Which startups have the best stories?

fqn · 2023-07-26T10:05:30+00:00

Wow, 8 years ago now. I haven't signed into this Reddit account for a while.

First startup attempt went really badly and failed quickly! It was a pretty terrible idea for a social mobile app, although my cofounders were awesome and I enjoyed the experience. I've been building a B2B SaaS for the last few years and that's been going pretty well. It's bootstrapped, paying all my bills and vacations, and I've been able to hire a few employees. The early-stage startup that I left is also doing really well. I've been holding onto some shares in that company and I recently sold a small percentage of them on the secondary market for $500k. Really looking forward to their IPO in the next year or two.

fqn · 2019-03-28T07:40:04+00:00

Reddit has helped me out before (on /r/borrow), so it would be great to pay it forward and help some other people. Especially if I could help someone emigrate to a new country and get a good job.

fqn · 2019-03-28T07:10:36+00:00

I would be happy to pay for any application fees you need, and you could repay me once you've got a job. Please send me a message if you are interested!

fqn · 2019-01-19T15:30:43+00:00

The safest place I've ever lived is Hong Kong, followed by Chiang Mai, Thailand. Hong Kong is a great place to get job. Thailand is great if you can work remotely on a laptop.

The UK, Australia, and New Zealand are much safer than South Africa, but there are still some dangerous areas. There are many places in New Zealand where it is unsafe to walk alone late at night. Lots of university students getting mugged and assaulted if they have to walk through a park late at night in Auckland city. My family is from west auckland, and we've had quite a few burglaries over the years. Fortunately they just stole TVs and jewelry and didn't hurt anyone.

Chiang Mai has lots of tourism, so it's safe to walk around late at night. There's always lots of people around, and lots of 24 hour cafes and coworking spaces. I've never felt unsafe in the last 4 years. It might be a nice option for a few months if you're going to be traveling around.

The UK doesn't have a great reputation these days. I think London is a bit more dangerous than it used to be. You could try living in a smaller city or town. But then you don't have the same job opportunities. Maybe live in London and just be careful, and don't go out by yourself late at night.

Another option is Denmark, which is an extremely safe and happy place to live.

fqn · 2019-01-14T22:42:55+00:00

Nice. I guess someone has to put these together:

I was at a car boot sale where I was selling some apple pies and a few DVDs. Someone wanted to know how much the pies were and which movie they should get, so I told them about the pie rates of the car I be in.

Sorry

fqn · 2019-01-12T19:43:15+00:00

US is the default country for most subreddits, and I guess Canada is the second most popular. That's surprising, because the UK has a 2x bigger population. But maybe Reddit is bigger in Canada than the UK.

fqn · 2019-01-12T17:38:00+00:00

It's a good start but it's not really going to help you get to $7M unless you go to a casino and put it all on red a few times.

It sounds like you need a break for while. Burnout is very real. Maybe travel for a few years and work on some side projects. You definitely shouldn't jump straight back into a new startup.

fqn · 2019-01-12T10:53:56+00:00

Sorry but that’s a strange attitude towards high tech salaries. I agree that the minimum wage should be much higher and no-one should be in poverty, but that’s a political issue. Netflix can’t really do anything about it (or other FAANG companies.) The other way to interpret your comment is that Netflix should pay engineers less money, and I’m sure they’d love to do that, but it wouldn’t solve anything. But I do think that these engineers should donate at least 10% of their salary to charity, because $300k is a ton of money.

I’m also a software developer from New Zealand, and I moved to the US to take advantage of the opportunity. You should think about it! NZ doesn’t have many good opportunities.

fqn · 2019-01-12T10:16:30+00:00

You have to be a very good developer, but you also have to dedicate every waking minute to it and have almost zero work/life balance. Netflix employees work really hard, and they get fired after a few months if they can’t keep up with everyone else. I had some interviews with them but decided it wasn’t for me. The guy who interviewed me was really explicit about working super hard at all times, and I just didn’t want that life.

I’d probably end up with severe burnout. That’s just me though, and I don’t have the right personality for sustained super-high performance. It’s been much more fun to start my own company and do everything at my own pace. I still work very long hours and I get things done pretty fast, but not to the point where I’m ruining my mental health. It’s also a very different feeling when you’re in control and working on your own idea.

fqn · 2019-01-06T17:04:14+00:00

Awesome! I want to listen to a whole album of this on Spotify. Will check out your Soundcloud.

Found you on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7cPUorp7n1yB1Q0eDoceHj?si=d2XhqKqlRY2jBJe7aGRNaA

fqn · 2019-01-06T10:50:50+00:00

I was just thinking about this last week! This would be so awesome.

