I think you're going to have the best luck with the 100 at $450, but you need to be focused on the selling like all get out. Small businesses, IMHO, are going to be in constant need, and you might find your 1 out of 20 would be a $4500 contract, but watch the opening to Glengarry Glen Ross like every day, and best of luck, stay focused.
Have you tried your hands at mobile / desktop app development? Or, is that not your thing?
I think the chances of having a hit is much more in the mobile space than on the web. I think the web is getting too crowded too fast and it's really hard to get people's attention. It's much easier to do so in the iOS/Mac world.
BTW, I am in a situation very similar to yours. Good Luck!
I'd scrap the startup on the short term, you won't get enough traction in the amount of time you have. Further, faceted search is built in to every website that sells laptops. So I'm not sure how viable that project is in the long term.
Have you thought of getting a software dev job? The pay will easily get you there if you live frugally.
Substitute teaching, depending on where you are, can pay more than $120 per day. That means 5 days a week with flexibility to not work a day if you need to work on your startup or whatever. For the most part, if you can deal with children, it basically means just watching them watch a movie.
You need to have a solution to a problem people are willing to pay money for. You are not likely to find that by asking on YC.
Your best bet is to pick a long term software developer contract at a large company.
Are you looking for anything you'd pay for? I'm fairly certain that anyone here with an answer to that question would be working on monetizing it. If you want to find an answer, pick and industry (preferably one you have experience in), find out where the business owners hang out, then ask them what problems they have.
Shelf the startup for now and start doing contract development work. You can charge anywhere from $50-125 per hour depending on your experience, programming/development expertise, and projects you've worked on. It will take you a while and you'll have to put in a lot of hours, but you have a much better chance at making money quicker than trying to make your startup work.
$65/hr * 40 = $2,600/wk
Even on the low end, it can add up to a substantial sum if you're willing to put in the time.
I'm confused. The surest way to get 45K in 9 months would be to just get a job. If you're a programmer, then this kind of job is trivial to find ($60k/year is about the minimum you'll find at any medium sized company), and you can quit in 9 months when the baby is born. ;)
All of the entrepreneurial options come with massively higher risk, and since you say that the consequences of not making the 45K is high, this seems like a no-brainer. Get a job.
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[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 32.6 ms ] threadI think the chances of having a hit is much more in the mobile space than on the web. I think the web is getting too crowded too fast and it's really hard to get people's attention. It's much easier to do so in the iOS/Mac world.
BTW, I am in a situation very similar to yours. Good Luck!
Have you thought of getting a software dev job? The pay will easily get you there if you live frugally.
Your best bet is to pick a long term software developer contract at a large company.
Are you looking for anything you'd pay for? I'm fairly certain that anyone here with an answer to that question would be working on monetizing it. If you want to find an answer, pick and industry (preferably one you have experience in), find out where the business owners hang out, then ask them what problems they have.
$65/hr * 40 = $2,600/wk
Even on the low end, it can add up to a substantial sum if you're willing to put in the time.
All of the entrepreneurial options come with massively higher risk, and since you say that the consequences of not making the 45K is high, this seems like a no-brainer. Get a job.