Yes, I was. I left the company in early December after a year of creating / maintaining the web infrastructure and e-commerce and analytics products. I accepted a co-founder title in mid-2010 but decided it wasn't a good fit shortly after and began transitioning out in late 2010.
Probably more than you wanted to know (and barely a sliver of the story), but there it is!
I was making the list of people to thank for my time on HN and when visiting ticketstumbler I came across this message. It makes me both happy and sad, sad that ticketstumbler died, happy to see that Tom has moved on and is doing something new (and a great idea too!).
Wow, thanks Jacques! I'm not convinced I've ever done something worth being thanked for, but I definitely appreciate it a lot!
Closing down TS was tough (and I squandered a few thousand dollars putting it off), but in the end I'm really glad that particular weight is off my back. Now I just need to get Swaptitude to be more of a weight, and we'll be set ;)
Good luck with Swaptitude, it definitely appears to fill a need...
I'm sorry to hear about the TicketStumbler situation; out of curiosity, did you consider selling before shutting down? If so, it would be interesting to hear why you chose to shelve it instead.
As someone in a similar situation, I gotta give you props. You lasted longer than I did. A bank would tell you that 90% of businesses in this situation fold within a few months. Add that to our already-high tech startup failure rates and you've turned a slim fighting chance into something nearly impossible to do.
Mix in the emotional motivations, and well, it's just a tough situation to be in. I applaud you for moving on and for keeping your entrepreneurial spirit alive in a new project.
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[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 64.7 ms ] threadProbably more than you wanted to know (and barely a sliver of the story), but there it is!
(Some background, if anyone needs it - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=859117)
Closing down TS was tough (and I squandered a few thousand dollars putting it off), but in the end I'm really glad that particular weight is off my back. Now I just need to get Swaptitude to be more of a weight, and we'll be set ;)
Thanks for the submission and the kind words.
I'm sorry to hear about the TicketStumbler situation; out of curiosity, did you consider selling before shutting down? If so, it would be interesting to hear why you chose to shelve it instead.
Although if your feedback is on the rather poor landing page, you should wait until the new one is up ;)
Nothing better than sincerity. Best wishes.
Mix in the emotional motivations, and well, it's just a tough situation to be in. I applaud you for moving on and for keeping your entrepreneurial spirit alive in a new project.