Hello everyone, this is the infamous #2 here. Yes, I am a co-founder of a new Web 2.0 startup and do have the Hacker News RSS feed on my homepage. Airing our dirty laundry in a public forum wasn't my decision, but. . .
I feel like I have to defend myself a bit about all of the negative comments. We are clearly in the product development stage and I'm not a developer, so my efforts are focused on enabling #1 to spend 100% of his time on product development. I have 2 years VC experience and 3 years LBO experience (where I am now), so I do all the legal agreements (options, LLC filings, prop rights agreements, Trademark filings, contribution/consulting agreements, etc.) and I'm the one that negotiates and drafts terms for all of our other developers (they tend to come and go due to the lack of cash to pay). I file taxes, pay the bills, and track financials to report to investors on a quarterly basis. I prepare executive summaries to send to prospective investors and submit to conferences. I am the one that plays "bad cop" with the developers when things aren't going well or they are underferforming so #1 can maintain a good working relationship. I help with design, layout, and other ideas related to the site, mainly with UI, new features, and catching bugs/fixes. I interact often with our Alpha users to stay in touch with what they need and what they want. Soon I will start helping with writing tests since I asked #1 what I could do to help more directly with Beta short of learning Ruby. Some of the toughest decisions that we face having so much to do with so few resources to do it with is WHAT to work on, and I try to have open conversations with the team to make sure we're prioritizing everything right and agree as a group, because startups tend to start to ramble along unless we discuss what we absolutely need to get out the door every week. So, I wouldn't say that I don't do anything, but rather I don't do anything to ease the bottleneck, which is currently product development. #1 and I came up with the idea on a phone call a while back and it has become what it is today, so I truly am an original co-founder. It's also important to note that #1 and I started another internet company in college which worked out well considering it was a one semester project. We are also best friends.
I just got married 2 weeks ago and have a job that I can't just bounce back into ever again. My entire family is in the Midwest and there are few good PE shops there. Getting a job in PE is really hard. I believe one in 50 Harvard MBAs can get one, and I was fortunate enought to get one at a good firm in the midwest near my family. So quitting my job is not something I take lightly, but I am open to it. #1 was previously an independent consultant that can easily get a job as good or better within months. He is a tremendously talented developer and I'm proud to call him my co-founder. When you say "risk", I'm not sure you can compare one man's risk of quitting with anothers. Different industry, different pay, different location, different circumstances. #1 and I had the discussion of what it would take for me to quit on day 1. I said a significant capital raise (I tossed out $500k-$1mm+) or a really strong user ramp. I spend nearly all my free time (I work a LOT, so there's not much) on this startup. For me to dedictate my only 2 free hours a day to this is a lot, especially considering my recent marriage, but I do it anyway. I would not call this a lack of dedication at all. I've taken 1 C++ class in my life, so convincing me to quit my job to learn to code is a bit far-fetched. We know what we need, we just need the developers to create it, but using me as a developer does not seem like the right decision.
I really don't think the issue here is that I suck, I think it's that I'm not a developer. Things took longer than expected to get off the ground as far as product developement and #1 is getting antsy, and understandably so. We've gone through several equity-only developers that, in the end, may have taken up more of #1's time then they were worth. I've tried getting in touch with the Universities CS departments where #1 lives to try to get some local candidates to get a better startup culture/environment going since I'm in a different location than #1, but there aren't many resumes that come across with Ruby experience.
If I'm in the way of making this a success, I'm willing to do what it takes to remove me as an obstacle. I guess (no offense) I'm just not convinced that YC and $15,000 is what it takes to make this a success. I think another full-time talented developer that can work with #1 in the same city would do wonders, and I'm willing to cough up the equity. Now that everyone knows the full story, I'd be interested to hear some feedback. Maybe the feedback is still that I suck, but at least you have my side of the story. If everyone thinks YC is critical to where we are going and if PG would admit #1 if I stepped down and re-worked the equity I would be willing to do that. The important part is that I'm a fair, honest, and flexible guy and just want this to be a success. I understand my lack of development is not really helping us right now, but my "non-production" contributions should not be overlooked either.
I apologize for airing our dirty laundry here, but I felt I had to respond once it was up.
It's obvious where your priorities are (family/wife, career/money) and at this early stage where product development is driven by coders that need to go full steam ahead, you're not in a position to help.
When your product gains more traction and more attention, you should step back in and help. Your experience in terms of financing and business development will be of better use then.
The timing, unfortunately, just isn't right. Number 1 should move to the West Coast, live for a few months, mingle with people, latch on with a couple of more developers and then give you a call a couple months down the road.
This is #2 again. I think you're getting to part of the issue here. We need to be coding full-steam ahead and we need more coders - it is the clear bottleneck. We can either do that through money or options. To date, we have been cycling through developers with all options, but we have found that it's hard to source good ones, and they often move on by the time we've gotten a return from the time spent getting them familiar with the code. The current course is to have #1 and #3 crank out some code in the next month, launch Beta, and go after another round of funding to hire some full-time developers to join #1.
I don't think what I mentioned above or what you mention in your post means that I have to "step back" or "step down". I do everything but code, enabling those that code to be as efficient as possible. You said yourself that the product is currently "driven by coders that need to go full steam ahead" and I'm not in a position to help. If #1 had to figure out all the legal documentation, pay taxes, manage cash, put together marketing materials, respond to users, find and log bugs, put together investor reports, file trademarks, etc. would our development would be going "full steam ahead"? Also, do you think the quality of that stuff would be the same coming from a developer? I'm also guessing it would cost a considerable amount of money. I'm not sure how I'm not in a position to help and what good "stepping back" would do. If #1 wants to move, network, and take greater risks, I'm open to talking about re-working equity, but saying that I'm just going to drop off the earth for 2 months until I get a call is just rediculous.
