HN Explorer

Ask HN: I died 2 times, coma, learned how to walk again, code, now I need advice

117 points by michaelabe ↗ HN
I went through 2 aneurysms (I know unlucky), went through 2 brain surgeries, then got hit with mitral valve regurgitation which steamed from having endocarditis (rare virus that sits on the heart). Then was in a coma because of the aneurysm, when I woke up I needed to learn how to walk again. Before that I went through physical abuse, poverty, lived on my own (boarding schools, houses I rented etc) since I am 13, hustled, did drugs, and all kinds of other stupid things. Why am I telling you this on HN? Because this is part of the journey of an entrepreneur, I've been starting businesses since I am 16 as an escape to a poor reality and a bad environment, I am not from the US (from Israel) but came here (live in Palo Alto because of the amazing freedoms and opportunity that this country provides and of course to leave my junk behind. After failing many times and teaching my self how to code/design software, I am finally on a path to something that works.

I have a product with traction, revenue (I had to find a business model early on since I know no one I can raise money from). Now I am at a point where my startup is growing but I need to scale it way faster before someone comes in, its a wide open market for something that has huge revenue potential (we are making already 15K a month without trying because of our limited team of 2).

I came here because I wanted to ask for your help, how does one raise money when he knows no one, I realized that the tech industry raises money purely or mostly based on connections/introductions, I don't have that at all what should I do to get in that door?

Thank you in advance and sorry if the spelling is not perfect :)

<p>btw I am 25 yo if you are curious because usually the above sicknesses come to older people.

29 comments

[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 74.4 ms ] thread
cemetric
Hello, first let me tell you; Your perseverance will definitely help you in business. You're a strong person, I hope you can leave all bad experiences behind you and can take all experience from them that you can.

Second, it's all about networking, online, offline, doesn't matter, tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook exist for just this, networking. Start by creating a LinkedIn profile, or update your existing one and start connecting, write people. Also look for "networking events", I don't know if they exist in your neighborhood but here you can find them, these are events organized especially to get to know other people in the business (any business) you exchange cards and start conversations, these are excellent opportunities. I can go on about this but you get the idea I guess... Make yourself known, connect, socialize, in the end you will find the people you need, or they find you.

michael_dorfman
Dude: you died twice, were in a coma, learned to walk and code again-- you should be giving us advice.

My question: do you have a scalable customer acquisition model? Put another way-- if someone dropped a chunk of money in your lap, do you already know (in detail) how you would spend it to increase traction and revenue?

If so, sink as much of the 15K/month you are making into that.

Oh, and apply for YC.

Mz
Dude: you died twice, were in a coma, learned to walk and code again-- you should be giving us advice.

I'm not the OP but my experience with trying to give advice after having spent a year at death's door and recovered has not been at all positive. I really wouldn't recommend the experience.

maxbrown
While the long-term value and the use/abuse of AngelList is highly debated (see http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/26/angelist/ among others), one purpose of the site is to provide exposure to people with great ideas who don't necessarily have the connections to get them intros. It's at http://angel.co, probably worth checking out. Good luck to you!
adlep
Curious: How did you get here? Do you have some relatives that sponsored you? Make sure that you CAN legally stay and work in the US before asking for money and starting business in here. If you don't have regulated status, you can always try to find company that will be willing to sponsor you through their H1B work permit program.
vrikhter
Drop me a line vladik dot rikhter at gmail. Happy to chat and put you in touch with a few VCs and angels that I know.
raarky
so, whats your startup then? :)
michaelabe
for anyone who wants to know my startup or other things email me at fffseek@gmail.com, thank you.
dexen
You had my sympathy till this post. Why on earth not to just drop a link to your website, or, if the company doesn't use one, give name, location and such?

I can only hope it's business is not something too questionable to state it openly...

PakG1
It's possible that he just has that founder mentality that he doesn't want the secret sauce to be out so early and wants to remain stealth. Perhaps misguided, but truth be told, a lot of folks start out with that mentality.

Dude, if that's the case, there are a number of reasons why that doesn't make sense. There are probably hundreds of other people working on the exact same thing as you around the world. Secrecy will not help you compete with those people. What you need is exposure, not secrecy, to really get moving in most cases. Only in very rare cases do you want to keep secrecy. Based on statistics alone, you probably want exposure, not secrecy.

michaelabe
I am not like that at all, I gave my email below to show the product. I wanted secrecy because if I showed the product publicly people will know who I am because my name is all over the product and I just didnt want people to know certain things about my life (like physical abuse) so I prefer staying anonymous. I push my product all the time I dont believe in secrecy, stealth, etc for your startup.
Mz
In that case, it might have been better to ask for advice without including the personal info you aren't really comfortable with. (I am pretty open about the crap I have been through. I'm not successful, financially/business-wise, so perhaps it is wiser to keep the two separate, I really don't know. I just think you have created an awkward situation for yourself that could make it difficult to keep the two things separate in the future.)

Said with the absolute best of intentions and in no way intended to be snarky. I realize "good intentions" are well known to pave the way to hell. I apologize in advance if that is the case here.

zackattack
HN has great SEO you don't necessarily want this thread to appear as one of the first results...
quizbiz
Fellow Israeli immigrant here. Feel free to ping me. email in profile.

