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The team is just one variable in what makes a startup successful. It happens to be the most important variable IMO. But collecting data wouldn't help here, as success may be attributed to a founders network or availability of capital or just the idea being so great e.t.c. too much to account for scientifically. And not repeatable it seems.

They bias towards multiple founders because running any business on your own is hard. You can collect this anecdote from almost every solo founder. It requires such a breadth of skills that is rarely in just one person. You don't have time to specialise in multiple non related areas. You need help.

What can you do about it? Successful solo founders tend to hire very quickly so if you're doing well and you're in a position to start hiring, do it, then apply to accelerators or whatever with your hired team. Or don't and just continue working on your business like a normal person.


Try jsonb fields (postgres only maybe?) and the jsonb accessor gem: https://github.com/madeintandem/jsonb_accessor

I use this for prototyping new apps a lot, where I'm not sure on the best design. Then I migrate to proper database columns when I'm sure of something. Feels like the best of both worlds to me.


Yeah I think I learned this the hard way: even making DB columns can be a premature optimization.


Yes CoCs are great, but be careful how you use them. Committees wielding their CoCs to the detrement of others is shameful. They give CoCs a bad name. Maybe there should be a 2nd committee, with a CoC for committees using them maliciously, a CoCCuM if you will.


I've addressed a few of the issues you're having on my freelancers blog at https://medium.com/workroll

Here's some quick pointers...

1. Automate your lead generation. shameless plug: https://workroll.com

2. Don't estimate or provide hourly quotes. Use fixed prices based on value you're providing.

3. I literally have a list of 100 places to find clients... https://medium.com/workroll/find-5-freelance-design-developm...

4. Immerse yourself in their business, ask lots of questions and find out where their problems lie. Then charge for fixing them.

5. Contracts are useless if you can't enforce them. Learn to spot bad clients and avoid them, charge a deposit, and break work up into milestones. More here: https://medium.com/workroll/8-red-flags-to-avoid-bad-freelan...

6. Writing software is getting easier, sorry you're just wrong on this one!

P.S. hiring a sales person won't work. You are the best sales person you can find.


https://workroll.com - started in June, turns over $2k a month. Built whilst automating my own freelance sales work flow and figured others could make use of it too. It saves me about a week a month from doing my own lead generation. Been trying to get funding but had no luck. Too early.

Also started a blog to help freelancers grow: https://medium.com/workroll


How did you find people who were looking to hire? I want to create something similar for a niche industry.


I monitor hundreds of job boards, social searches e.t.c.

More info here: https://medium.com/workroll/find-5-freelance-design-developm...


I used to search for freelance gigs amongst the remote/full-time job boards. I wrote about it here with some of the list: https://medium.com/webuildevery-com/find-5-freelance-design-...


SEEKING WORK | Remote (can travel in Europe) | Sheffield, UK

6 years working as a remote Designer and Front-end developer, mostly for start-ups based in the USA. I work EST time. Most experienced with creating / re-designing UI and UX and integrating it into a back-end (Rails) or building a front-end (Angular, React) that hooks into an API. My last role was CTO of a video marketplace.

Portfolio: http://www.mbryson.com Email: mitchbryson@gmail.com


The first time I got scared about my migraines and decided to do something was after my first silent migraine. Before this I had just had them about twice a year lasting roughly 3 days.

My silent migraine started with pins and needles in my tongue, speading slowly to the rest of my jaw and then finger tips. Then I lost sight in the parts of my vision where I was focused, it became grey and bright around the edges. I still had peripheral vision. The last symtpom was what I could only describe as temporary dyslexia. I was reading sentences aloud and skipping whole words or moving them from the start to the end. It sounded like gibberish but in my head it somewhow made sense. I started to panic until some frantic googling brought up these types of migraines. Which is when I instantly recognised all my symptoms as familiar but without the headache and light sensitivity seemed very alien and very scary.


I also asscociate them with the more or less light as they seemed to occur at the start of spring or end of autumn.


I had that, but with verbal aphasia. Couldn't form sentences. It was super scary.


I'd be tempted to giveaway http://spendful.com to the right person.


Hey Mitchell, Merlin from https://thisisbud.com here. Looks like a cool tool you've made, what's made you close the door on it? I've sent an email over to you anyway as I'd love to hear more about it.


I don't want to close it, just pass it on. I use it myself but neglect the maintenance of it.


By the way, GNUCash is great for that sort of thing.


Have you heard of Mint? How does Spendful differ from Mint? https://www.mint.com/


It forecasts your spending easier than mint, and it was developed back when mint was only open to US and Canada, not sure if it still is.


Wow. I was going to build this exact same thing. And I still might. Would love to chat. My emails in my profile-- didn't see yours.


Also interested in something like this but I don't think I have time to do it on my own. If you end up taking it up and would like some help, give me a shout.

My email is miguel at <username>.com


This looks awesome. If you take it on and want some help, especially with an iOS or Mac app, please let me know jasongrandelli @ gmail


Email should be there now.


Hi Mitchell, I'd be very interested to discuss this with you. I've been working on a similar application for over a year. What would you expect from the right person?


If you take this on, I'd also be interested in helping out.


Just to keep it open, and keep basic usage free.


Great - I'll send you an e-mail with more info :)


More details:

A service for hiring a drone pilot and getting custom aerial video/photo on demand. Book within seconds/minutes and get the flight carried out the same day. http://www.airstocinstant.com

It’s designed for any promotional video producers, enabling you to get footage from many different places in a short time. It can serve a need for real estate agents working within a large area, or advertising agencies needing multiple shots around the world.

Initial roll-out will be based on demand. Our existing business http://www.airstoc.com has over 8,000 pilots world-wide, so coverage is pretty good.


Best marketing would include some sample videos.


Good suggestion, I've added some near the bottom. Thanks.


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