe the finance industry will start hiring entry-level coders again. Maybe.Ask yourself tho' what you want from a PhD. It's not a "higher qualification" in the sense that a MSc is, learning specialist knowledge to do a niche job. It's an apprenticeship to become an academic. Where do you see yourself post-PhD? What is the outcome you are looking to achieve here? Altho' grad students may write an awful lot of code, no-one really cares about it - its only purpose is to demonstrate theoretical ideas. Coding experience gained in industry won't count for much. Not even Open Source coding. Computer Science is as related to software development as Astronomy is to telescope manufacturing. Working in a Carl Zeiss factory on the shop floor wouldn't count for much applying for an Astronomy PhD would it? |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | akie: If coding in Java is an option, I would highly recommend SWT (http://www.eclipse.org/swt/). It's the toolkit that was used to build Eclipse, and it has a very 'native' look & feel (click the link for examples).Plus, Java itself is cross-platform. Might be just what you're looking for. |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | narag: That should be obvious: cross-platform GUI toolkits are so hard that there isn't any that you like. It takes a good design or lots of people working on it full-time. So either you pay for Qt or deal with other problems. That's one reason that web programming has become so popular.There seems to be another factor if you add OS-X to the required platforms: the way of GUI programming for Macs is conceptually different from Windows or Linux. |
Average Screen Resolution? | mooism2: Anecdotally --- a number of my non-hacker friends have bought netbooks recently, and use them for quickly checking Facebook and their e-mail without having to sit at a desktop or carry a bigger heavier laptop across the room. So I wouldn't be at all surprised if your users are disproportionately likely to have 1024x600. |
Getting accepted into a top level CS program. | foo23: When reading your app, professors are trying to tell one thing:Will this person be a good academic researcher? To figure this out, they will look at:1. Can you already do research? If you've published at academic research conferences, they'll read your paper and judge you by it. If you have good recommendations from people they trust, or are known in their field, they will read those and rely on them heavily. Otherwise they view your application as a crapshoot (why would they want to take on a student they're not sure will succeed?)2. grades, programming abilities, and other things are all secondary. If they pass the bar, that's good, but they're not going to get you in.My advice: get a programming job working in a research lab, then apply to places the people you're working with have worked with before. Look at MSR (Microsoft lABS), Intel Research, and Google. Otherwise go to a startup. |
Choosing a pricing model | bob_stormideas: I've just written an article on how best to price an application:http://blog.stormideas.com/archive/2009/01/07/pricing-your-w...I hope it's of use to you!Bob |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | schtog: Yeah it has always bothered me that GUIs are so annoyingly hard to make. I used to use Python a lot and Tk wasn't exactly a dream to work with even if something very basic was easy to get up and going.However now I use Swing+miglayout+CLojure and making GUIs is supereasy. |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | GiantCrayon: Within the last few years, I've inherited a number of projects written using several of the above choices. While I don't want to appear _too_ negative, IME, apps produced using cross-platform GUI kits look bad on all operating systems.I'd like to offer a "none of the above", which is to code the underlying "engine" of your app in C++, then connect that engine up to an OS-native GUI.Just my $0.02. |
Review Gmail Hack Tracker/ Burglar Alarm | axemclion: All data is stored in your own gmail calendar, so its kinda really transparent. The code is available at http://code.google.com/p/gids/ |
Review Gmail Hack Tracker/ Burglar Alarm | fx: But if you are someone who keeps cracking into gmail account you will just workaround it (easiest way I assume will be disabling Javascript?) if you go further you can just firewall everything except gmail, or use a proxy to remove this protection on the fly.Even though this will provide some benefit against a serial cracker this will be useless at the end. |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | biohacker42: There's no shortage for GUI frameworks:http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/7184/guitool.ht... |
Review my app | koraybalci: Video in the first page is too small and don't have audio (is it me only?). So, I really could not tell what it's about. And while you're at it, you can drop quicktime control widget of video to make it look more professional.nice page design and all, but without creating a user, I don't understand a lot from that front page. Maybe you can provide a demo user, so that people can see what they can get. |
Review my app | pclark: this is an awesome idea.
your issue will be exposure, I expect.I'd launch a few iPhone apps using your tech and do case studies on how your technology benefitted them.
