Simon Willison's Weblog: business

Help with next steps for a startup

2016-09-04T09:54:00+00:00

My answer to Help with next steps for a startup on Ask MetaFilter

Have you thought about applying to Y Combinator? The reason I ask is that "I have lots of expertise in language learning and basically zero expertise in startups, market research, business, fundraising, app pricing, etc" is pretty much YC's sweet spot: they know that it's much easier teaching those things to engineers and makers than it is to teach engineering to business people (I'm assuming you have product and engineering skills based on your description of your progress so far).

I went through YC a few years ago from a similar starting point (engineering and product experience but no business skills) and found it to be an excellent decision.

Then at 13:53:

Also worth mentioning: YC accept less than a hundred out of many thousands of applications, but your description of your progress so far should be enough to help your application stand out. It's very competitive but I think you would be in with a better chance than many.

Tags: ask-metafilter, business, fundraising, research, small, vc, market

What's the first thing you would check if the company is losing money even though there's a big increase in its revenue?

2016-08-15T14:12:00+00:00

My answer to What's the first thing you would check if the company is losing money even though there's a big increase in its revenue? on Quora

The company's expenses.

Tags: business, entrepreneurship, startups, quora, careers

Why was LinkedIn Events shut down? Why isn't there now a social network for business events?

2014-01-13T12:50:00+00:00

My answer to Why was LinkedIn Events shut down? Why isn't there now a social network for business events? on Quora

Our site Lanyrd offers LinkedIn signin and works as a social network for business and professional events. You can read more about our LinkedIn integration here: Use Lanyrd and LinkedIn to get more out of professional events and conferences

Tags: business, events, linkedin, networking, social-media, social-networks, quora

What should be my strategy to become a tech entrepreneur?

2013-11-20T12:28:00+00:00

My answer to What should be my strategy to become a tech entrepreneur? on Quora

Go and work for an early-stage startup. Pick well and you'll learn a ridiculous amount in a very short space of time: excellent preparation for later striking out on your own.

Tags: business, entrepreneurship, startups, quora

Is it possible to run a successful company without being unethical or operating on the fringes of the law?

2013-10-30T13:16:00+00:00

My answer to Is it possible to run a successful company without being unethical or operating on the fringes of the law? on Quora

There is nothing inherently unethical about entrepreneurship. Find a problem people have. Figure out how much money solving it will save them (or help them make). Charge them less than that.

You certainly shouldn't need to do anything illegal - in fact operating within the law is a requirement if you want your company to be successful, attract high quality customers and raise money from investors.

Plenty of people have built ethical companies. Some people take unethical shortcuts, but it certainly isn't required.

Tags: business, entrepreneurship, ethics, law, startups, quora

What should be my minimum requirements for a cutting edge SaaS business product?

2013-10-19T12:21:00+00:00

My answer to What should be my minimum requirements for a cutting edge SaaS business product? on Quora

That depends on your customers. If you're building software for banks or hospitals you probably need to support older versions of IE. If it's for software companies or web freelancers, requiring a modern browser version is fine.

Tags: business, quora, saas

What are some creative ways to pitch a new initiative to my team without slides?

2013-10-02T17:03:00+00:00

My answer to What are some creative ways to pitch a new initiative to my team without slides? on Quora

Use a whiteboard.

Tags: business, funding, marketing, speaking, startups, quora, pitching

What is the real risk of pirating Microsoft software as a startup business vs an individual user?

2013-09-22T12:28:00+00:00

My answer to What is the real risk of pirating Microsoft software as a startup business vs an individual user? on Quora

I agree with David S. Rose - integrity matters. Look in to BizSpark.

Also, something you may not have condidered is due diligence..

If you ever want to sell your company you'll need to go through a due diligence process with your acquirer, and software licenses will definitely be part of that process. It won't look good when they find you've been pirating software - probably not bad enough to sink the deal, but do you really want to take on that extra risk?

Tags: business, microsoft, startups, quora

How can I sell an idea to investors?

2013-09-15T16:54:00+00:00

My answer to How can I sell an idea to investors? on Quora

At minimum: build a prototype. If you really want then to take seriously, launch a first version and demonstrate traction.

Tags: business, entrepreneurship, startups, quora

What's an idea worth?

2013-07-29T14:02:00+00:00

My answer to What's an idea worth? on Quora

I like Derek Siver's model proposed here: http://sivers.org/multiply

To make a business, you need to multiply an idea by its execution. A really great idea is worth $20.

No execution is worth $1. So if your idea is truly great it's worth 20 x 1 = $20.

If you can pull off just a good execution ($100,000) then congratulations, you have a combination worth $2,000,000.

Tags: business, entrepreneurship, funding, ideas, startups, technology, quora

How can I successfully organize a conference?

2013-07-29T11:59:00+00:00

My answer to How can I successfully organize a conference? on Quora

PPK's conference organisers handbook is crammed with useful advice on running this kind of event: http://www.quirksmode.org/coh/

Tags: business, conferences, events, quora, conference

What do business people look for in a good business card?

2013-07-20T12:11:00+00:00

My answer to What do business people look for in a good business card? on Quora

I like to encourage writing on business cards - which means that the card shouldn't be glossy (to ensure pens work on it). Our business cards, designed by my partner Natalie Downe, actually have a labelled "notes" area on one side of them.

