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Poll: What is the young, cashed strapped founder to do
3 points by keefe on Oct 14, 2009 | hide | past | favorite | 2 comments
A lot of the more technical people I know have some idea they are pushing towards complete prototype (often alone). Many people take time off traditional work to build these systems and are often strapped for cash. Assuming each of these prototypes is a seed, how can they be grown into great trees in the constructs of day to day life? How can they be protected?

Assume an individual has created a web application with nice scalability verified by reasonable tests, compelling evidence for the usefulness of the product, a decent UX and serious financial troubles, not even banking a year of expenses. What's this troubled fellow to do? His goal is to have his web application being used by thousands of people as quickly as possible, hopefully converting some of those users to paid customers.

Work in contract work for 6 months or 12 and generate the funding to dig the whole out and provide seed money for the launch.
11 points
Contact traditional angel sources, like family and friends (if available)
2 points
Apply to seed funding - This is a risk as a solo applier and approaching from a position of weakness makes you vulnerable.
0 points
Acquire a second founder and make a more traditional application, but financially the position is still week.
0 points


Personally, I would do part time contract work just enough to generate living expenses while I work on the app. It'll be difficult and a lot of work, but it can be done.


Do the last, and keep doing it in parallel once you launch. That way you right away have two sources of income. Best to have at least three!




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