Problem is the second startup is new and met with great fanfare and the same important people I need to network for a really solid job if this doesn’t work out, are the people that have sung my praises and are watching what I do with this one. If I quit so soon, even though they admire me for the first startup which was a while ago, they might deem me a quitter and not want to help me network for a job which I’ll need. Also, what will I say to justify me being done? I can’t go out there and say truthfully it is due to severe exhaustion and depression?

Lastly, if I do want to give it one more shot, how do I do this when I have literally no energy left in me?

Please advise, thank you.

The post Severe burnout, exhaustion and depression appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

In order to enhance and grow my business even more, I decided to get a business partner that evidently has social media skills as well as websites and coding. Another huge advantage is the fact that she has many high-end contacts that she could use to her advantage.

After many discussions, we agreed that I was to sign over 50% of my business to her which she will “pay” for in a means of reaching set targets to grow the business within a year.

We are 2 weeks in and already have PLENTY of disagreements and she also has not gotten in contact with any of her business contacts as discussed.

Our partnership agreement has not yet been signed as there was a very long delay on her end as well as she gave a 3 month notice at her previous job and also told me she was going away for 2 weeks before starting to do business with me.

I am so worried that I am making a mistake and that this new partner is going to ruin my existing business!

The post New business partner and having second thoughts appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

In the last 2 years, she hasn’t been able to achieve anything and my co-founder keeps covering her ass. He just increased her salary to 4X. Due to her, he has made my, and my investor’s life, miserable. He has almost fired me from all my responsibilities, the reason being that I questioned her and denied further budget. Recently due to her, we fired our most important and loyal employee. He was respected more than us. My co-founder not only fired him but also shut down the project he was working on. Literally bringing that guy to his knees.

Due to his behavior, now I have lost the next best set of employees. They will be leaving by the end of this month.

Due to her, at least 15 employees have left the company. He is not listening to anyone and taking decisions which are good for that girl and not for the company. Anyone who misbehaves with her is eventually fired or publicly humiliated. The whole company knows this.

I don’t have any idea what to do next.

The post My co-founder is sleeping with our employee appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

The idea was to raise cash from friends in cities around Kenya, farm with it and then share profits after harvest. When we started in 2016, it all went well, we did large scale potatoes and peas. In 2017 the year of election in Kenya, we took a risk to do more acreage since most people had backed down in fear of post-election violence (this is Kenya).

We put in all our efforts, raised a lot of money and did what we could but then, things went sideways. In the months leading to the elections, the economy was in a spiral and farm product prices plunged.  It was time to pay our investors/financiers their money plus the interest we had guaranteed, but the prices were bad, but we thought things would be better after the elections. We ended up raising more money to pay our investors and left the crops on the farm waiting for prices to hike after the election.

Things went sideways again.

The presidential election was nullified and that put the situation in more of a mess — buyers were nowhere to be found. We suffered a serious blow, trying to counter the loss, we went into seeking more financing to take advantage of producing at the offpeak irrigation season from Nov 2017 – May 2018

We invested in irrigation equipment and started working and planting mid-Jan … then the worst and most unexpected thing happened.

It started raining in February, something that had never happened, and it rained for 45 days continuous — stopped for 10 days and then continued for the next 19 days. We lost over 70 acres of peas and had zero output … the rest of  2018 we made some money but couldn’t pay off the losses. By December 2018 we were dry … $300,000 in debt, with financiers breathing down our neck.

To try to raise money as fast as we could, we pivoted from farming to online/offline distribution of fashion in Kenya. We take orders from customers in rural shops then deliver to them in wholesale. Three months into it and we are making good progress but with limited financing and resources, it’s hell. Financiers are not agreeing to our temporary payment plan. We are constantly on calls, constantly selling, we are up and down, taking orders, delivering orders, taking threats, explaining the situation, dealing with breakdown … it’s hell.

I need help! I’m breaking from within.

The post Lost over $350,000 of our financiers money in a crowd-farming venture … and they’re on our backs. appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

Then I came up with another startup idea.  And with my success in company 1, I was full of confidence.

This one was much more global in scope (software company) and could help a lot of people while making a lot of money.  I spent a year just doing market research while maintaining my first company.  I tried looking for a co-founder for company 2 without much luck.  Granted, I was keeping it to my circle of people I trust who all have family responsibilities.  Got some help, but no actual commitment, and then they eventually had to get full-time jobs.