I also like to include a photograph on the card, to acknowledge the fact that most people have trouble remembering which face goes with which name (especially if they pick up dozens of cards at a networking event).

Tags: business, startups, quora

Why do developers so dislike "ideas people"?

2012-11-29T15:30:00+00:00

My answer to Why do developers so dislike "ideas people"? on Quora

There's no disdain for creativity or the business side - those things are essential! The disdain is for people who think that having the idea is enough for them to be useful for the company ("I've got a great idea, I just need a developer to build it for me"). If you can't build you'd better be able to do a LOT of other useful things. Having an idea isn't enough.

Update: I've been thinking about this a bit harder, and I think what it really comes down to is respect. As an engineer, there's nothing more frustrating than being thought of as just a "resource" to implement other people's ideas. We don't dislike ideas people - we dislike ideas people who treat us as people whose only purpose is to build someone else's idea.

Tags: business, startups, quora

How can I keep my website content exclusive?

2012-10-16T16:59:00+00:00

My answer to How can I keep my website content exclusive? on Quora

No, there isn't - people can always copy things if they really want to, it's part of the cost of doing business. If you were to publish a book people could always photocopy it.

If you're selling static content, I would suggest doing it as an ebook. People expect to spend money on ebooks, and there are ways of e.g. baking the user's email address in to a generated PDF file so that people feel more obliged not to share the ebook around (since it makes it obvious who the initial copy came from).

Tags: business, startups, webapps, web-development, quora

Should I take the time to learn programming, or take my idea and run with it?

2012-02-11T13:17:00+00:00

My answer to Should I take the time to learn programming, or take my idea and run with it? on Quora

Stop reading, start building. You'll progress a LOT faster if you're solving actual problems and writing real code, rather than spending 5-8 hours a day reading but not practicing.

It sounds like your target project is way too ambitious... so pick a smaller project to develop your skills with. You'll learn way more from having a small live project that people are interacting with than you will spending years building a huge project without any feedback on how it works.

Don't worry too much about someone else executing your Big Idea first - Howard Aiken's famous quote comes to mind: "Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats."

And if someone does build something similar, you can always execute it better.

Tags: business, startups, quora

What criteria should a company meet in order to have a 5 million dollars valuation?

2011-12-31T10:12:00+00:00

My answer to What criteria should a company meet in order to have a 5 million dollars valuation? on Quora

They need to convince an investor to buy 10% of the company for $500,000.

Tags: business, funding, quora

Does Y Combinator ever fund British startups?

2011-07-06T12:26:00+00:00

My answer to Does Y Combinator ever fund British startups? on Quora

Yes. Our startup http://lanyrd.com/ went through Y Combinator Winter 2011 (Jan to March this year) and we're a pair of UK co-founders. We're back in London now.

Tags: business, entrepreneurship, funding, startups, y-combinator, quora

What are the main things a non-technical co-founder of a tech company should focus on while the site is still being developed?

2010-12-23T09:24:00+00:00

My answer to What are the main things a non-technical co-founder of a tech company should focus on while the site is still being developed? on Quora

Building the right product.

Tags: business, entrepreneurship, internet, startups, quora

How do you successfully outsource a web application project that is a copy of another website?

2010-11-25T13:49:00+00:00

My answer to How do you successfully outsource a web application project that is a copy of another website? on Quora

You may find that the quality of developers you can hire depends on the quality of the project. Copying another website doesn't sound like a very interesting project.

Tags: business, programming, quora

Is it a good idea for new start-up to outsource Software/App Development?

2010-10-26T10:43:00+00:00

My answer to Is it a good idea for new start-up to outsource Software/App Development? on Quora

It depends on what you mean by "outsourcing".

If you're doing a startup, never forget that the initial version of your software is just the start of the development process. It's essential to continuously iterate on your software based on how your users are using it. You need a full-time development team.

If you're asking if it's OK to have your full-time development team based in another country, that could work but would make things a great deal more difficult due to the communication overhead. With a startup, just writing a spec and throwing it over the wall to be implemented by another team isn't ideal for the reasons I've already outlined.

Tags: business, entrepreneurship, startups, quora, outsourcing

How to sell your software for $20,000

2008-06-28T09:21:15+00:00

How to sell your software for $20,000

The best article I’ve read on software entrepreneurship in ages.

Via Hacker News

Tags: business, entrepreneurship, software, startups

Do Content Management Systems really work?

2005-02-17T22:28:00+00:00

My answer to Do Content Management Systems really work? on Ask MetaFilter

Have you considered trying a Wiki? In my experience, the more permissions / workflow / etc you have in a CMS the more likely it is that people won't use it. Wikis may be a little unconventional but the barrier to entry is fantastically low and they can work extremely well (I like MediaWiki or TaviWiki myself).

I'm very skeptical of the idea that the people who update an intranet should be limited. If you have an employee who can't be trusted to edit information on an intranet, why did you hire them in the first place? In my opinion the presence of a revision log should be enough to deter any abuse - if someone screws up, just revert their change and have a word with them about it.

Tags: ask-metafilter, business, cms, information, software, management, administration, training