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We have a funded startup but no product

12 points by danielfrese ↗ HN
We had to kill our original startup idea.

Now we have 60K left, we are two founders (Developer & Business) and we have an outstanding advisory/angel board.

But we are kind of bummed. It's crazy. And funny. And sad. But we don't know what we should build now.

You come up with tons of startup ideas while you're in school, college or working at a company. But when you have to come up with something because you have funding and an awesome team behind you, then there is emptiness.

We expected a lot of things when we started our startup, but not this.

What can we do?

32 comments

[ 5.1 ms ] story [ 88.4 ms ] thread
lifeisstillgood
Take a long weekend, go get drunk, walk along a beach, climb a hill.

Don't touch a laptop or a iphone till Monday.

On monday, walk into the room with all your team, and brainstorm. They will have ideas. You will have ideas. Some you might like. By Lunchtime Monday, choose one and run with it. Get the 'enter your email' site up by Monday 9pm, and post a link here.

Here is one for free. :

Dealer app.

You 'throw' yout iphone in a mechanics grip like you are really dealing cards. THe card flicks out of the iphone display and 'lands' on the display of the other iphone sitting on the table across from you. Repeat to the phone on his left etc. Sell the engine to poker sites.

That idea is feasible, but its probably not right for you. But the main thing is get your of your head, you are probably a little burnt out. Get any idea that excites you and release something - you need the endorphins.

mratzloff
Don't brainstorm. Have everyone take 30-60 minutes and quietly write down a list of ideas that they have. Then get together and go over those lists.

Brainstorming will only limit the ideas that you come up with.

mchannon
I call this situation an "empty nest" situation- a company ready to go gangbusters but with an idea that they know won't work, so they're stuck.

The solution's straightforward- there are hundreds of would-be solo founders or founder duos that have a brilliant idea, are pitching their heart out, and not getting any traction.

Network like the dickens for the next 30 days, go to pitch events, etc., and find people where you can say "they're going to go far" and "I could work with this person", then pitch _them_ your empty nest.

debacle
Why did your old idea die, if you don't mind me asking?
danielfrese
We wanted to make spontaneous meetups happen. However, our real world is not made for spontaneous meetups. You have to spam about 70 people to find some people to meet spontaneously. And if you only have 10 friends near you, chances are not good that a spontaneous meetup will happen.
debacle
Yes that is tough.

Maybe you could create a kickstarter for meetups? Someone can schedule a meetup, and depending on how many people sign up the meetup either does or doesn't happen? It's very hard for my local subreddit to schedule meetups, but if people could just throw out dates then it would be much easier. I'm not sure what the monetization strategy would be, though.

danielfrese
We thought about that. We wanted to make people define a minimum number of attendees. But that's more of a feature, not a product.
nopassrecover
Few rhetorical questions:

* I'm pretty sure everyone agrees that customer-driven development is key, so who were you building this for and why were they interested?

* What are they doing to solve their problem at the moment and how is your solution better?

* What evidence did you have that this was a good idea?

* What evidence do you have now that this is a bad idea?

* Why does it have to be friends - can you facilitate spontaneous meetups with strangers (ideally with similar interests and values)?

* Why does it have to be spontaneous - could it connect people who will agree to meet [sometime today/this week/by the end of month]?

* Why do you "spam" people - why not have people collectively opt-in with a "I'm free" marker (with various [free to anyone|free to friends])? Bonus points if you can align calendars to suggest a free time (why Google doesn't do this I'm not sure).

* Is "spontaneous meetups" the right way to sell the idea? What about [coffee-with-interesting-people/speed-dating-in-your-lunch-hour/try-something-new-every-week/never-eat-alone-again/get-fit-with-strangers]?

danielfrese
Very good points.

So far we haven't found something promising in the meetup space. We'll probably pivot somewhere else.

upgradeind
How the hell did you get get somebody to give you money. I have a product but no money, want to trade places?
danielfrese
Meet with VCs, Business Angels, Founders, etc. for some months regularly and keep them updated about your startup, maybe work with them on a project, do some freelancing for them or become an employee at their company. Then they get to know you and your skills. Then pitch them an idea that gets them exicted that they themselves can understand. Something in their space.
debacle
You need to know how to play that game. It can be a lot of time investment, but like my dad always said, "People aren't going to call you and offer you a job, you need to go to them."

The same is true with VC funds.

iamabanana
Coming up with an idea is hard. There are no shortcuts. Your original idea was not great. Clearly your board and your investors believe in you. Likely in their heart of hearts, they probably expected the FIRST idea to fail.

Now is exactly when they expect their ROI. So, do what YOU think is right. Get out of your comfort zone if you have to (maybe you already are). Search, brainstorm, seek.

You have investors because they believe in you and trust you with their money. Do not let them regret it. My guess is that you're already well equipped to pivot and find that next idea.

Tactically: Follow the money. In your previous effort - how did the money flow? Who paid who and for what? What were the pains or frictions involved with exchanging money. Solve that problem if it's possible.

Spontaneous meetups are probably reasonable at conferences, or colleges, or fairs. Can you pivot to a particular niche?

danielfrese
We haven't found a niche that may be suited better. We'll likely pivot to something else.
botolo
Where are you guys located?
nerd_in_rage
How much did you guys raise initially? How long did you take to figure out the original idea wouldn't work?
danielfrese
A few months when it was just a little side project and then 6 weeks fulltime. We only burnt 6 weeks of salaries.
teachef
I've been told by a lot of people in my most recent round of fundraising that a successful start is comprised of: 50% Market, 45% Team, 5% Concept

So, you need to find a Market and Concept. There are a lot of people with great ideas that need teams for execution. I have a series of ongoing projects that I could plug-and-play a good team into.

Questions include: 1. How do you find the people with the great ideas? 2. How do you structure the deal? You have taken funding already and are beholden to your existing stakeholders?

My answers: 1. Finding Ideas: Hacker News is a good start. Also, you can act as a contractor-service company and see which projects may be good long-term fits for you. Try finding these online (odesk/elance) or offline (Berlin has a burgeoning tech scene looking for CTOs). 2. Corporate Structure: You need to be very communicative with your existing stakeholders. Being proactive is essential in your pivot. Then, be realistic when it comes to the deal: Start with milestones are are achievable, and move your stake up through performance.

Time is of the essence! You want to keep your momentum moving forward.

opendomain
If you want - I have several business ideas, with some siginifcant customer validation and branding to match. Contact me at HackerNews AT OpenDomain dot Org
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its_so_on
Do you intend to pay for access, or just go with whatever crap people send you for free?
lookup23713
We have several ideas we can't fund at the moment. If you are interested you can contact us at contact@nextwave.ro
nurik
Take the money and run....no just kidding of course. Is it possible to pivot your idea? You must have thought about this I am sure...Your team must be pretty good, otherwise you would n't have an outstanding angel board and I assume you wouldnt be able to keep the money. I agree with the approach of "lifeisstillgood". Can you tell us a bit about your "failed" idea? It might seem strange at this point but have you considered to apply here?: http://ycombinator.com/noidea.html
danielfrese
Yeah, maybe we'll apply for the next YC class.

I wrote about our failed idea in another comment

niico
Go to a local coffe shop, listen to other people's conversation about what they are working on. Build that, faster.
mbylstra
Does the 60K need to be spent right away, or can it wait a year? If not, I suggest you work for a year first. Unfortunately the best ideas seem to come when you are not trying to think of them - such as when you're at work or at college. I think we are most creative when we are yearning for something else.