(and if you want some ideas for an iPhone app, let me know .. )Feedback:Lovely UIGreat detailed analyticsYour documentation seems decent.How do you intend on making money? |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | statictype: If you're really picky about the look-and-feel on each platform, just bite the bullet and write 3 front-ends.If you want something that looks reasonably good on major platforms, go with Qt or wx.There are a couple more options you have:XULRunner: I like this option because of the flexibility you get in creating UIs using markup and styles. You can get XULRunner built with Python support so you don't have to resort to C++. And you get a reasonably powerful rendering engine to boot.Adobe Air: Never used this so I can't say anything for sure but from what I've heard, its similar to XULRunner but uses WebKit and a lot of Flash. It is, however, proprietary.And,If you're going to do a new UI toolkit, great. Just make sure you know
a) why wxWidgets didn't accomplish this for you
b) How you plan on addressing those shortcomings.I believe wxWidgets was supposed to address the issue you raised about giving the native look and feel on each platform independently. It uses GTK on Linux and Win32 on Windows. No idea about how it works on OS X but I assumed it would use Cocoa\Aqua\whatever. Is that not the case? |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | ynniv: Really? No one has mentioned the most popular, polished, cross platform application that's also a complete development environment: Firefox. |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | mcandre: YelloSoft http://yellosoft.us/I complain about the very same thing. There hasn't been a lot of development effort for building anything cross-platform. Out of fifty LISP implementations I looked at, only a few were cross-compatible. Hardly any computer games are multiplatform. I build my own software and release it on Mac, Linux, and Windows whenever possible. It's been really easy starting with a common code base (C/C++/Java/whatever) and creating the GUI using native tools: Xcode, Visual Studio, Glade. The GUIs end up looking good, are easy to make (if a little more trouble to sync between the OSs), and I don't have to spend hours scouring the 'Net for information on GUIs across several operating systems. It's becoming alarmingly common for Google to return no search results about some computing topics and programming errors. If I can't Google it, I can't fix it.One of my biggest problems has been incomplete programming language support. Why should I learn wxWidgets if wxRuby is half-done? The documentation for RubyCocoa is even less substantial. I can't begin coding unless I understand a minimum of how the various GUI objects interact. I finally understand all those dumb underscores in RubyCocoa methods. Objective C is odd, but consistent.Something like a Swing but C based would be nice, but it's a lot of trouble to wrap native methods (menubars, system trays, pop-ups, etc.) and not that rewarding. It's easier to extend a codebase using native tools for the interface.Proof of concept: IOS7Crypt http://yellosoft.us/index.php?id=55This app has a ridiculous amount of ports in assorted languages and toolkits. I've done it with Perl, Python, Java, Lua, Ruby, C, C++, and Objective C; on Tkinter, wxWidgets, Gtk, Qt, Glade, Cocoa, Windows forms, Swing, and HTML/Rails. Ultimately, I just use the command line interface and simple Mac/Windows/Linux GUIs. The screenshots are Cocoa, because it naturally looks the best!newLISP version coming soon. |
Review my app | okeumeni: Good idea, nice interface, great design. Now is the time to hit the road and build user base, later think seriously of making money; potential is there.Just one thing the Geography flash seems to be down. |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | vorador: I'm quite surprised to see that nobody has mentioned fltk (http://fltk.org). It is light, easy to use, and it uses a modified gpl license that allows linking against non-free code. And it has native look and feel too... |
eye care.. how long do you wear your contacts, etc | pstinnett: Paul - I have terrible vision, but I found that switching contact types has definitely reduced irritation. What brand are you using? I switched from standard Acuvue 2 to Acuvue Oasys. I keep my contacts in about as long as you (18 hrs) and I'm in front of a computer for most of that time during the week. Prior to the switch I wasn't able to keep my contacts in even 9 hours without irritation (while in front of a computer). |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | rmk: I've worked with Qt.
It's great -- C++ and cumbersome build procedure notwithstanding.
The API is also nice.
Further, it works on embedded platforms too (think cellphones).There is a PyQt, but the last time I tried it, it wasn't as mature as I wanted it to be. Maybe you can give that a try. |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | pg: Twitter's more than a company. It's a new protocol. (That's what makes it such a big deal; new protocols are rare.) So it is no more wrong to find lots of people building things on it than it would have been, at the corresponding time, to find lots of people building things on http or email. |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | brk: Twitter kind of seems to be one of those you "get it" or you don't things right now. Some people are wild fans, other people think it's a worst-of hybrid of IRC and SMS.I've been using Twitter, and I find it mildly entertaining. The business uses somewhat elude me, as the more people you follow the harder it is to see the nuggets of useful info in between updates of the weather and what people are eating for lunch.The marketing types obviously love Twitter, but they seem to consume any new mechanism for connecting with "eyeballs" at rapidly increasing alarming rates.So, I'm not tired of the Twitter apps. Some of them have been useful or interesting to me (there was