and jason... you and i and our experiences are vastly different. i'm considerably older, and been through the wars!! funding, on terms that you as an entrepreneur would accept is not 'easy' to find. a good VC/Angel funds an extremely small number of the proposals that come by their eyes.. but your mail gets to my point with the right team/right concept, the approach of putting together a few people is doable... and yeah.. if you have an idea, and already know a few people with the right skills, then you're ahead of the game, assuming that the people you know are committed, etc... for some reason, your mail is focused on the funding aspect.. i fundamentally reject that you need external funding to build a small/successful business. the fact that you appear to think/believe that you need funding, (or should find funding) indicates that you're only looking at one possible solution to the issue of creating a business. but jason, you also need to remember, we're not trying to create a biz to then go find funding. the goal is to create a fully sustainable business function that meets certain parameters. bottom line, if you're willing to take a chance, to work with others, to build something that might succeed, this will appeal to you. if you're not this kind of person, nothing short of a guaranteed check/salary will ever get you to work with a startup function!! it's about managing risks/expectations, and delivering what you say you're going to deliver, when you say it's going to be delivered. -bruce -----Original Message----- From: Jason Barnett [mailto:jason.barnett@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2005 6:16 AM To: php-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: looking for a pure startup opportunity.. OK, let me put this another way... while trying to remain polite. Let's suppose that I am an unknown (to you) member of this list and I have this great idea that I want to develop. My idea is a great one and it's going to make millions. Now since I'm the one that had the idea I think it's pretty easy for me to go find 3 friends of mine (people that I know/trust/live close to me) that have the requisite skills. After all, it's not like most programmers go hanging out with Hollywood celebrities. ;) If I really believed that my idea was so hot then I probably wouldn't be waiting around for someone on this mailing list, I'd just get started doing it. <true_story> Back about two years ago I was subscribed to this newsgroup with my email address from college. Back then I was just doing what I do now... answering PHP questions while I work. Except that I answered a lot more questions then because, well, I was in school still. :) I don't remember exactly how many I answered, but you can check out the marcives if you really want. Anyhow, after doing this for about a year I apparently caught someone's attention. I received an email from <insert_name_of_big-shot-venture-capitalist-here /> telling me that he had capital to give me if I had an idea that I wanted to develop. I politely declined, but I told him I would get back to him if a superb idea came my way... </true_story> I have always felt that getting the financing is the easy part. Besides, if your goal is to get $millions in funding then you're looking at it all wrong. The goal is to make profit... and loads of it. If it just so happens that you need a lot of funding to make that happen, then you can go get it. If you have killer idea(s), then you are better off mocking up a prototype and networking with some people that can get you financing. You always have to make a profit. You always have to make a profit. At least, if you plan on doing anything that's going to catch the attention of some VC's. ;) -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
