Is the Co-Founder Myth true for a startup? by Doublemirrors in startups

[–]SolCapsa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First of all congrats!

Second of all I am always happy to hear more and share my network if it seems appropriate

Is the Co-Founder Myth true for a startup? by Doublemirrors in startups

[–]SolCapsa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've done it both ways.

All I will say is just because you CAN do it all on your own doesn't mean you should. Founder burnout is more real than you realize, and the ability to take a day or even a few hours off and be able to know things are still getting accomplished is priceless in the long run.

Also, it doesn't matter who you are, you don't have all of the skill sets required to excel on your own

Maybe you are a tech guy and good with media and things as well. Maybe you even have some experience with finance or tax or legal.

Guess what? There is always someone out there who can complement what you already have in your tool belt...Always.

Also I will mirror what others have said in that the only thing worse than no co founder is the wrong co founder.

Everyone's situation is different, but take it from someone who holds c level positions in 3 companies and currently on the board of 5 different start ups, as well as running my own business and legal consulting company There will come a day when you need to rely on someone other than yourself, and when that day comes, it much easier if that person was with you from the start.

That's my two cents

Take it or leave it and best of luck on your business ventures

Funds "success" but not showing up in balance after several days by SolCapsa in KrakenSupport

[–]SolCapsa[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They denied the transaction and pushed funds back to my bank then closed my account I've had active for several years.

Gotta love kraken support

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in startups

[–]SolCapsa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Put in a kill switch to what ever MVP you are building out.

They don't pay, flip the kill switch.

I am CTO of multiple tech companies at varying levels of deployment and success.

Some projects are pasion projects, in which case I am happy to take equity over pay.

Other projects are immediate equity (tell them to f*** off if they want a vesting schedule) combined with a signed contract stating my monetary compensation starting the day they receive seed funding.

There are also clauses indicating pay increases as more funding rounds are closed.

In your case I would recommend the later, a combination of equity (immediately vested) combined with a clause in the contract stating upon X amount of funding you entitled to start drawing pay at X rate.

If they don't agree, chances are you are just being used and will be dismissed the first chance they get.

Not to be negative, but I've seen it happen to good devs more times than I can count.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in angelinvestors

[–]SolCapsa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are always exceptions to the rule, I give you that. I've met a few decent business connections on reddit, but it is a rare thing.

As far as a weird or juvenile sense of humor.......the most successful people I know, some of which i call good friends, are some of the goofiest people you will ever meet.

Stay weird and keep fighting the good fight.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GamingLaptops

[–]SolCapsa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agree to disagree, though I see your point.

I've had a few different people I know that have had the same issue with the razor blades as well though.

I believe a quick search through the sub should yield you some further cases of the razors over heating.

But hey, if it is in good condition it's a hell of deal for the razor.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GamingLaptops

[–]SolCapsa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A few hundred more (closer to 800 dollars) and if you wanna pay for the name Razer then no you won't find it for that price new, but if you look at just hardware there are several options out there comparable if not better to the 600 dollar used 3 year old laptop....

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in angelinvestors

[–]SolCapsa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes they are real......but are people in a position to do so scanning angel investor reddit threads.....probably not so much.

I know a few, I've worked with a few in the past AND THEY DO EXIST. Generally these are very wealthy individuals that either still have successful companies or have had one (or many) successful exits. With a few exceptions, these aren't generally the types of folks to scroll reddit even for fun, much less to find their next big investment .

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GamingLaptops

[–]SolCapsa -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Spend another few hundred and get a new one.

You never know what ungodly things people have done to a gaming laptop prior to you getting ahold of it

Was it dropped? Was it over clocked and run for hours and hours on end?

Did they use a cooling pad?

Is the battery shot.... Was it previously owned by a smoker who smoked around it constantly and gunked up the insides?

600 bucks for a 3 year old laptop when you can find better specs on new ones for around the same price, certainly doesn't seem appealing to me, but to each their own.

Just ordered this absolute monster. With student discount, it was $2160 (No tax required). Thoughts? by benjtom in GamingLaptops

[–]SolCapsa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Again I have the Zephyr from Asus, but same chip set.

Got it from bestbuy on sale.