one today, whoshouldifollow.com), and others that seem completely useless (won't name names). |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | chrido: use xul + xpcom(powers firefox, songbird, miro, thunderbird, activestate commodo ....) |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | clintjhill: You aren't the only one thinking it's a waste of resources. However I learned a little bit from the argument I received when I submitted about this recently.http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=417522In my post I was speaking to the "I did this in X hours" kinds of projects I was seeing. I said there ought to be better problems to hunt down and solve. Some railed against me saying I didn't talk about big enough problems. Some said beginners ought to do things that are "quick and easy" as to gain feedback and see a project through.I don't buy any of that. I'm going on my 10th year of software development and almost everyday I find myself feeling like a beginner. And I still see Twitter based apps finding "oops" in tweets to be a pretty big waste when our school systems can't properly share data. However I obviously haven't found a way to articulate my feelings in the best way yet.I learned that not everyone cares about "good problems". They care about "cool problems". The good problems are the ones that are hard and may take more than 4 hours to really even understand. And probably quite longer to solve. The cool problems are much different. They aren't problems really and are mostly made up features looking for an audience.There are many people smarter than I that will call Twitter a protocol and liken it to the next sliced bread. I look at the schools my daughters will be attending and I wonder why they can't get their crap together. |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | jimrandomh: Where GUI toolkits are concerned, simplicity and C are mutually exclusive, because C just isn't a good language for them. |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | kleneway: I'm tired of them, too. However, here are a few areas where I think building a Twitter app can be useful.First, if you take advantage of the fact that a semi-interesting Twitter app can get lots of press right now, you can use it as a way to promote your real money-maker app. For hackers, it's probably way more fun (and cheap) to spend a day building an app than sending 50 Emails to bloggers begging for a post.Second, if you truly do it on your downtime for your the pure joy of imagining something and seeing it come to life. Wasting time is relative, it's more productive than watching TV, playing WoW or Xbox, random web surfing, etc... |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | floozyspeak: Nope. Its all just mass experimentation. 100 apps may come but 8 will stick. You can either participate in the mass testing or just kick back and watch for the sticky ones to surface in adoption. |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | okeumeni: We see a lot of garbage Twitter App these days; mostly people don’t think trough before posting some crap online. Because Twitter idea and app look and feel so simple folks think they can just bring anything up and hit the jackpot.This should apply to any App idea: Think the dam thing thru before making fun of yourself!!! |
Getting accepted into a top level CS program. | fadmmatt: I got my Ph.D. in CS from Georgia Tech (I think it's #9 according to the joke that is US News), and I'm a prof at the University of Utah. Here are my three points of advice:1. PUBLISH!
2. PUBLISH!!
3. PUBLISH!!!When I'm reviewing applicants for admission, I look at three things: (1) prior research, (2) letters of recommendation and (3) personal statement. I look at them in that order.I don't care whether you came from MIT or Bumblefark State U. I don't care whether your GPA was a 2.0 or a 4.0. I don't care whether your Math GRE is an 800 or a 600. I won't look at your transcript either.I care only about your potential to do research with me. (Keep this in mind when you're choosing which areas and which professors you'd like to work with on the application; it will determine who sees your application.)My last piece of advice would be to consider a broad range of schools. The rankings put out by US News are completely off base. Many "lowly ranked" schools have deep strengths in particular areas.Northeastern University, for instance, has an outstanding programming languages faculty, but they get no credit for it in the rankings.I'll also plug the University of Utah as a great place to come for programming languages/compilers, formal methods, graphics and scientific computing. |
How to make something awesome out of Motion Detection | noonespecial: Please make an app that will aim and fire my usb missile launcher at my cat when it jumps up on my desk to have a nice stomp across my keyboard in my absence.I'm tired of retuning to find a wtf message from a random contact because I apparently IM'ed "zdever yr tn mnyuk,lo" while I was in the shower.Oh.. you meant a commercial application. Sorry, can't help you there. :) |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | sidsavara: Note, I may be biased as I just started (literally 12 hours ago) building my own twitter app last nightIt doesn't bother me that there is innovation, but I do get tired of seeing them on Hacker News unless it is something that has been created by someone/group I consider part of the hacker news communityBut that's because I would be interested in any hacker created product. I enjoy some of the "I did this in X hours" kinds of projectsOn days when I'm not in the mood for it, I let them slideOf course, I'm not saying anybody else's opinion is less valid - some people may be sick of them, and I can understand that. I get tired of seeing updates to stories that I wasn't interested in to begin with, but there is little I can do about that as well =) |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | rokhayakebe: You are not tired of Twitter apps. You are tired of someone slapping something together without much due diligence, calling it a startup, and hopping they will get techcrunched, raise venture capital and finally get acquired early on for the low 7 figures. That's what you are tired of.But you cannot blame someone who is trying to make it out of the rat race. At least they are competing. They will probably build 12 "stupid" apps before finding lucky 13. That last one will be the result of their pointless Twitter apps and honest feedbacks. |