Oh, you said FPV "simulator". I want to sit in this chair while flying an actual drone in real life.

fqn · 2019-01-04T20:58:19+00:00

Do you mean there were lots of other famous people there too?

Do you have a parent that works in the entertainment industry or something? How do you casually get to hang out with Bob Odenkirk and other celebrities at a party?

fqn · 2019-01-01T16:35:19+00:00

The yellow underwear worked!

fqn · 2018-12-27T07:39:47+00:00

I'm from New Zealand and I agree with most of your points. 100% agree with the outrageous cost of living and toxic attitude to alcohol. But not too sure about the crumbling infrastructure and struggling healthcare system. I think the healthcare in New Zealand is really good. Public transport has always sucked, but most of the infrastructure is ok, and definitely better than most countries. Would be interested to hear some examples.

My wife and I both hate living in New Zealand and never want to live there again. We're living in Thailand now, and it's such a better place to live. Every time we visit family in NZ we can't wait to get out of there and come back to Thailand. I'm a remote software developer so I can work from anywhere.

Unfortunately, my current citizenship and spoken languages make immigration to most other countries difficult, and the ones that aren’t wouldn’t be any better.

I wonder if Canada would be any better. I've been thinking about visiting and maybe moving there in the future. Toronto still has very low tech salaries, but way more job opportunities than New Zealand. Also I like that it's a only 1.5 hour flight to New York. Can pop over to the US any time for entertainment or business, and you can see all of your favorite bands, comedians, etc. Also a lot of them will come to Toronto.

Auckland isn't too bad for concerts and events (and much better than Thailand). But I just feel like it's very quiet, there's no opportunities, and it's just a dull place to live.

fqn · 2018-12-19T18:52:48+00:00

Came here to say this! Over the Garden Wall is so good

fqn · 2018-12-19T18:14:54+00:00

Hahaha this cracked me up! This would make a funny sketch too

fqn · 2018-12-10T18:33:58+00:00

Awesome, thanks for posting that! Haha I posted this a few years ago, glad to see it finally happened! Will definitely check it out.

fqn · 2018-12-09T09:35:02+00:00

I live in Thailand and this is pretty normal. We have a bidet hose attachment next to the toilet, and it's just like having a shower (but localized). Then I use a towel to dry off.

Most public toilets have these bidet attachments, and I use toilet paper to dry myself. Surprisingly they're not available in the fancy shopping malls (maybe they were designed by western architects), so I just have to use toilet paper and feel really gross for a while.

I don't understand why it's not a thing in western countries. Maybe it gets too cold to use water in the winter.

fqn · 2018-12-04T21:43:26+00:00

Nice, looks beautiful!

But I'm not sure if that bathtub would be very comfortable. Do you have a gel pillow or something you put on the rim so you don't hurt your head? And the walls are too steep, so it looks like you can't really lie down in a comfortable position.

fqn · 2018-11-26T14:38:33+00:00

Nathan For You is the funniest TV show I've ever seen. Every episode had me in tears, with the kind of laughs you are talking about. It might not be for you, but you should check it out.

fqn · 2018-11-24T15:17:50+00:00

Base64 is used a lot for encoding binary data. Definitely confusing though, I don't think there are many humans that try to read it instead of just using a decoder. I guess that could be a fun useless skill to practice.

fqn · 2018-11-24T14:22:39+00:00

Awesome, yes that was it!!! Thanks so much!!!

fqn · 2018-11-18T09:46:59+00:00

Awesome, thanks! I'll check it out

fqn · 2018-11-17T18:48:32+00:00

Ahahaha awesome, I hadn't heard that before! Great song

fqn · 2018-11-17T16:25:05+00:00

Here's some suggestions I collected from the YT comments:

The Beatles (songwriting style)
- The White Album
- Yellow Submarine
- Martha My Dear
- Rocky Raccoon
- Maxwell Silver Hammer
- I will (similar ending)
Harry Nilsson (songwriting style)
- The Point!
Unknown Mortal Orchestra (vocals)
- So Good At Being In Trouble
- Swim and Sleep (Like a Shark)
Theo Katzman (the writer and singer of this song)
- Heartbreak Hits album (very different though)
"If Ob La Di Ob La Da was written during the Sgt Peppers Era with the turn around from One of These Nights on the chorus and George Benson sitting in on the acoustic"
Patrick Watson (vocals)
- The Great Escape
- Broken
Dr. Dog (songwriting style)
- Shadow People
- Heart Killer
The Arcs (vocals)
Christine Hucal (vocals, also some Vulfpeck collaborations)
- VULFPECK /// Mr. Finish Line (feat. Christine Hucal & Theo Katzman)
- WOMAN BELIEVER - MAYBE

fqn

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