You should seriously consider applying to YC.

Be'hatzlacha

makeramen
If you're already making 15k a month, I would say just bootstrap. How much faster do you need to scale? All the YC startups this round got 150k, but you're looking at 15k*12=180k a year, that's already more than YC can offer you.

If you really need next level funding, then I would think just emailing/tweeting around would easily get you some good responses esp with your story and already proven market for your product.

rythie
YC is about get a rapid introduction to the network, which is what he needs. Also, demo-day could net $1m+ based on previous years.
[dead] bourdine
Everything that has happened to you, it's very sad. IT money is waiting from you is the same as that of other entrepreneurs - blasting projects that will benefit. Three years ago, immediately after the launch of my first startup in one month I had a 30-years crisis, then the divorce and then subsequent major depression. As a result, I went through 7 coma and tons of tranquilizators. But human body is amazing - three years of rehabilitation, and, behold, I am alive, all in the past and I am doing a new startup.
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
tophercyll
Let me start by asking $15k/month in revenue or profit? Do you have capacity to hire?

Courting investors is a full time job, but so is hiring if done right. You probably can't do both with just two of you. If the goal of raising money is to hire more people, and you've already got enough cash to hire even one, do that first.

Just make sure you hire into a position you believe can increase your profit. Spend time thinking about it.

Companies your size grind to a halt while raising capital and it can take months. Once you've expanded a little, multitasking becomes easier. If you're lucky (and this is what you're trying for), you may find that your new hire increases your profit enough while you were looking for investors that you can afford to hire again.

If the new hire doesn't increase profit, you can still take investment (especially if you've been doing the leg work after maxing out your headcount), but you're going to have to figure out how to hire effectively eventually, you'll just have more money in the bank.

iamelgringo
YC is great for the startups that are able to get in.

Otherwise, if you have a technical product, traction, revenue, and a technical founder you're probably ready simply to submit your startup to Angel List. It really helps if you have a couple of angels that are active on angel list to vouch for you, however.

Also, read Pitching Hacks. It's $9 for the PDF. It's an easy read, but it's the friggin Bible when it comes to pitching in Silicon Valley[1].

I'd also suggest getting active in the startup community/scene. Go to meetups like 106 Miles[2] and Hackers & Founders[3]. Get a stack of business cards and start handing them out. Start going out to coffee with people. Get to know a new person every day, be genuine and try to help them out. Hang out at Coupa Cafe, or University Cafe to code.

It shouldn't take too long, doing that in Palo Alto before you can get some introductions to Angels.

Heck, Naval is speaking the next Hackers & Founders on March 17. His presentation is titled, "Hacking your funding process". We still have 60 (free) tickets available[4].

Aside from that, the next open H&F is in Berkeley at the end of March. Stop by and chat. I'd love to hear what you're up to.

ref:

[1] http://venturehacks.com/pitching

[2] http://www.meetup.com/106miles/

[3] http://www.hackersandfounders.com

[4] http://hackfunding.mogotix.com

agotterer
You need to be out there networking! Being in Palo Alto gives you access to a lot of tech people and events, so theres no excuse. The people you meet will end up future employees, VCs, angels or people that can make introductions. You should being following investors on twitter and reading their blogs. Watch for events they speak at or attend. Go to those events and try and meet them.
charlief
Eventually, if not now, you should write a more detailed autobiographical book or piece. Your story is miraculous and would inspire many people.
csomar
You won't get much advice in this thread and you are probably smart enough to figure out the advice yourself. Open Google and browse the HN archive. If you want to raise money, then you should learn the Ins and Outs of it before that. Don't look for an investor; and how are you sure that's the best solution in your case?

There are many good articles here and there. There is also Ycombinator, or other programs; as some guys mentioned here. Don't forget also that you have a working product that made money. If you prove that there is more expansion in your market, investors will come to you.

1. Read more about the subject (books, articles, issues, discussions...)

2. You may want to hire a lawyer to ask him few questions; or someone expert about fund raising.

3. Consider YC and other programs.

4. Keep some of your time for networking and making friends in that field.

Good luck. And remember, even if you fail, that won't kill you ;)

[Un/Related] So you are not a USA citizen. May I know how did you get your Visa and how did you make your company in the US?

michaelabe
I am a US citizen, my father is from the US, atleast that was on my side :)
Darkstar
I just read an article (I believe here on HN) about letslunch.com. Try that out for meeting people of interest and influence.
Shooter
Not to be pedantic, but endocarditis is not a rare virus that sits on your heart, it's an inflammation of the endocardium - which can be caused by several things, including bacteria.

I've had one aneurysm and endocarditis, among other things (strokes, coma, paralysis, etc.), so I can sympathize with how difficult it is to move forward when you are ill. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. I don't know if it is actually true, but people keep telling me that old cliche about "what doesn't kill you (and keep you dead, in your case), just makes you stronger." Please feel free to shoot me an email if you want to talk...

michaelabe
I didnt want to go into all these little details and pull my medical file for it, just wanted to give the general idea of it is.