What bookmarklets do you use? | prakash: Hacker News & New Mogul. |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | AndrewWarner: I'm tired of all these apps asking for my password. |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | sjs382: I'm not /tired/ of them, but I'm not interested in most of the apps that relate with how people use twitter: twitter clients, twitter recommendations, etc.What I am EXTREMELY interested in is two things:1. Data-mining twitter
2. Twitter as an interface for other (standalone) applications such as rememberthemilk, sugarstats, mymilemarker, etc. |
Where to find a partner/developer for a micro project | tocomment: Maybe tell us more? |
Review my app | mmcelhinney: I really like this idea. I am about to release a couple apps on the app store, and would be interested in using reviewrobot.I am interested in how and when you will be reporting the data back to your servers. Do you send this info every time the app starts and stops, or collect the data locally and then periodically report it back.Great idea. |
Where to find a partner/developer for a micro project | wesley: You made it, this is it. This is the place. |
Where to find a partner/developer for a micro project | Dilpil: www.rentacoder.com, whatever you do though, do NOT go with the lowest bidder. |
AWS or dedicated server? | taw: I'd say Amazon is a lot easier to configure than real hardware, even if you've never used it before. Just use some web admin front-end like Rightscale, and premade images with Ubuntu, Centos, or whatever you like. |
How to make something awesome out of Motion Detection | noodle: cheaper and more effective security systems. something that the average homeowner can install and integrate to their home network, without having the need for calling in a pro.detect motion, follow it, or zoom in on it, or whatever. |
What bookmarklets do you use? | trickjarrett: 1. I use one for shortening: Bit.ly
2. I have HN for submitting
3. I have a tumblr I use as a personal bookmark repo for coding related finds
4. Send to ReadBag
5. And one for subscribing on Individurls.com (though that one gets very little use) |
What bookmarklets do you use? | nirmal: WAG : http://www.library.gatech.edu/search/WAG_faq.php#1GmailThis : http://contrapants.org/blog/2005/07/gmailthis.htmlTweetpage : http://www.nirmalpatel.com/web.html#tweetpage (shameless plug)Awesome Highlighter : http://www.awesomehighlighter.com/user/welcome/FindInPage : http://www.lifeclever.com/17-powerful-bookmarklets-for-your-... (for iPod Touch version of Safari) |
Where to find a partner/developer for a micro project | andrewljohnson: You should just do it yourself. This doesn't sound like a "micro-project," and you aren't going to be able to find a programmer who wants to do this for a "micro-payment." If it is a "micro-project" for a programmer, then that programmer is elite, and you can expect him to have a macro-hourly wage requirement.Why don't you go ahead and list what you expect to pay for this project, and then the readers of this forum can let you know if you're off base, and by how much. If it's a very good and fair payment, I'm sure someone will offer to do it.In fact, I know an excellent iPhone programmer who would be interested. |
Average Screen Resolution? | HNbansScience: Screen Resolution market share:
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=17 Resolution Total Market Share
1024 x 768 36.66%
1280 x 800 19.62%
1280 x 1024 12.68%
1440 x 900 8.30%
1680 x 1050 5.48%
800 x 600 4.49%
1152 x 864 2.88%
1920 x 1200 1.86%
1280 x 768 1.82%
1280 x 960 0.92%
1400 x 1050 0.72%
1600 x 1200 0.65%
1280 x 720 0.59%
320 x 396 0.53%
1366 x 768 0.24%
1024 x 600 0.24%
1360 x 768 0.21%
1280 x 854 0.20%
1152 x 720 0.14%
1600 x 900 0.13%
1344 x 840 0.12%
1920 x 1080 0.10%
2560 x 1600 0.09%
1024 x 640 0.08%
Unknown 0.06%
640 x 480 0.06%
1536 x 960 0.06%
240 x 320 0.05%
1600 x 1024 0.05%
240 x 160 0.04% |
Ask HN:How to get an internship with a VC Backed Startup | brk: Throw your credentials together and hit up some companies that you admire.VC backed companies are almost always fond of free labor, provided that it is good labor.At a past company, I had some guy come to our office looking for an intern position. He was just going to various companies in the office complex where we were based and seeing what they had available. I liked his drive and the fact that he seemed to present himself well, so I gave him a job for 2 summers. It was a good deal for both of us, he learned a ton, and was cheap labor :) |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | trapper: I am sick of the recency bias. It turns smart programmers into blackbirds with the "oooh shiny" phenomenon. People are spending more time keeping up with things that just don't matter. I know I certainly spend much less time scouring research sites (pubmed/citeseer et al) than before. |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | lpgauth: I wonder why twitter doesn't build a application platform like facebook? |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | blableblable: I have also run into this problem. I have tried at different moments in time Gtk, it's C++ bindings, wxWidgets, Java+AWT/Swing, Qt.I couldn't agree more that all of them have major drawbacks. We need a good, simple to use, well-designed, fast cross-platform C library.Do you care to start doing it? Other than doing your own, I think the most sensible choice is wxWidgets, which, from my point of view, only has one big problem: the API (i.e. code doesn't look pretty, bad C++ (no exceptions), and it can take a while to compile). |