Regardless, I was still enthusiastic, had started talking to some people (friends) about investment who were also enthusiastic (albeit non-commital until more was complete), and almost all of the intended customer base across the province that I talked to liked the idea with many saying they needed it right away.  I got a (very) small grant based on the idea, and placed in a pitch competition as well.  People liked the idea.

So in year 2, I hired a development team (minimal size) for company 2, and a support staff person for company 1 to allow me time to spend on company 2.

In retrospect (now in year 3), the hire for company 1 was still a good idea.  I actually had to double my server capacity in December (which was costly) for new customers and I still get recurring revenue which has paid for part of company 2 but not close to being able to pay for everything.

Company 2 has become a money pit and a giant ball of stress.  I was hoping investors would have committed earlier and ended up re-mortgaging my house and emptying one of my investment accounts so there isn’t much credit left, just to get to an MVP.

The last couple of months have really worn me down.  Mainly worry about money and wondering if I have what it takes to do what is necessary for company 2 to build while also maintaining company 1 (that I thought I could step further away from) and not ignoring my family.  Sleep does come quickly at night, but for short periods before my worries take over my dreams and get me thinking again.

The odd thing is that even when things have started to get better for the business lately, at least in terms of possibilities, I still can’t get excited about it.  I’ve had some good meetings with possible customers and know what needs to be done to get them to pay.  It’s a 3-month plan, which the investors like and are now willing to make an investment, but only to cover 3 months of development (also expensive).  I have meetings set up with another related company that wants to integrate.  And I found another company that is working on something similar that I am hoping to talk to about possible partnership.  All good things, but I’m still not excited.  More than anything I feel afraid to lose other people’s money if I mentally crash.

All of the good things are coming to a head in the next week.  Part of me wants to just quit before I bring more people into it.  It will be costly, but I figure I can recover in 10 years (I’m mid 40’s with 2 tweens) and spend more time with family.  Another part of me (and oddly my wife) thinks I should at least see the next few months through and take another chance.

Right now I feel guilty when I’m working on company 2 as I’m not working on company 1 or family (those 2 balanced nicely).  I also feel guilty when I’m not working on company 2 as I’m letting a big idea go.  On top of that, there is an opportunity for company 1 to buy out a competitor, if I hadn’t sunk all my money into company 2, which makes me feel guilty about that.

Anyways, here are the mistakes I’ve realized I made:

1. I should have spent more time looking for a co-founder in order to not spend money on development.
2. I should have waited until I had commitments from investors before hiring developers and spending all my money.
3. As I was doing my market research, I should have gotten written letters of intent from potential customers who were interested, which may have made investment easier.
4. At this stage in my life, I should have let myself be happy as a successful local entrepreneur without getting caught up in the excitement of a new idea (I have been accused of being easily bored).
5. Trying to start a new company while also maintaining another running company was a bad bad idea.  Especially without someone in place to completely run Company 1.

So there we have it.  Still a whirlwind of emotions.  More so than I remember in the first company (even after my partner died).  I’ve read the advice that people have to take care of themselves first, but that small part of me that sees the big potential doesn’t want to give up and call this thing (and me) a failure.  I’d like to get back to happy again.

Rant over.

The post Series of mistakes, at a decision point, and possibly a rant. appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

Thing is – he never had to work in a commercial environment.

His confidence in his abilities is so strong, that he will literally advise on everything and anything without flinching. Often getting into fights over how development should be done with myself or other industry veteran developers.

He will commit to delivering results for a specific deadline and not deliver even the most basic amount of output. When asked about results he will drone on at length about his ‘process’ and then, if pressed, get really angry about you for not understanding that the results are all there in the raw data.

Eventually when he acknowledges, after lots of arguments over many days, that the raw input data is not the same as the desired output data, he will ask for a couple of weeks of extension time during which he will disappear for some days of vacation – not answering emails, texts, calls etc. of course.

When he eventually comes back into office, he will ask for more extension time and repeat that circle.

Needless to say, our Startup is fucked and the old adage “Academic performance is not an indicator for workplace performance” will be forever etched into my brain.

What a waste.