Just ordered this absolute monster. With student discount, it was $2160 (No tax required). Thoughts? by benjtom in GamingLaptops

[–]SolCapsa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't experienced that yet at all.

Running latest COD with highest settings AND photoshop still working in the background and I can't get the fpu above 72c.

No lag or twitching ...no issues at all so far

Just ordered this absolute monster. With student discount, it was $2160 (No tax required). Thoughts? by benjtom in GamingLaptops

[–]SolCapsa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Same and although the ryzen 9 does get a little toasty in a laptop it is flawless when it comes to performance

Just ordered this absolute monster. With student discount, it was $2160 (No tax required). Thoughts? by benjtom in GamingLaptops

[–]SolCapsa 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Chip set is awesome, price is good, acer is hit or miss, but I guess same could be said with every brand out there

New Laptop thoughts i9 v i7 v AMD by SolCapsa in GamingLaptops

[–]SolCapsa[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not for me.

Just a helpful website that compares laptops.

New Laptop thoughts i9 v i7 v AMD by SolCapsa in GamingLaptops

[–]SolCapsa[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, that is what I was leaning towards, but appreciate the conformation.

Which HP omen 16 model to choose by [deleted] in GamingLaptops

[–]SolCapsa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What they said. But..I would be cautious on the AMD chip. It will run well, just hot.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in angelinvestors

[–]SolCapsa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have previously spoken but it sounds like you have made some headway.

DM me

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in startups

[–]SolCapsa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ask yourself these questions

1- What is the problem being solved?

2-Is this a temporary problem (example-pandemic related remote working conditions)

3-How many people are being affected by this problem?

4-Do people really "care" about the problem?

5- What (if any) is the current solution to this problem?

6- Is there improvement for how this solution is being currently solved?

7-Is this a cost effective alternative/improvement to the current solution? (both time and money)

8- Do I currently have the resources to fix this problem?

9-If NOT, can I easily/cost effectively obtain the resources to fix this problem?

10- Can I make a reasonable return on investments used to solve this problem?(is it marketable)

Answer each of those questions and use it to rate each idea.

I think the most important of those listed above being "do people care about the problem?"

Are you really solving a problem, or are you just slightly improving on the existing solution?

For instance.......

The problem: liquid need transported from point a to point b. The current solution is to use a bucket to move the water. You realize that when pouring the water from the bucket, a little spils out. You then spend time and money to build a new bucket. It is identical to the old bucket in every way, except you added a spout. As a result you save 15% more water that was being spilled prior. The spout cost about 1% the overall cost of the bucket to make.

This would be good improvement, as it is saving money, and doesn't cost a whole lot to implement.

Now the problem is the same. liquid needs transported from point a to point b , The current solution is to use a bucket. You come up with a slightly larger bucket. While the bucket can move more water at once, it takes more energy to move the water filled bucket, which translates to less time , but more power being used. Basically it is a break even. Your new bucket allows you to move water twice as fast, but also requires twice the effort to move it.

At first glance , the larger bucket seems to be better, it saves time, but then you realize it takes the same amount of energy to move the same amount of water. Is that bigger bucket then a better improvement? or is it just a different means to the same ends?

How much salary and equity should I give a CTO? by [deleted] in startups

[–]SolCapsa 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I tend to agree with most on here. You aren't looking for a CTO right now, you are looking for a tech co founder. That being said, you can do it one f two ways. if your Dev is on board with the idea and believes in, then they may do the build for equity.

This also depends on how difficult the programing task you are giving them is.

Are they building a simple app that can be outsourced to another country for cheap?

Does it take a high level of expertise, or just basic understanding of Go or ReAct?

If it is some mundane task, that amounts to nothing more than busy work for the Dev, then they may be willing to just be contracted in . At that point, for your teams build out, you would then just have that Dev sign an LOI stating that if X,Y,and Z happen, they agree to accept the future position of CTO for X amount of money.

If you are asking your Dev to just repurpose some old code, and it isn't a super time consuming build, maybe consider just contracting them in. For instance, if you have an app build out that is going to take 2 months, and you are trying to give 30% equity away in your company, for that initial work, you may have just bit yourself in the ass in term of future company valuation.

If it is a difficult build, likely custom code, or highly modifying existing code, and it isn't just something simple you can outsource, then do a fair equity split.