Where to find a partner/developer for a micro project | epi0Bauqu: Paid app? Splitting the revenue? |
Ask HN:How to get an internship with a VC Backed Startup | shafqat: Shoot me an e-mail (shafqat at newscred dot com)... We might have an open position, but can also point you to some others. |
Where to find a partner/developer for a micro project | jbrun: To be very precise, the following is what I want to do. Please don't steal my idea. I am not a programmer, but I do run the site www.nimonik.ca and can do the design/marketing/admin.1. Automate a scraper to pull data from the PDF files found here: http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=65,2151455&#...2. Have that data in a basic mysql db that can interact with the UI found here: http://www.pnika.com/hockey3. Package into an iphone app and submit to app store. |
sendmail vs mailto: links for viral content sharing? | qhoxie: Having each user do their own sending seems like a more scalable and robust solution to me. But it doesn't seem to be standard practice with similar apps. Any thoughts on why? Are there a significant percentage of folks who don't have an email client set up correctly for mailto: to work?It might be more scalable, but it's (in my mind) not more robust. Most people I know use webmail with no mailto setup.The impact will really depend on your content and your audience. Is your audience savvy enough to Copy Email Address if they don't have a mail client setup? Is your content worth their trouble to do so? |
UNIX / Command Line tutorial for non-dummies | motoko: Please set up automatic system imaging for your server (e.g. Slicehost backups). The biggest barrier to learning is fear, so it helps him to know that he can press the "undo button" for the entire system at any time.Other than that, I recommend letting him watch you use the terminal for 20 minutes to show him what proficient console use looks like. Advanced commands can be Googled later, and those "Unix Cheat Sheets" and cram tutorials were always simultaneously too complex and too simplistic for me to ever find useful. A working understanding would be more valuable. |
UNIX / Command Line tutorial for non-dummies | Kaizyn: Can anyone without shell/cli knowledge really be called an experienced user? |
UNIX / Command Line tutorial for non-dummies | nailer: Make your own. Most Unix tutorials are particularly poor: as Unix attracts people who like technology (good thing), documentation is technology focused rather than task focused (bad thing).* Logging in* Making a test file. Making folders, copying, moving, removing files and folders.* Show how the filesystem standard sorts files by type (binary, system binary, library, config files and service scripts) and by importance (required to recover the system in an emergency).* Disk management - learning how volumes are attached to different folders (the filesystem table), and how volumes are named* Installing software packages* Starting, stopping, restarting, and checking the status of services* Managing processes, using kill/killall and kill -KILL/killall -KILL |
What bookmarklets do you use? | adityakothadiya: Delicious - Just can't live without this. This is the only Yahoo property I love and use heavily. |
UNIX / Command Line tutorial for non-dummies | parenthesis: The first few chapters of The Unix Programming Environment by Kernighan and Pike give an excellent introduction to basic Unix concepts and usage. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | ltbarcly: 4% of 0 is 0, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you don't have a no-compete, which it sounds like you don't since there isn't any company to have an agreement with at this point, I would offer him a full 40% and walk away.There is no such thing as 'very knowledgeable in technology and the web'. Either they know how to program or they don't. If they don't, odds are they will be expecting you to put in long long hours while they surf news sites and dick around and pretend to be really busy.And if they knew all about business they wouldn't have needed to take 50k from an angel, since they could have written a check with the proceeds of all their prior business success. 50k would pay for a single programmer to work for 4 months or so...Oh, there is an alternative. Agree that when you get a first round of funding or make a profit that you'll be paid for all the hours you work at some reasonable rate (maybe $60 per hour). They should get paid for the hours they work also, but obviously since you are the only one actually doing anything I wouldn't let them bill more than 5 or 10 hours a week. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | andrewljohnson: Any start-up with 2 business guys and change, and one hacker, isn't starting out very well.Why don't you start a company and take 100% of the equity? |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | tjic: > This is an anonymous account.> the first two founders, Austin and Michael...It may be an anonymous account, but I hope you realize that you've just made an un-anonymous post...>I originally was to receive 20%...Lesson learned the hard way: at your next startup, don't do any work until this stuff is nailed down.> I surely don't want to cause any conflicts at allWrong attitude. That's EXACTLY what someone who's trying to steal 4% of the company from you wants to hear.> What do you think I do?Determine your BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement). Maybe that's bending over and taking 16%. Maybe it's walking.Figure out what you want to do, then do it. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | brk: I don't have time to type out a long answer, so forgive me if this brief version comes off too harsh.It seems like you haven't had a success yet with another startup, and a solid track record will, over time, be far more valuable than the 4% you're squabbling over.Concentrate on making the company work (but also make it clear you don't intend to give up any more equity). Use this as a learning experience, and go into your next company stronger and wiser.Given the very frail odds of success most startups have, it is likely not worth your time obsessing over this. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | otoburb: At some point, you need to be able to stick up for yourself and rationally discuss tough issues amongst yourselves.If you can't stand up for yourself here, you should understand that this may lead to the future concessions based on a past history of being "easily swayed".Discuss this with your co-founders and be open about the situation. Better to get past the tough inter-personal issues early, rather than later when it will become even more complicated and difficult to turn back on sunk costs. |