The post Academic co-founder from hell appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

Me: Tech founder who is a developer who went to full time work on the startup.  Works up to 80 hour weeks on the startup.  Sometimes more.

Bob: Senior business guy with international and investment experience who I partnered with pursue international opportunities that he felt my product was a fit for.  Worked 80 weeks at full time job and ~10 hrs/week on startup.

Sally: Second co-founder I tried to onboard.  Would basically work full time on startup 40-80hr weeks or more. I was working with Bob before I met Sally.

Team: Rest of the team I tried to onboard.

Slicing Pie: Dynamic equity split model that tracks ongoing labor/investment/sales contributions from company inception to Series A funding to break down equity between startup principals and employees.  Simplified synopsis of the model is equity % = person’s slices / total slices of all participants  (https://slicingpie.com)

Dispute was between me and Bob.

My position was that myself, Sally and Team would be the core team of the company and be responsible for the product, have it’s own management structure that we decide (and thus have most of the equity.) Bob’s role was to facilitate business opportunities, fundraising, and deal flow to the company and manage international business relationships and operations.  His equity via the Slicing Pie method would give him equity based on his time, unreiumbursed expenses (related to business travel mainly), and deal flow and funding secured.  (With Slicing Pie, you don’t get fixed chunks of equity but slices that get allocated as inputs are made, but if we forecasted the equity split and expected deal flow he would be able to bring, he would have 5-10% equity.)

Bob’s position was that he be the companies CEO, with a 50% equity stake.  He was not interested in Sally being a part of the company because he didn’t like her qualifications and resume.  Furthermore he wasn’t comfortable with the team Sally and I was trying to onboard.  He wanted the product dev to be outsourced to a firm with proven track record.  His rationale is that since the key relationships and the work to generate deal flow is coming from him, and we are doing business in a market where he is the expert, and the company without him is still in concept stage with limited traction to date, there is no reason for him to have less than 50% and not be the CEO.

(BTW: In the Slicing Pie, myself, Sally, and the rest of the team would get equity credit for deal flow that they bring in.  It’s only more important in Bob’s case since he would not be getting much equity for his time since he is only working 10 hrs a week on the startup.  While the rest of us will be working much longer hours)

Huge dispute ensues.  It was clear to me (and Sally) that Bob was not fit to be involved in management of the company outside of the dealflow facilitation and relationship management.  Bob’s non-negotiable position is that he be the CEO.  And Bob’s terms was that if Sally and team would be a part of the company any equity they get would come out of my share while he gets 50%.

Eventually had to part ways with Bob, and walk away from all business the company was working with him on for the previous year.  Sally and Bob never met or talked to each other since Bob was opposed to the very idea of Sally being on our team and the time I was hoping to spend doing those introductions and building our company/product was spent in a co-founder dispute with him.

If you were a startup founder in this situation (if you were in my position, Bob’s position, or Sally’s position) who would you handle it?

The post Equity and Team Structure Dispute appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

I now hired a new team and replaced my whole previous team (10 people) with better ones. The process took 8 months and was rough for all sides. The fault is clearly on my side as I hired these people before, but once I saw that they couldn’t perform the tasks I wanted them to do it was clear to let them go. As an entrepreneur, you have to sometimes decide between going bankrupt or letting everyone else go.

The post Bad hiring decisions lead to mass layoff appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

I did a lot of research on the market, determined what it would take financially to start off, read many books on retail management and eventually procured a small 850 sq ft space to start the business in an area that demographically met the need. Just making $85 per day would be sufficient to sustain the business as the lease was only $800 per month and the extra overhead like lights and phone were about $120.

My wife worked on finding wholesalers and we had a lot of fun going to the shows where new clothing lines were being presented.  We put in our first order of about $8,000 to fill the store with a vast assortment of retail items.

We opened our doors in Spring and it was amazing! We were making money!  We were actually doing well enough in the first few months that my wife decided that she was going to start paying herself out of the register – one big mistake.

Because we were doing so well, we needed to re-order pretty quickly to keep the shelves stocked.  When we would order, we would use a credit card set-aside for those purchases.  I calculated that we would always have a rolling balance with the constant buy/sell and that we could sustain the $400 per month payment on the $20k limit credit card.