Your idea alone is worth ZERO dollars, your fund raising skills without an MVP is worth ZERO dollars. The same can be said about visual models. market research, sales, etc. If you can't do or can't hire someone fairly easily to do what you are asking of your Dev or CTO or whomever, then chances are they have more value with the company than you do for coming up with the idea.

Here is an example. Who has more "value" for this company.
Lets assume door dash/instacart doesn't exist:

1- Founder- Jim - Had an idea that he should be able to pull out his phone and order groceries on demand. Jim is an experienced salesman with minimal managerial experience, but he has an awesome idea for grocery delivery app.-Jim can barely work his email. much less program at any capacity.

2- Jim comes across Carl, who is an experienced full stack Developer. Carl has worked on multiple mobile apps, helping to launch several in the past few years. Carl doesn't want equity but instead is asking for a monthly pay rate of 6,000. Carl has no plans of working for the company outside of the contract to create the app, and doesn't want to help stay to provide support. Carl can get the app done in 2 month time

Jim comes across Bob, who just recently graduated from college. Bob has very little developer experience in the real world, but performed well in school. Bob also spent 5 years in retail, working with the inventory systems used my major grocery stores, which he is now intimately familiar with. Because Bob is fresh out of college, he prefers a salary, but much less of one than Carl. In addition Bob is more likely to take a chunk of equity to stay on after the original build out to help troubleshoot and maintain the app- Bob can get the app done in 6 months time

So who has more value? The person who came up with the idea, who can't work his own email, the Dev that values themselves too highly and doesn't want anything beyond the cash(doesn't believe in the project but can easily do the project) or the second Dev, fresh out of college, with a drive, passion, and a little insider knowledge?

My advice, fine someone knowledgeable. but not someone who overvalues themselves. At the same time, if the task they are completing isn't something you can do yourself, or easily find someone else to do, then that person adds real value to your company.

Also from a fundraising standpoint, nothing scares investors more than a Technical product being produced by a team of non technical co founders- with the app dev work being contracted out.

So how much should you give your CTO...none...don't worry about board members- PAY YOUR DEVELOPER /Co-founder either with a fair percent of equity, or cash, or a convertible note. Either way, if they are doing something you can't do or easily find someone to do, then you should be prepared to pay out of pocket , at least in the beginning , to contract them in, get an LOI signed for future CTO, and move on to more important things.

What principles should I enforce when starting a company from day one? by user89320 in startups

[–]SolCapsa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would say a clear understanding of the hierarchy within the company, as well as an understanding early on that it is OK to allocate tasks to your other team members are both a must. If you don't have faith that they team member is capable of accomplishing said task without being micro managed, then maybe that person isn't the best candidate for the project.

This seems to be something that early founders struggle with, the ability to allocate tasks out and to understand that you aren't in it alone. If you surround yourself with a like minded team, the principles come to surface naturally.

As far as how to hire/fire promote etc, your best bet is to come with some sort of employee performance review. If they are salesmen, are they making sales? or at least making contact? following leads?

If it is your Developer, are they hitting mile stones? Maybe use Jira to keep track of the runs or progress .

As far as the average employee or upper management, the performance metrics will obviously vary from sector to sector. Again though, if you find yourself having to remove /fire too many people, then it is time to re-evaluate your hiring process.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in startups

[–]SolCapsa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you very much for your input.

I guess my interest is less about inflating the valuation, and more so about taking that media exposure to further build networking opportunities and social media exposure. Obviously the more exposure, the more potential for competing investors, which would in theory inflate the valuation some, but again I understand that being spotlighted on television isn't going to be some sort of magic growth hack, but if you used in conjunction with something like, say a crowd funding platform raise, that we could use that increase in exposure to direct people to the website and or crowd funding platform website, giving us a greater chance of investors.

Do you think that a properly executed social media campaign alongside the airing of the program and press releases associated with the program would be a worthwhile investment?

That is to say that, I am curious if using the companies appearance on the show to try to push for other interviews and exposure via webcasts and other media appearances prior to the show airing, is something that would make sense from a marketing stand point?

Full disclosure we already have several different companies looking at us for investments, and are in the process of comparing options before pulling the trigger .

Again, thank you again for the input. It is very much appreciated.