UNIX / Command Line tutorial for non-dummies | brianm: Get a copy of http://www.amazon.com/Power-Tools-Third-Shelley-Powers/dp/05... and experiment with interesting topics in it. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | vaksel: are you getting a salary on top of equity? |
sendmail vs mailto: links for viral content sharing? | mooism2: Most people who use webmail won't be able to use mailto: links. (Yes, I have set up my Firefox install to use Gmail for mailto: urls, but I'd been using Firefox a while before I discovered this was possible.)Also, people using it from work might not want it using their work e-mail address and going through their work's mail server. |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | tocomment: I agree, it's another form of throwing sheep. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | lbrandy: I'm pretty amazed that after an apparent agreement someone would decide that you and him both getting 20% wasn't enough and he needed 24% at your expense.That's a pretty ridiculous move for someone to make, in my view. It goes well beyond dollars and cents, I'd think. It's obviously not about the percentage points. Losing 4% isn't that big of a deal, and yet neither is gaining 4%. But asking someone who is roughly equal to you to accept this type of agreement isn't trivial. You should probably ask yourself why this person was willing to go through all this potential heartache including the personal issues such a move would cause for a measly 4%. |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | nickb: Some people never learn what the true meaning of a sharecropper is. If you're developing an app for Twitter, make it a part of your marketing budget and don't build your whole business around it. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | utsmokingaces: Ask for 20% or even more. Ownership is not everything it is the ONLY thing! If you are the sole developer, a indispensable part of the startup, you should be able to get you fair share. Stop all work until you do.Starting work before the official incorporation can be a good thing if you can show that you are a damn good developer.
Having a mba degree and being knowledgeable in "entrepreneurship" and "technology" doesn't mean shit in this arena. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | tptacek: If you're not getting paid, and the business is pre-revenue, you're a founder. You can build a track record with people who aren't going to dick you over. They're reneging now; they'll renege later. |
UNIX / Command Line tutorial for non-dummies | silentbicycle: Note: This is more of a long-term-understanding answer than a quick-tutorial answer.If he wants to understand Unix, The Unix Programming Environment by Kernighan and Pike is good (as parenthesis also noted). Also, say what you will about ESR, his The Art of Unix Programming (http://www.faqs.org/docs/artu/) explains the rationale behind most of the design ideas common in Unix, as well as various historical accidents that have influenced it. (It more about Unix's design/culture than programming, IMHO.) Plus, free online.In particular, Unix will probably seem really awkward and limited until he really deeply gets the idea of doing things by composing relatively simple programs. There are a few other idioms fundamental to Unix, but that's probably the big one. (That would probably be easier if he had experience with Haskell, incidentally; Unix pipe IO can be very similar to monads.)A general (perhaps very general) understanding of C will also go a long way, particularly with understanding the mindset behind the man pages. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | siong1987: The best option for me is that both you and michael give up 1.5% to Austin(total 3%). And, tell him that both of you already lose 1.5% and he only losts 1% since he initially demands 4%(4-3=1). I think he will be satisfied with this option.Anyway, I am more interested in knowing how this startup goes on with two business guys and one developer. Could you please update us more with this dummy account again? Thank you. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | jodrellblank: One designer/developer, 20% equity down to 16%, doesn't want to make a fuss and still likes and is impressed with them and believes they are all for what makes everyone more motivated.they're very knowledgeable in business/entrepreneurship.They sure are.However, I think that I'm entitled to a bit more than 16%Entitled how? It's an agreement - whatever you can all agree with. |
UNIX / Command Line tutorial for non-dummies | bprater: Does he actually want to know more about the command line? If he's not, I wouldn't waste your effort. Some people aren't learners, they just want to accomplish a task.If he is, definitely hook him up with a tutorial. I like the idea of letting him peek over your shoulder as you work.Ultimately, there are very few commands you need to know to get started. This might work: - Move around the file system, echo the current path
- List the files (in the various ways you can do this)
- Create and edit a file (nano?)
