Hot answers tagged technology
73
The simplest part of the answer is that we started programming OkCupid back in 2003, which was a special time:
It was the dark age of the Internet: a difficult time to raise
money, it was harder to make money,
and serving costs were still high.
This plus the unique technical
challenges of OkCupid made us very
sensitive to performance.
More important, a lot ...
27
There is a stigma attached to anything Microsoft. As the article says, its a cultural thing.
Please remember that
the C# compiler is free just like PHP, Ruby, Java, or Python are.
Visual Studio has free versions that are not as featurefull as the others, but are still free
You do not need to run ASP.NET on Windows. Mono allows you to run it on any ...
26
Unfortunately I have seen this situation and sentiments hundreds of times (as an entrepreneur, advisor, mentor, educator ... and developer). Most of the time this is due to the developer or engineer overvaluing their contribution or value to the new venture. Yes. This probably means you, too. OK. Let it sink in for a moment, and just consider my ...
23
Although my current startup DOES use .NET (because we're all mostly MSFT people by day), a previous one did not.
The main reason was cost.
Finding a reasonably priced slice/virtual from a good provider is very tough.
If you decide to buy a server, you have to make special decisions as to what flavor of hardware and software you buy/install.
Server 2008 ...
17
If you are a developer creating your own product, then as a general rule, I think picking the technology with which you are most familiar is the most important thing, because it enables the multiplier effect called experience. Experience accounts for a lot, and in ways that may not be obvious.
In addition to minimizing ramp-up time, avoiding rat-holes, and ...
17
There is another side to this. Not everyone is so much deciding against .NET as they are deciding in favor of another platform. I am not anti-.NET but my background and my contacts are on other platforms. For those who grew up with PHP or Rails or Java or something else, it might not be a conscious choice against .NET but rather just a lack of considering ...
15
The main reason: Vendor lock-in
Choosing .NET means vendor lock-in with Microsoft, both for development as for servers. Mono is just not compatible enough to be drop in replacement.
Server market is dominated by Linux. If you're startup interested in cloud hosting, there are plethora of Linux based ones, and only a few Windows ones. And if some platform ...
14
You suffer from the inventor syndrome. You believe that the idea is 99% of the solution, and the execution is just stuff that others do.
Let's revisit one of your scenarios. Let's say you just tell an existing company about this great idea you have that would make their product so much better. My guess? They would laugh and not care to implement your idea. ...
12
Here's a low-cost way:
Set up a single page that describes the product.
Include a sign-up form that says "Leave your name and email and we'll get back to you when it's ready (no spam!)"
If you need free form support, use Google Spreadsheets with Forms, or
Contact me directly because I know of another startup doing remote forms which would probably do it ...
12
Licensing costs
Preference for non MS platforms and technologies
Anti-Microsoft sentiments in some developer communities
I'll add one other thing that is somewhat related to the others - MS is a technology that is mostly shunned in colleges - thus the linux stack and OSes are more comfortable and thus the development tools of choice for the recent grads ...
11
WordPress with a free theme such as Magazine Basic installed, is good solution if you are looking to make your magazine publicly accessible and do no want to program.
If you have more specific needs and would have programmer resources available, the Django programming framework can offer a great starting point for building a magazine that is adapted to ...
8
Running a virtual office is not that easy, believe me >_>.
Properly managing a virtual office depends on your scale. For instance, if you're only dealing with a group of two or three, its pretty easy to stay on the same page on a constant or almost basis using simple communication methods like IM, email, whiteboards/screensharing, and voice/video chat. ...
8
1) Get your products into the hands of the right people (both on- and off-line media). When making your pitch, don't write a bunch of technobabble, what you say needs to inspire busy people to put aside a small piece of their day to take a closer look at what you are offering. (Don't just ship product on the hope that someone will look at it either; get a ...
7
We've gone through two selection rounds for our main web site ([www.GibraltarSoftware.com]). We initially picked an all-web solution and discovered that was a real productivity killer because you had to have the window up and visible to make sure you didn't miss something, and it didn't have presence detection to know when you stepped away and forgot to ...
