In real deep I really went all in on my SaaS start up. Mid-30s, married with kids. Left a $350k a year job. Dumped $300k+ into it. Ended up taking a lot longer than I thought and it cost me so much to maintain the biz and pay for my cost of living from savings for 3 years without an income. Ended up raising a pre-seed, but it wasn’t enough to pay myself anything. Ended up selling my second home to use the equity for living expenses. I’m now $150k in debt,... 1 0 replies
YC co-founder matching Has anyone tried YC co-founder matching platform? I don't know if I'm crazy going on there when I only have a small saas project atm. Which I want to bootstrap with an aim to create a lifestyle biz that comfortably supports me. Not everyone needs to be a billionaire, right? 3 0 replies
For those who had a golden-handcuffs job, how did you handle leaving? Hi all, I’m realizing this post may come off as a humble brag, but I’m truly desiring to hear from others who’ve been in my shoes and how they navigated their entrepreneurship journey. I work a cushy, but stressful software engineering position at a FAANG company. I’ve been here since 2018 after graduating college and slowly worked my way up to around a $350-400k annual total compensation (for this year & next). I’ve hit a rut in this job and it absolutely drains me, due to sheer working pressures... 5 0 replies
Equity for founding team member/s in a startup with no funding I'm in the midst of founding a company and am working with a designer and engineer to get it off the ground/build an MVP so we can go for a raise. Both have committed to working on it part-time (which is great!). With this in mind, I'm looking to quickly figure out what the right equity compensation should look like. Here are the facts: * Company current has no funding * Both designer and engineer will be working part-time (let's say 20 hrs a week) for the foreseeable future.... 1 0 replies
What is something that startups should stop doing in 2025? What is at the top of your "do not do" list? What do you believe are the most critical errors or missteps that new companies should avoid at all costs? For example, I would put "attend trade shows" as a key activity to avoid. Over index on angel investor feedback might be another. What else? 1 0 replies
Am I on the right track? This might be a little long for the average reader. But i'll do my best to format it so it's skimmable. **Context** I left my SaaS company 2 months ago. I was employee number 4 and helped them grow to 8 figures. I had a seat at the executive table and equity in the business. Burnt out and wanted to start my own thing. I forgot how hard it is to go from 0 👉 1 **📚 Two schools of thought** 1. Build a product that solves your pain... 5 0 replies
Any logistics and manufacturing suggestions with new administration rules about China? We are trying to kick off a campaign for LoopMotion for a firs of its kind proximity keyboard and mouse switch and all of our manufacturing happening in China due to lots of negotiations and actual quality that they deliver of the price. Especially we don't want our customers to pay double for something that they should have for a good price. Now, all designed and programmed in USA and Europe but we do need to send it to our customers. We don't want to directly ship the product from China... 3 0 replies
Charging companies to sell to me - opinions? As a founder, I have been bombarded with spam messages, emails, and texts from people trying to sell me their products or services. To vet out the more serious inquiries, I have started to charge sales reps a refundable $75 to meet. Here is my goal: 1. **Your time and mine are respected.** 2. I can give your pitch or solution my full attention. 3. Conversations are focused on real, value-driven opportunities. **Refund Policy:** If your product or service provides genuine value for Aview and leads to a partnership or... 2 0 replies
Looking for a Technical Cofounder for BJJ Martial Arts App I’m working on an app to help Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners track their training progress in a simple, structured, and engaging way. If you’re a developer interested in fitness tech, gamification, or BJJ, I’d love to connect and chat further. Let’s build something cool for the BJJ community together. DM me if interested! 3 0 replies
How Fast is too Fast, How Slow is too slow I hear a lot about "Shipping Fast" and I am trying to do that with my app. However, there just seems like so many important elements that need to be built first to even be comparable to the existing apps in my niche. I've been working on my app now for a year and a half part time while I work full time as a SWE. Am I taking too long to launch ? What should I understand that I currently don't, because I physically cannot understand how people... 2 0 replies