- Move and delete the file
- Very brief overview of permissions
- A primer on user directories and how to get back there easily
I think that would get the average Joe enough tools to get going. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | webwright: I'd say that you haven't provided enough info.Important data points include:- How long did they do the startup before you? Did they take more risk? Is anyone getting paid now? If they got it to the point of being angel funded, they've hit a milestone and might deserve a bit extra. I dunno why Austin would deserve more than Michael.- What do they do for the startup? Is Austin valuable? Experienced? Expensive? Incredibly knowledgeable about the market you're attacking? If he's verifiably badass and is critical to the success of the company, he might deserve more. If he's setting aside a $250k gig, he's probably risking more than you and might deserve more.- You're clearly valuable from a implementation angle... Is the startup solving a technology problem? Sure there's coding, but if you're building a niche CMS for dentists or something, technology isn't going to make or break you. Sales will.On a higher level, my gut tells me that the team composition is off. Two guys who don't design or code and one guy (you) who does both? Totally depends on the type of business, but for many startups I'd wonder what they're doing all day for the first 3-6 months. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | motoko: Simply say that your 20% was already agreed to and that it's not negotiable. It seems to me (and of course, I can't know from short post) that Austin is negotiating for the sake of negotiating... maybe because he was taught to be a "hard charger" in business school? Regardless, you have already framed the situation as "try to receive more." No, you already have 20%, and now Austin wants 4% of your 20%. The answer is "no," unless you have something you want to "purchase" for your 4%. |
Ask HN:How to get an internship with a VC Backed Startup | yeti: We have had a couple of CS interns work with us (1 on remote basis), and it's been great for both sides.. send me an email if you're interested simon a/t frenzoo d/o/t com. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | trevelyan: You clearly don't have a written agreement about equity stakes. Otherwise you would be getting screwed in much more interesting ways. So it sounds like you don't have 20% equity you have 0% equity. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | pg: If they offered you 20% initially, they're obliged to give it to you. Once someone names a number, they have to stick to it. |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | officiallyrad: Haha, I had the same thought today : http://twitter.com/officiallyrad/status/1102966972(I know, kind of ironic I posted it on twitter...) |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | gojomo: With whom was the arrangement that you get 20%? Austin, Michael, and the Angel? Some subset?If Austin agreed you would have 20%, but now wants some of that back, some options other than shifting the full 4% from you to him include:- be firm: tell Austin to stick to his agreement; dare him to leave. (If he quit another job, and is fighting for an extra 4%, he thinks the company is valuable. And even if they're great guys, does the company need two non-coders at this pre-incorporation stage?)- acquiesce but in an equitable fashion: agree that as a beautiful and unique snowflake, Austin deserves 4% more... but take it pro-rata from all other partners (including the angel if at all possible)- seek compromise: while asserting that the original 20% agreements for you and he should stand, also say you respect his unique value, his longer tenure as a contributor, other opportunities he gave up, whatever in his mind justifies 24%. (Also, perhaps, that you've drawn a small stipend from invested funds while he may not have.) So offer to cede to him a little of what he wants. At the smallest, this is 1% more for Austin taken pro-rata from everyone; at its largest this might be 2-3% from you given to him. If his real psychological need is just acknowledgment of his slightly-higher founder status, even a slight 1% bump may be enough to put the renegotiation behind everyone.Also consider whether the level he's seeking, in combination with other owners, changes the possible majority-interest (50%+epsilon) coalitions. That may be the real agenda.Sticking up for yourself is important so you are respected and fairly treated in the future. (It's also a signal that you highly value and are dedicated to the company, and can discuss difficult issues involving founder tradeoffs.) On the other hand, seeking a mutual compromise, if Austin does have any plausible claim to greater value/sacrifice/seniority, shows a willingness to be flexible in aligning interests. Just make sure if you compromise you earn some kudos for a being a team player who is owed some slack in the next dispute.If negotiations get stuck, and the Angel is truly locked at their share, perhaps they can be a neutral mediator. Or maybe there's another person everyone trusts.Usually, someone in particular is the de facto leader/prime-instigator/CEO. Whoever this is should nudge everyone towards a fair resolution (which might be 'live with the original split' if the original split was a firm and well-understood arrangement). Otherwise, this leader is abdicating their responsibility for establishing an environment of trust and predictability.I've given Austin some benefit-of-doubt in the above options -- there legitimately may have been some tentativeness about the original split discussions, or some reason he has greater value and deserves greater equity. But if in fact Austin is the 'de facto CEO', I'd be more worried. This sets a precedent of him renegotiating to his own benefit, which could turn toxic down the road. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | dkokelley: Don't look at it as losing 4%. Look at it as you are losing 20% of your stake (4/20). Are you willing to leave 20% of what you were originally supposed to receive to Austin?Another point to consider: In the end, 4% worth of equity won't make or break anyone (unless it tips the balance of power), seeing as if the company is successful you will all be "rich" in some sense. The issue is not 4%, but working with someone who demands it, and demands it from you only it appears.Why is Michael ok with Austin getting more than he is? Was the startup all Austin's idea? Did Austin contribute more? Is it all a seniority thing (Austin was there first, then Michael, then you)? Also, you never specified what Michael and the Angel's shares were. I'm assuming that the Angel got 40% while the three founders originally planned for 20% each.I would stand my ground and say I was working for 20% + stipend and that's what I expect AND now that it was threatened I want it in writing before moving forward. It should take the 3 of you no more than 30 minutes to have a meeting to agree on it and write up a simple contract for each of you. Then again, contracts can be messy and you should cover your bases (what work is required of each of you, how long the contract is good for - until incorporation when a final contract is created I would imagine - and what happens is someone doesn't deliver). Sorry if that sounds like conflicting advice. Get a lawyer. