Interesting comments from everyone. A couple I would like to address.
"god damn, that guy has a lot of pictures of himself in that article"
Yes, yes I do. Read my blog and you'll discover that I'm a total narcissist. It's all part of the blog theme.
"Is this really true, when you take into account startups that fight tooth and nail and still don't succeed? Is it better to start with the confidence, money, and connections of other people and then ride the wave of their support, or is it better to start with nothing other than your own belief in yourself and then fight tooth and nail until you get the confidence, money, and connections of others?"
Good point. My point then is that you need all of the above. If you have connections, capital and a good idea - then sorry, you're a carbon copy of thousands of other tech entrepreneurs. What separates you from them? Anyone can always get more capital if you poke around a bit. Anyone can get more connections if you spend more time schmoozing. What you can't simply "get" is an emotional attachment to whatever you are doing. That's something that has to be there from the beginning, I think. That is what I learned from this experience.
"Problem 1: trying to build 3 apps while doing consulting work (no focus)"
Definitely. I absolutely agree. However, we were in no position to argue (much) and as I said in the post, the relationship we had with the supposed investor was flawed.
"Problem 2: the author was a dick to his only employee (wtf? why?)"
Ken wasn't an employee. He was being paid the same as me and provided similar functions, although I naturally took on more of a leadership role, being the more experienced. I'm a dick anyway, but yes, I was hard on Ken because I expected him to help me as much as possible not to fuck up the opportunity I thought we had. But when you are ready to launch and you find that there are lots of basic errors in the HTML or front end code because advice you've given over and over hasn't been taken in, it's hard to remain cool and collected, especially if it's with a mate.
If anything, being in that situation taught me that I am not fit to be a boss and not fit to team lead. I am much better working alone, and my individual work speaks for itself. That is why I am now leaning towards solo consulting as the focus of my career.
"god damn, that guy has a lot of pictures of himself in that article"
Yes, yes I do. Read my blog and you'll discover that I'm a total narcissist. It's all part of the blog theme.
"Is this really true, when you take into account startups that fight tooth and nail and still don't succeed? Is it better to start with the confidence, money, and connections of other people and then ride the wave of their support, or is it better to start with nothing other than your own belief in yourself and then fight tooth and nail until you get the confidence, money, and connections of others?"
Good point. My point then is that you need all of the above. If you have connections, capital and a good idea - then sorry, you're a carbon copy of thousands of other tech entrepreneurs. What separates you from them? Anyone can always get more capital if you poke around a bit. Anyone can get more connections if you spend more time schmoozing. What you can't simply "get" is an emotional attachment to whatever you are doing. That's something that has to be there from the beginning, I think. That is what I learned from this experience.
"Problem 1: trying to build 3 apps while doing consulting work (no focus)"
Definitely. I absolutely agree. However, we were in no position to argue (much) and as I said in the post, the relationship we had with the supposed investor was flawed.
"Problem 2: the author was a dick to his only employee (wtf? why?)"
Ken wasn't an employee. He was being paid the same as me and provided similar functions, although I naturally took on more of a leadership role, being the more experienced. I'm a dick anyway, but yes, I was hard on Ken because I expected him to help me as much as possible not to fuck up the opportunity I thought we had. But when you are ready to launch and you find that there are lots of basic errors in the HTML or front end code because advice you've given over and over hasn't been taken in, it's hard to remain cool and collected, especially if it's with a mate.
If anything, being in that situation taught me that I am not fit to be a boss and not fit to team lead. I am much better working alone, and my individual work speaks for itself. That is why I am now leaning towards solo consulting as the focus of my career.