It seems you guys are very talented and work well together. Being able to communicate about difficult issues is a good sign IMHO.
Now with the 1% of information I have, I would say:
#1, I think you have to head to the Valley and find another hacker. #2, maybe you could pay for two months rent for #1 and travel costs? Hopefully by then you could have another hacker and get this thing out. It seems that YC would help but it sounds like you need to do this with or w/o YC.
Have you launched the beta yet? IMHO, 10 months is way too long to still be developing the initial version. Once you get the thing out there, if it's good, it will be easier to find people.
> 10 months is way too long to still be developing the initial version
dude, I know. Actually, we have had a private alpha up for 6 months. Changed lots of things, added lots of things, and getting ready for our public launch. Actually, we're calling it "beta" but I'm probably not going to use the "beta" label publicly.
It sounds like you're the kind of guy with the contacts and skills necessary to make deals, Why not skip YC and go straight for a large angel or VC investment? A large part of what YC brings is business knowledge and contacts for hackers, you probably have that covered.
And while I'm dishing out arbitrary advice, it sounds like #1 is not trying to hire people as good or better than he is. Specific Ruby experience probably isn't as important as the brains and attitude of the hacker. You're going to have to bring anyone up to speed, just make sure they are worth the effort.
I feel like I have to defend myself a bit about all of the negative comments. We are clearly in the product development stage and I'm not a developer, so my efforts are focused on enabling #1 to spend 100% of his time on product development. I have 2 years VC experience and 3 years LBO experience (where I am now), so I do all the legal agreements (options, LLC filings, prop rights agreements, Trademark filings, contribution/consulting agreements, etc.) and I'm the one that negotiates and drafts terms for all of our other developers (they tend to come and go due to the lack of cash to pay). I file taxes, pay the bills, and track financials to report to investors on a quarterly basis. I prepare executive summaries to send to prospective investors and submit to conferences. I am the one that plays "bad cop" with the developers when things aren't going well or they are underferforming so #1 can maintain a good working relationship. I help with design, layout, and other ideas related to the site, mainly with UI, new features, and catching bugs/fixes. I interact often with our Alpha users to stay in touch with what they need and what they want. Soon I will start helping with writing tests since I asked #1 what I could do to help more directly with Beta short of learning Ruby. Some of the toughest decisions that we face having so much to do with so few resources to do it with is WHAT to work on, and I try to have open conversations with the team to make sure we're prioritizing everything right and agree as a group, because startups tend to start to ramble along unless we discuss what we absolutely need to get out the door every week. So, I wouldn't say that I don't do anything, but rather I don't do anything to ease the bottleneck, which is currently product development. #1 and I came up with the idea on a phone call a while back and it has become what it is today, so I truly am an original co-founder. It's also important to note that #1 and I started another internet company in college which worked out well considering it was a one semester project. We are also best friends.
I just got married 2 weeks ago and have a job that I can't just bounce back into ever again. My entire family is in the Midwest and there are few good PE shops there. Getting a job in PE is really hard. I believe one in 50 Harvard MBAs can get one, and I was fortunate enought to get one at a good firm in the midwest near my family. So quitting my job is not something I take lightly, but I am open to it. #1 was previously an independent consultant that can easily get a job as good or better within months. He is a tremendously talented developer and I'm proud to call him my co-founder. When you say "risk", I'm not sure you can compare one man's risk of quitting with anothers. Different industry, different pay, different location, different circumstances. #1 and I had the discussion of what it would take for me to quit on day 1. I said a significant capital raise (I tossed out $500k-$1mm+) or a really strong user ramp. I spend nearly all my free time (I work a LOT, so there's not much) on this startup. For me to dedictate my only 2 free hours a day to this is a lot, especially considering my recent marriage, but I do it anyway. I would not call this a lack of dedication at all. I've taken 1 C++ class in my life, so convincing me to quit my job to learn to code is a bit far-fetched. We know what we need, we just need the developers to create it, but using me as a developer does not seem like the right decision.
I really don't think the issue here is that I suck, I think it's that I'm not a developer. Things took longer than expected to get off the ground as far as product developement and #1 is getting antsy, and understandably so. We've gone through several equity-only developers that, in the end, may have taken up more of #1's time then they were worth. I've tried getting in touch with the Universities CS departments where #1 lives to try to get some local candidates to get a better startup culture/environment going since I'm in a different location than #1, but there aren't many resumes that come across with Ruby experience.
If I'm in the way of making this a success, I'm willing to do what it takes to remove me as an obstacle. I guess (no offense) I'm just not convinced that YC and $15,000 is what it takes to make this a success. I think another full-time talented developer that can work with #1 in the same city would do wonders, and I'm willing to cough up the equity. Now that everyone knows the full story, I'd be interested to hear some feedback. Maybe the feedback is still that I suck, but at least you have my side of the story. If everyone thinks YC is critical to where we are going and if PG would admit #1 if I stepped down and re-worked the equity I would be willing to do that. The important part is that I'm a fair, honest, and flexible guy and just want this to be a success. I understand my lack of development is not really helping us right now, but my "non-production" contributions should not be overlooked either.
I apologize for airing our dirty laundry here, but I felt I had to respond once it was up.
- #2