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | skmurphy: I am trying to reconcile "angel funded" with "we're incorporating soon."Was Austin not happy with 20% or was he not happy with you and he each getting 20%? The difference between 20 and 24 (or 16 and 20 for that matter) is going to be hard to detect for the likely range of exits.Also "not happy" before you've incorporated is not a good reason to change equity: you should have a rationale based on expected contribution and degree of risk (and/or whatever other factors you three feel are appropriate). But "I want more than you" is not a good discussion to be having now. |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | sam_in_nyc: I've noticed this trend as well.I think the lesson here is that the simpler the idea, the better. Let communities of people who care do the work for you. If you can provide some sort of platform, even if it is something as simple as: "140 chars or less text comments, sent to people who choose to see them, and allowing these text comments to be sent from multiple sources."Don't get me started about how over hyped twitter is. It's got a great name and got insanely lucky with its adoption... and if someone could write up a blog entry about how they got so popular that would be great as well. They must have had some popular early adopters.Back to the "app a day" (pun intended) topic. I wonder to myself, are these apps meant to make money, or are they just people playing around? Have any serious twitter apps, besides summize, been acquired?I think the more abstract trend, at the moment, is "hack something together in a few days and see what happens." Things along the line of http://nowdothis.com.My gut tells me they see a spike in traffic, then nobody really cares. What people want now is stuff that connects them to other people, easily. JuicyCampus, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, etc. It's about being social in the right way. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | cmos: If there is a vesting period, perhaps negotiate that to be shorter. Often times a founders shares will vest over time, so that if you quit in a month you don't retain an inappropriate amount of the company compared to the effort put in. Since you are taking a 'hit', that could be a beneficial negotiation. Read the paperwork. Three times. Make sure you understand every sentence.You are asking us because you feel like you've been taken. You were told (promised?) that you would get 20%. Now it's down to 16% because someone's a crybaby, and your the only one getting shorted.There's simply no right answer about what to do. And that's the crappy part about starting a company. Sometimes the rules change. Sometimes people are mean. Sometimes you get screwed. Staying with the company could either be the smartest thing or the dumbest thing you ever do. You asked for advice, so your not 100% on staying. But that also means your not 100% on leaving. So you see potential.If you really don't know, stay. If it's fun, keep going. If not, bail instantly. This is your 'get out of jail free with no guilt' card. Later on, if things are crappy, and you just want to leave, but everyone is depending on you to work for cheap and slug through it more, and you just don't see it going anywhere, or realize it's not fun, or it turns out these guys really are assholes (which hopefully would show itself sooner, if not now) and no, you don't want to spend every waking moment of your life with them, you can just quit. |
A Riddle for an emacs User | sharkbrainguy: Yes.To do number 2, you'll need mozrepl.http://hyperstruct.net/projects/mozreplWhy are you doing 1 & 3? |
A Riddle for an emacs User | olefoo: browse-url-of-buffer (C-c C-v) followed by Alt-tab to get back to emacs.You could look into scripting your window manager. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | sam_in_nyc: I was involved in a much similar situation... a start-up with 2 business guys and 3 tech guys. The tech team was 3 not-yet-graduated students, and we were always suspicious of the business guys.However things turn out, just be sure that your "%" is the same kind of "%" as theirs is -- if your shares get diluted, so do theirs. This way, all interests are aligned: you all have slices of the same pie, and work to make that pie larger.From what you've posted, it seems completely unfair for the 4% to come from you alone. It should be diluted from the remaining 80% not owned by Austin, and it should be agreed upon by all that own that 80%. In other words, it shouldn't be Austin asking you for 4%, it should be Austin asking everyone involved for 4%.Best of luck. |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | malkia: How about JUCE - http://rawmaterialsoftware.com/juce/It's for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.Nice C++ source base. |
An acceptable cross-platform GUI toolkit? | malkia: Also LispWorks has nice cross-platform GUI called CAPI - http://www.lispworks.com/products/capi.html |
Am I the only one tired of Twitter apps? | puzzle-out: Having recently moved back to London, and experienced the world of the corporate commuter, I firmly take the line that any entrepreneurial activity that is not illegal or immoral should be celebrated. The real waste in places like the UK remains the lack of preparedness to create something and try to make some money from it. |
What to do in an equity disagreement in a startup | puzzle-out: This could be pure speculation, as I don't know the details, but it seems Michael messed up the negotiations with the angel, and is trying to rectify it by negotiating you down. I'm not a hacker, more the business person, and when negotiating with hackers I offer a relatively low equity stake, fully expecting to be pushed up - to invert this process like Michael, well, if you get close to an exit, make sure he isn't in charge of negotiations with the buyer. |
Do you criticize? | satyajit: First thing in your NY resolution would be then not to have a loginid 'critic' :-) |
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