I was still working my full-time tech job and would work the store on weekends.  That is when I would look over the finances and reconcile bills.  Around the third month, I noticed that the money that I thought we made was actually not as much as I thought should be in the bank account.  I asked my wife about it and her response was that of, “I need money to live off of, so I just take $40 here and there as I need it” – I guess I didn’t think about that part.

We looked at that part of spending vs what the store was making and established that she could take $150 per week.

Bills were getting paid, sales were good – not as great as the first few months but still doing well.  Next problem is that because we had done so well, we had to re-order fairly quickly which meant that $20k credit card was almost maxed out by month 6.

Now we were getting into the Fall season and in retail, that is when you order for the next Spring.  We were running out of money.  My wife had broken the promise of $150 per week spending and we missed our first lease payment around month 13.  Cash flow was tight and I ended up using personal credit cards to make store purchases and pay bills.

Downward spiral from there, no money, stock market crashed, no merchandise to sell and ultimately bankruptcy. The landlord tried to sue us for $17k which would have been the entire 5-year lease.

There was so much stress and anxiety with the loss that was occurring that my wife thought that having an affair would be a good idea to get her mind off the impending doom. Chaos ensued for many months until we were able to find stable ground again.  Probably the most horrible experience in both of our lives. We managed to work through these tough times but I am sure many would have thrown in the towel.

What I learned trying to start a business

• Never go into a business with your spouse
• Always over-estimate your startup costs as they are likely 3x what you originally thought
• Make sure you understand your cost-of-living while starting up
• Don’t use personal credit cards – no matter what!

The post How to Fail appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

Someday I’ll tell you about how I, an out-of-shape 50+ year old single woman, spent nearly a year living in our warehouse – not a cool, Elon Musk warehouse, but a large, cold, open warehouse. How I showered with a plastic dog-washing hose over a drain with lukewarm (at best) water. How I hid when I saw a police car cruise past our office window at night.

Before that, how I chose to let my beloved house go so I could continue to fight… how I lived in a friend’s garage for more than a year, how we tried to romanticize it by calling it the Cottage… How some nights I sat in the corner of my office and recreated Goldie Hawn’s chainsaw scene in Overboard.

How I cried when I did the phone interview for food stamps. How humiliated I felt when I begged a friend for money to feed my dog.

And how I felt like a con when I couldn’t deliver for the people who believed in me.

How fear and dread and disappointment in myself sucked me under. How I felt relief and a twisted excitement when a stomach bug gave me hope I might have something lethal so people wouldn’t hate me for quitting. How love of that dog – a special needs dog no one would take if something happened to me – kept me going through it all, clawing for one more inch of survival.

Someday I’ll tell you all that. For now, I’m trying again. Focusing on living, and remembering that despite that failure, I have gifts I can give to the world, more – much more – than when I started.

The post Someday I’ll tell you the full story of my company appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

I realized almost immediately there was this high sexual tension between them and confronted my cofounder about it. I’m all for responsible adults being free to have sex with each other, but this was clearly not the case. Whatever was going on there had more to do with this employee stepping well beyond her boundaries and him being a damn fool. Anyway, he ended up admitting there was tension but that he hadn’t and wouldn’t do anything about it. We kept the employee on because she is the best person we’ve had in her job since we opened, by far. We removed some power and gave her some feedback, and everything seemed to be going well.

Until a few weeks ago when she started acting like she’s the boss or something, choosing her own responsibilities and lying through her teeth to get more power. Her manipulative behaviour is somewhat ridiculous – when she realizes she got caught doing something wrong, she’ll act almost childlike, trying to get people to pitty her, or worse: she’ll hit on people. And I don’t mean she’ll flirt harmlessly, I mean she is on a mission. She hits on my other cofounder too, but with little effect as he is married and not interested apparently.

I started noticing her overconfident behaviour and realized she and my cofounder are having sex. There were particular situations in which I realized they were lying right to my face about it. I have no concrete evidence to “incriminate” them, but I have seen subtle non-subjective signs of her presence in his house for instance, among other clues.

