tech-company, idea, web-developmentI am a full-stack web developer and I don’t have problems creating my own web apps from scratch. I was offered to work for dev shops in my area several times but I did not like the price. And more importantly, I don’t want to get paid a static price for my entire life.
I have a big idea and I want to turn it into reality but I have two problems. Firstly, I have no idea about startup business model. Second, I have no money to actually pay for things like hosting and domain name services.
1- Can you please suggest what am I supposed to do?
2- What should I be aware of?
3- Is it better to work as a developer for a company than starting my own big project?
4- If there is any recommended resources to learn everything about building startups, can you please share with me?
Thank you.
1- Can you please suggest what am I supposed to do?
I would suggest you to go and work for a Dev shop, first of all, this will gave you the money to pay for the things you need for your personal project. But more importantly, you will grow your professional network and, if you pay attention, you can learn from the mistakes that the owners or managers of the Dev Shop make.
2- What should I be aware of?
Starting a business is more than just having the idea and creating the product or paying for the stuff that the product need (hosting, domains, etc…), you need to know about management, marketing, sales or niche specific things or process. And then there is the chance that even if your idea is awesome for you, other people may find it not useful.
Another thing to consider is about your competitors, who are they?, where are they?, what are they doing?, remember that if you got the idea, other people may have it too, or will get it later and may have more resources to beat you out of business.
3- Is it better to work as a developer for a company than starting my own big project?
In short… Yes, but not forever, if you want to create your own business, go for it, but you need to have at least the basic know-how about what you want to do. I’ve worked for 3 different small companies, and I can tell you that I’ve learned a lot from the owner/manager decisions or actions. Those things are helping me with my new business idea.
4- If there is any recommended resources to learn everything about building startups, can you please share with me?
You cannot learn everything, that’s the reality, but you have internet, read blogs, search for e-books or other resources, I recommend you to research about the subject that you thinks is your weakness, and then go from there.
There are plenty of people in high tech that started succesful companies with just an idea, without technical knowledge (knowledge which you seem to have)
The most important thing is to recognize your strenghts and your weaknesses. If your strenght is technical, with no startup experience you would want to find somebody that has that experience.
I live in the Sillicon Valley so I want to encourage you to pursue your idea and see where it leads.
One thing to realize when looking for people that could fill the roles you are not experienced in is that everybody will try to determine whether you do indeed have the technical accumen to do what you say must be done.
As was said before, working for somebody else will be a good way to learn while making money at the same time. Money which you could use to fund your idea.
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