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Ask HN: I have a startup idea! What do I do next?

12 points by leslieMichaels ↗ HN
Hi hackers,

I'm sort of in a pickle, and I'd like your advice. My mind is bubbling and overflowing with this great idea for a startup, but I don't know how to proceed. Here's a list of some things I have to sort out:

a) I started working less than a year ago. This is my first job out of college, so I'm hesitant to just up and leave. Not to mention I have very little business and corporate experience.

b) I have a CS background, but I only took one web design course in college and found it very difficult in a completely different way from CS.

c) I don't have friends who are software engineers and interested in doing a startup. My closest friends, with whom I actually want to work on this, are all liberal arts majors and on the other side of the country. I could find some random people, but I doubt I have enough experience to lead a team. (Also I'm an extremely indecisive person, which is terrible for that sort of role).

d) I am like the opposite of what VC's look for in a startup founder. I don't sacrifice my well-being (sleep, meals) for anything. I've never pulled an all-nighter (on the other hand, I've never had to because I don't procrastinate). I cycle through my projects and interests every few weeks or months as I get bored with one or really obsessed with another. In short, I like to dabble. But I'd really like to be the other kind of person. :D Help?

e) I could work on this project on the side in addition to my job (what I'm sort of doing right now), but if it turns into anything, it would technically belong to my company. Does anyone have legal advice on that front? Like at what point should I definitely leave or risk getting sued, etc.

f) I could present this idea to the relevant departments at my company (it's pretty related to what they do), but they move...so...slowly and have their own priorities. I might get really frustrated seeing the whole idea get mangled by bureaucracy and company-focused priorities (e.g. emphasis on company reputation rather than user experience, etc). I accept that, if I'm going to work on this with anyone else, I will have to compromise and negotiate some of the original ideas; but change for the good of the product is acceptable, whereas change for the good of the company could be detrimental to the product. (Btw, I'm totally painting a bad picture of my company, but overall it's really awesome. In fact I don't know of a better place to work... except maybe a startup).

So that's my situation, more or less. I feel justified posting it here because I think it's pretty typical of aspiring startup founders or people who visit this site because it's awesome. Thanks in advance for your input.

14 comments

[ 4.5 ms ] story [ 37.8 ms ] thread
jcr
Leslie, you are procrastinating by posting this. There are countless posts similar to yours on HN, and if you dig them up, you'll find the same consistent and good advice in all of them; just do it.

Your "great idea" may or may not be as great as you imagine, but the only way to find out is to try, and if you do try, you'll learn something. I might be a home run, but then again, you might just get in some batting practice. Both are good outcomes.

djloche
I agree with this, with one very important exception.

Go to work and negotiate a new contract which does not give them total ownership of your time and thoughts.

[deleted]
(comment deleted)
BinaryAcid
1. Thanks for posting and showing self motivation. 2. You are no where near considering quiting your job so do your job and your project/startup on the side. 3. It's hard to give advice when you give so little information. Who knows if your idea is even tenable. Please give some more info. 4. The usual step is to start working on whatever you have in mind and throw up a site about it to gather some attention. Find a website template, customize it, and keep your overhead near zero ie free hosting. 5. Work hard and be patient. Don't get discouraged.
naithemilkman
Honestly, just spend a weekend and start doing it and see how far you go. Really, just do it. Less conversation, more action please.
joshu
So. I built Delicious while working full-time on a trading desk. So here's what comes right to mind:

- Start building stuff. Initial ideas are usually not great, but ideas plus execution lead to much better ideas.

- Don't build stuff relevant to work while you work there. They will probably own it.

lachyg
Agreed with Josh. You need to look into the potential ramifications of working on it whilst you're still working where you work.
sbisker
Some points on c)

-Don't think of it as "leading a team", think of it as finding a partner. It sounds like you want someone who can help you lead yourself

-Don't totally rule out your liberal-arts-majoring friends. Some of them may actually want to live this dream with you, some of them may actually have the willpower and skill to dive into something totally new (business dev, UI, whatever support you need) in order to do it. Whether the intersection of those two groups is greater than zero, remains to be seen - but certainly don't rule it out.

-It's good that you know you're indecisive. If you want a partner (and it sounds like you do), try to find one that's decisive. (While at the same time, doesn't use his decisiveness to bully you into things - find someone who uses it to help you see how quick things can get done when someone just decides.)

starpilot
Post it on http://captainobvio.us/ to have it shot down. Really, "killing the company" is a good brainstorming approach to see how durable your idea is.
mapster
could you take a 3 month leave of absence? I would argue to NOT leave your job as most ideas / startups fizzle and fail. Hope your an exception!