But what really tipped me off is that he’s become completely lenient regarding her bad behaviour – something we talked about in the past and he agreed was something we had to work hard on to deal with. In the past week I caught her lying A LOT, badmouthing coworkers to management unfairly, throwing coworkers under the bus for her own mistakes AND flirting with the financial guy to get “forgiven” for a budget she disrespected (spent more money than budget given). In every situation I called her out on it (professionally as upper management) and she had the worst reaction. Instead of taking the feedback and retreating, she got pissed off and said some really unprofessional shit.

My cofounder’s reaction was to think she’s just “a bit crazy”.

Now, I’ve had successful workplace relationships but man… don’t fuck someone you work with just because they’re hot. It really makes you a moron. I’m not at all worried about the employee or the cofounder as I will deal with it in whatever professional manner is required. But I have lost a lot of respect for the fools in this story going through all this blindness for a lousy lay.

The post My cofounder is sleeping with an employee and lying to me about it. appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

So I took an advice from a friend of mine. I went to a nearby lake and stayed there without being online. I took the time to think about me and my life … and especially WHY I founded my startup … Sometimes reading blogs/articles offline I have saved via Pocket or meditate (at least I tried). It was really hard to not think about my startup especially when I was getting more and more awesome ideas to improve it.

Those 2 Offline Days really helped me. It really helped me put my whole life and the startup into perspective and how I want to continue.

I think that will perhaps it could help you as well. Being offline for a few days and just thinking about you and your life.

The post 2 Days being offline appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

Now after a few years of working in start-ups (late 20s), having been a drone in a soul-less job, gone through two burnouts, and survived a failed relationship, my perspectives have changed.

Although I still want to have a go at being a founder, I’m much more weary of the concept  because of past negative life experiences. I’m afraid of the pain and suffering that comes with high-stress and lots of responsibility. And, of course, the high risk of failure.

In addition, being female means that my biological clock ticks faster, and my family is forever inclined to remind me to find a husband and have kids ASAP, lest I expire. I agree with their reasons, but having a family while starting a company is too overwhelming.

I feel that the possibility of being a successful founder is moving farther and farther away from me.

How should I balance these pesky worries? Whats the best way for me to approach these problems from a sensible angle, and assure myself everything will be ok? Or will it?

Thank you for reading. Even if you just rolled your eyes through the entire post, I still thank you for reading this rant.

The post Worries of a founder wanna-be appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

30 days ago, I, female, 29 and with no experience as a CEO, took over my company with a runway of maybe 4 months and with fires all over the place. This company is burning where a company can possibly burn – because of the mismanagement of three really, really, really incompetent young idiots.

I watched them burn it to the ground and when they finally left, I was offered to take over. The worst imaginable decision I could ever take – I said yes. Despite knowing all of the misery.

I think I am insane. I think I should question my self-value. I think I need therapy. Why would I, a girl with plenty of job opportunities all over the world without any knowledge in how to be a CEO – why would I just agree to take responsibilities of a mess I did not create? Just because I want to clean up? Make it better? Prove myself that EVERYTHING can be fixed by good management? Hell, how will I possibly know that? I feel schizophrenic. On the one side I know, that only one mistake will fuck me up completely. On the other side, I feel that I can make it work. And in between, there is me, an exhausted mind and body who hasn’t slept in 30 days, since I took over and who is depersonalizing every day bit by bit. And the worst thing of all is – I don’t feel that I want to change it. So, clearly, I AM INSANE!!!

I just try to trust my instincts, follow my reason, listen to my employees but we are running out of money and I have an investor over my head who only cares for the growth but who is 100% guilty of the mess this company is in. Every single cent I spend will decide on our faith and I got 3 months to turn the destiny of this company and no one to consult. What will happen? For the first time I can only see one way. I must succeed. I don’t see any alternatives.

Is this suicidal? Is this dedicated? Is this strong? Or is this bling?

I will let you know.

The post THE MOST STUPID THING I DID: I became CEO of a burning ship and I won’t leave it appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

I started my startup in FinTech over 2 years ago. I can’t say I’m a snob… But thinking that I could be a snob makes me feel bad.

Ok, here is the story. I’m not from the US, I’m from one of the former Soviet countries to be exact, neither is my co-founder, despite that, we were able to build a fairly successful Fintech startup. It is very hard, indeed both financially and emotionally.

I started it with one guy, and then this guy joined us 2 years ago. I don’t know why I invited him but it is what it is. The first co-founder dropped along the way so it is only 2 of us left, the third guy and me.