Looking to get back on the job market after building a startup? Let me help you! I was talking with members of another start-up / angel investor meet-up and one of them was interested in what I was building because they have found it difficult to find jobs for which they felt they were qualified. They've had issues reducing their resume down and also felt being a founder makes it so that people just assume they're overqualified or desperate. Incidentally, this is the use case I've been targeting, although my original focus has been more towards software engineers and the deluge of tools and tech... 3 0 replies
From $0 to $7.5M ARR to $0: How I lost everything building a creator marketing startup at 21 (and why I'd do it again) I was 21 when I graduated college in 2018. Five years later, I had built and lost a $7.5M ARR marketing company. Here's the uncensored story of what actually happens when you scale too fast and reality hits hard. **The Beginning ($0 to $15K MRR)** Fresh out of college, my best friend and I started a creator network after he was interning at a fast growing app company and dealing with creators daily. Found a client within 3 weeks, had no creators on our books. No fancy tech, just... 5 0 replies
Does anyone need a Product Designer? My name is Mukesh, I have been designing since 2 years. I have experience in Saas and mobile application. Iam open to contribute for open-source projects as well. During my career I have worked with multiple clients and open-source projects that includes Edu-tech, Consumer products, eCommerce products and Saas. If you are building a product need a designer like me. Feel free to ping me, I can help you with my design knowledge and guide you throughout the process. DM me If you want my help. Iam open to... 3 0 replies
Shareholder contract review? Hi all, been offered an Exec position in a small but funded start up that I very much want to pursue esp because I will be receiving founder shares. I have previously lead teams in other Tech companies and departments so always had some shares ; RSUs etc. wherever I went but I never have dealt with a Shareholder contract etc. given the enormous task at hand I want to make sure that my docs are reviewed by someone who has knowledge when it comes to these type contracts.... 3 0 replies
Struggling with Email Marketing for Your SaaS? I’m a software developer who built a platform with my team to make email marketing more effective with features like segmentation, personalization, analytics, and more. It even connects directly to databases like MongoDB for seamless integration with your data. We’re looking for one company to test it out and give feedback. In exchange, you’ll get lifetime premium access and hands-on help with your email campaigns. If you’re already doing email marketing or want to start, drop a comment or DM me a bit about your business. Happy to set... 5 0 replies
2025 Startup Founder Bingo Card I've created a bingo card with milestones I'm hoping to hit for our startup next year to help with gamifying our work! I'm including target user numbers, goals (TV interview, organic influencer shout-out, etc), and some humour (ie: "a devastating no"). What would you put on your bingo card? Happy to share my template with anyone that might find it useful! 1 0 replies
Best way to build a landing page as a somewhat technical person? Hey all, I need to build a landing page and wondering what everyone else has been using, as it's been \~18 months since I built one. I used to use Wordpress and can put something together like this, but my coding skills don't go too much further. Is this still the best way or are there other things I should look at? 3 0 replies
I built a simple reminder app using replit for $40. I built an app to test out Replit and the new build agent. Took about 2 hours - spent $41.25 so far. Fully functional webapp - does basic reminders- (not synced with any existing calendar ) - basically for personal stuff. You can say stuff like 'return toolkit on saturday / call sam on friday / cancel fubo on 3rd jan' and it creates a reminder with that prompt and reminds you on the day. If there was an assistant like this that helped you navigate stuff to do... 3 0 replies
Friends with construction mangers/superintendents in USA? Hi all, I’m looking for construction managers or superintendents in the USA who might be interested in testing an AI SaaS product. We’re looking for pilot users to try it out and provide feedback to refine the product before launch. If you know someone in this role, could you provide a warm intro, please? DM me for more details. Thanks 4 0 replies
Using AI as an advisor for your startup. Hey founders! I’m curious as to how many of you go to AI to advise you on your startup. Or is AI mainly relegated to helping you build and create? For example, asking AI to respond to your idea like a VC and then asking it to provide suggestions. Have it act like a marketing consultant or have it plan your day. If so, how do you prompt? Results? Pros and cons? Pro-tips? Do you use different models for different things? Maybe even chat with it like a therapist... 4 0 replies