7
Technically, at 15 you can't start a "real" business. The reason is simple. Businesses revolve around contracts and, under common law, a contract with a minor is voidable and therefore is unenforcable. And then there all of the other challenges on top of that.
However, that doesn't mean you can't start a "kid" business. When I was twelve, I typed up a ...
7
There can be many good reasons for DYI higher up in the stack; in the more value-adding layers. One somewhat contrived example could be a highly scalable application-specific OR/M talking to a database or NoSQL datastore.
But for a startup to write its own HTTP server today is either a) a non-commercial project people undertake for their own gratification, ...
7
My guess is that most startups that use .NET were founded by people that had previously used Microsoft technologies in a larger enterprise setting.
The younger generation of startup founders, without enterprise software experience, are probably using the same technologies for their startups that they used as hobbyists: Rails, Django, Python, Linux, MySQL, ...
7
Your question assumes startups (or most of them) do not choose .NET as their technology stack and this is incorrect.
While it might be true that most startups that visit this site might not be using .NET as their technology stack, it is also true that the reason is not cost, or culture, or dislike of Microsoft but instead the fact that most startups will ...
7
Hmnn, honestly, your post reads like a red flag to me.
I fear [..] my co-founder is going to screw me
Can you make your thoughts and feelings about this clearer to yourself?
On a very high level, my immediate gut reaction is:
If you fear so because your gut feeling / sixth sense is saying your partner is dishonest: Don't partner with him. Seriously, ...
7
Well the advice would generally be to not get started until you have this situation worked out - as in - what will we do if someone leaves?
The general way to handle that is everyone starts off with shares of the company - you said it was an equal split so, let's say there were 900k shares, everyone would have 300k. The shares are valued at something like ...
6
Programmers often have a severe NIH (not invented here) syndrome - they want to build everything from scratch. It doesn't work at large companies that have alot of resources and it rarely ever works at a startup. You couldn't pay me enough to work on any team where the members want to do all the parts themselves - it just doesn't make sense.
Programming is ...
5
We were part of a program that evaluated Sitefinity and DNN, and ultimately selected Sitefinity. This particular project was to replace an existing business system with a new system that met the business application needs of the prior system plus added content management, customer-specific portal capabilities and other traditional CMS features. This meant ...
5
But does it happen that startups fail because their technology is poor?
Yes, sure, happens all the time. Healthcare and biotech are especially hurt by this (nobody wants a medicine that doesn't work). Software companies get hit by this too, though the effect is often less obvious.
Cuil, the much hyped Google killer, is dead now IMHO. They hyped ...
4
You should be aware that for many reasons, companies could just want not to be better. For example, making product A better might canibalize sales of the (more expensive) product B. Even if product B is from another vendor! (Because sales channels might want A as a cheaper but inferior alternative to B)
Making it better might be just too expensive. Or it ...
4
We are running a virtual office, about 6 core people + 3 directors.
All you need:
A project management system (fogbugz, unfuddle, basecamp etc.)
Google Apps
Skype
As you said IM doesn't make sense, Skype is even better than teleconference. Ensure that everyone has a good quality mic.
This is the good bit, although I noticed that if the team member is ...
4
Let's look at it from the other side: You are a successful air conditioner manufacturer, and you've fought your way in this tough industry for decades. You have a successful line of products and you know why: because you have done a great deal of awsome work and you deserve success.
Now here comes some guy, telling you that if you add some fixtures to the ...
4
If I can give you an advice that took me so long to realize myself:
If you feelyou want to start your own company, don't hesitate and don't wait for others to join in. Actually this is the biggest mistake you might do, because you won't make your startup.
What you should do is start directly even if you are alone. Just focus on the idea yo have work for 2 ...
4
I would like to know what could it be a fair equity for my position
"Fair" is such a big word. I don't know if anyone can tell you what is "fair" in this context.
What you are legally entitled to is easier to answer. Sorry to be harsh, but as I read it, you're not legally entitled to any ownership. You were a salaried employee all along, you had your ...
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