This third guy is not a tech person and did not have experience running a startup, just another Finance student like me. We both went to a fairly good school in NYC, nothing too exciting.

Although we are pretty much from the same place, we have very different backgrounds, I went to one of the top schools in the country based on my academic merits, I am from a liberal family and from the kind of an upper-middle-class social background (don’t get me wrong I am not saying it with any sort of pride or prejudice). I grew up in that environment where your friends are all bright exceptionally intellectual kids with vision, highly opinionated and political.

And then my co-founder (again I am not trying to be a snob here); he wasn’t intellectual, he grew up “on the street”, fighting and admiring Putin. He is from a very conservative family with very conservative views on everything, from gays to women, from family to politics. I will give it to him he is tough, but I can’t ignore it anymore, I don’t like it.

Those fundamental differences lead to enormous misunderstanding of everything from brainstorming ideas to execution. I can say that I was pushing this startup all the way along for past 2 years.

Here is an example: we saw a marketing video from Apple, the one about 1984 and my co-founder didn’t even know Orwell.

I want a co-founder I can look upon and be admired by. It is hard, It will only get harder…

The post Somewhere deep inside I disrespect my co-founder. I think all the problems we have with our startup root in that. appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

After my startup ran out of funding, I couch surfed for 2-3 months then ending up living in a field for awhile with some coyotes, I eventually travelled from NY to NC.

Built a small architectural drafting & design company. ($1k-$3k/month earnings).

Closed on a $50k seed round. Half from some clients from the architectural drafting & design I started and a half from an angel investor. To go raise the capital needed for the refinery.

After travelling all around the country trying to raise $5MM for the large-scale processing and refining plant, I was unsuccessful. Pre-revenue, needed $1MM ebita for over $1MM investment. Got a lot of interest, but no closings.

Came back to the investors/founding team. We pivoted to raise a $750k round and start with a small plant. Working on getting lease terms for a building with the owner to cover the retrofit cost and a 100% equipment financing deal. Raw materials good to go. They have committed an additional $150k to lead the round with the new smaller plant. The smaller plant will produce $3MM in EBITA annually. We can then scale to the bigger plant, which will produce $20MM in EBITA, then scale to double for $40MM in EBITA annually and look for exits.

I’ve included my email for anyone interested in discussing further, that can be revealed with a contact reply.

The post Update From Story here 2 years Ago – Startup Ran out of Funding appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

I am presently working and have been working all my life since I graduated university but I have this thought of being able to start my own business while still having a regular means of income. Some of the companies I’ve been into were startups and I was able to drive it successfully.

As for my own, I was usually with a few friends together in starting a company. It could be better to start on my own but I don’t have enough funds. I have 4 kids all studying in universities from high school to college. I may avail (this year) of an early retirement from my job as a Manager just to be able to pay up some debts and start a business.

I have a few projects in the pipeline and all will need more funds with one as capital intensive. Here are a few of those projects to share with.

1. Facebook marketing a health product – I’m involved in a team that has now 3 on staff, always on the computer to check and answer queries on a specific product. We need more funding to boost with higher exposure and more inquiries.

2. Software application – I am on a team of 4 that is working now on an application for transport and logistics delivery within our province. We need more funds to proceed for marketing redevelopment of marketing tools and subsidy for some freebie items for the transport group that will carry and use the app with the public.

3. School for kids – this one is my project for my family as a business. It is capital intensive and needs more financial backup. I don’t have contacts for VCs on this venture.

Anyhow, I’m just sharing here (my first time) to reach out for some benevolent people who can help out with my plans.

I am from the Philippines and do not come from a well-funded family. I am a Civil Engineer by profession with a passion for technology – particularly IT and software development – and online marketing.

For those who may be able to help, keep in touch by email and with your replies here. I can show you my profile on LinkedIn and Facebook for integrity and background check. Will ensure to reply. No scams, please.

Thank you for listening to my story. Cheers!

The post Several startups. Can any of you be of help? appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

After growing quickly in 2016 I increased the team size and hoped that with more resources we would be able to solve the existing problems and eventually move part of the time to an onsite office.

As we grew we hit more and more bottlenecks, bugs, communication issues etc, server downtime and more. I got in a regular argument with the developers over stability, features etc. One of them even tried to blackmail me with Server downtime.

We failed at really basic things like a CSV import which they said I would not understand because I am not a developer and its bad if I interfere in how they do the tech.

Fast forward 6 months I met a lot of developers locally, having analyze the code and architecture and we have seen a horrible mess on the freelancer side. I now replaced the whole tech team with on site team members.

I can only warn startup founders of bad freelance developers that always say its impossible, or you don’t understand the tech. etc. Business should never be built around tech skills limitations of engineers (as long as its realistic of course).

As soon as you can afford it have an experienced developer look into your project or you pay a high price later.

Good luck!

The post Bad Developers appeared first on Startups Anonymous.

I quit the my job at an Apple retail store in Feb or 2012. This was the last time I worked as an employee and the last time that I had a stable social support system. I went into film and landed a contract with a notorious female film producer who was married to a prominent wealthy lawyer. We produced a number of documentary films for high-brow criminal cases in the legal world. I made a substantial amount of money while doing this.

Over the course of 5 years, I sold or dissolved all of my other business projects, (a recording studio, a real estate photography company, and a media company). I was traditionally a workaholic and never very social. It eventually came down to the point where I was solely working with this woman and barely spending time with anyone else. My only family at the time was my brother and mother. My mom and dad divorced when I was 1 and re-married when I was 21. I barely knew my dad and we didn’t really speak.

In the summer of 2014, I decided to pivot and finally start pursuing my core passion of app development and creating technology that will help people with personal development. I started working part-time in film (still with the same producer) and part-time pursuing my dreams. Over the next 3 years I taught myself how to code (Objective-C), released an app to the app store and learned how to market it.

In January 2015 I lost my mother to cancer. She had been diagnosed a few years before however, her death came very fast and was a shock to everyone. My brother and I flew in to be with her. We were there for only 24 hours before she passed. My father had actually been on hospice for the previous 8 months prior to my mom’s passing. She was taking care of him while sick herself. My brother took charge of taking care of my dad, I supported him. My dad later passed away on Christmas eve of the same year. I was 30-years old at the time, it was a very brutal year.

In the summer of 2016, the woman that I worked with, whom I now considered my business partner (90% of the business was ran by the two of us) started changing. Throughout the years I had witnessed her cut people off entirely from her life without warning. I had always thought that this would eventually be my fate as well. In all honesty, she appeared to be losing her mind. I tip-toed around her, trying to support her the best I could, crossing my fingers that she would not use me as a target. I finally got snared when I asked her for a payment that was over a month and a half late on the same day that she went cold-turkey on prozac. This resulted in a massive argument where she tried to manipulate me into thinking that there was something wrong with me. A couple weeks later, she sat me down in a room, expressed to me that I had ‘turned on her’ and that I was no longer going to receive the same respect or responsibilities while working for her. I wrote her a note of gratitude later that day and said goodbye. I have not spoken to her since.

It’s not all bad. Around the same time, I met the love of my life. She supported me through everything right from the beginning. I lost my best friend, my business partner and my sole source of income two weeks into our relationship and she didn’t flinch.

I postured for a couple of month determining which way I would go next. I had been saving the vast majority of the money I was making in film. I had a small fortune saved up. I eventually decided that this was a blessing and that I would pursue my dreams full time. I went all in.

When things started getting bad in film, I had a paid app in the app store with 500 downloads. When I quit film I had 9,000 downloads. Since I’ve gone full time, I have risen to over 28,000 downloads w/ a 4.8 star rating. I have close to 2 years left of runway and am producing 1/3 of the income that I need to survive. I plan to move in with my girlfriend and ask her to marry me this year.

All that being said, I have contemplated suicide many times this year. I have fell into multiple depressions. I still feel alone and am still very isolated. I have my girlfriend and my brother. I am very grateful that I have them. This letter is part of the healing process in an effort to open up to the world again after being dormant for over 5 years.

Whoever reads this, I appreciate you. I am grateful for you. And thank you for listening.

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What I mean by this is that I have to go out and meet new girls (or re-kindle old flames) and get them to go out with him. Then if he gets laid that month with a new chick that I foist onto him, I can keep using the garage. I am technically now an engineer as well as a pimp.

…Whatever it takes, right?

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