Joining a startup, what are the options?

[miguelst]

I've been a developer for whole my life, I recently started my own agency, where I'm now starting to outsource work, and focus on sales and growing the business (the dream!).

Now an old friend of mine contacted me to ask if I could manage a development team for a new web platform they're building, the project seems interesting and instead of billing them for my time, I'm wondering if I could join them, become part of the project.

In what ways can someone join a project, and share in the revenue? Does anyone have experience with this situation?

 

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[Andy Black]

I've been a developer for whole my life, I recently started my own agency, where I'm now starting to outsource work, and focus on sales and growing the business (the dream!).

Now an old friend of mine contacted me to ask if I could manage a development team for a new web platform they're building, the project seems interesting and instead of billing them for my time, I'm wondering if I could join them, become part of the project.

In what ways can someone join a project, and share in the revenue? Does anyone have experience with this situation?

Why not work bill for your time initially and see how it goes?

"The first purchase is a test."

 

[miguelst]

Why not work bill for your time initially and see how it goes?

"The first purchase is a test."

Well once I did the research, wireframe and design phase there's no reason for them to allow me in, they can then use all that information to go to an outsourcing company. Asking for a part, a share of the project instead of billing 10k in research and design costs is more of a win-win situation. I have leverage, I can save them the initial 10k, but win if the project takes off.

 

[Andy Black]

Well once I did the research, wireframe and design phase there's no reason for them to allow me in, they can then use all that information to go to an outsourcing company. Asking for a part, a share of the project instead of billing 10k in research and design costs is more of a win-win situation. I have leverage, I can save them the initial 10k, but win if the project takes off.

Maybe. Lots of ifs. My preference is for the money to be in my bank account, ideally in advance (and for me to have built an offer/model to keep it coming in).

Maybe this is you trying to figure out an offer that is monthly recurring? I'm a big fan of MRR.

Are you thinking of joining the startup as per this thread title, or working on your "dream"? What is your dream? If you were to be delighted in 5 years time then what business would you have?

 

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[miguelst]

Maybe. Lots of ifs. My preference is for the money to be in my bank account, ideally in advance (and for me to have built an offer/model to keep it coming in).

Maybe this is you trying to figure out an offer that is monthly recurring? I'm a big fan of MRR.

Are you thinking of joining the startup as per this thread title, or working on your "dream"? What is your dream? If you were to be delighted in 5 years time then what business would you have?

Very good point Andy, thanks for making me think of it like that, my dream is to have an agency that makes beautiful websites in my niche (lifestyle and higher-end design), an agency in which I have designers, developers working for me. So in terms of goals this one single project doesn't mean a whole lot, it might just be an easy way for MRR like you said. But besides the money there's no real reason for me to pursue it.

 

[Andy Black]

Very good point Andy, thanks for making me think of it like that, my dream is to have an agency that makes beautiful websites in my niche (lifestyle and higher-end design), an agency in which I have designers, developers working for me. So in terms of goals this one single project doesn't mean a whole lot, it might just be an easy way for MRR like you said. But besides the money there's no real reason for me to pursue it.

It's a good thought exercise to figure out how you can use your skills to build a business where clients pay you monthly.

Booking(.)com have the in-house skills to build websites and run digital marketing campaigns. Rather than build a marketing agency for hotels they built a DTC business where consumers find hotels and where hotels get bookings.

I've Google Ads skills and only do work that is monthly recurring. My service lends itself to monthly recurring since the client pays for ads every month.

What offer can you create that lends itself to being monthly recurring?

 

[Andy Black]

Oh, and you might be interested in this:

The Game w/ Alex Hormozi - "New Distractions Kill" - Keynote Speech at Future Flipper (Pt. 2) | Ep 462

You have to learn how to say no to the woman in the red dress and focus on what’s really important ahead. Today, join Alex (@AlexHormozi) as he presents his keynote at Future Flipper to talk about his definition of “work”, the importance of creating volume and leverage when it comes to output...

podcasts.google.com

 

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[miguelst]

It's a good thought exercise to figure out how tou can use your skills to build a business where clients pay you monthly.

Booking(.)com have the in-house skills to build websites and run digital marketing campaigns. Rather than build a marketing agency for hotels they built a DTC business where consumers find hotels and where hotels get bookings.

I've Google Ads skills and only do work that is monthly recurring. My service lends itself to monthly recurring since the client pays for ads every month.

What offer can you create that lends itself to being monthly recurring?

Well my main goal at this point is to build websites that are well built, meaning they generate leads, have good SEO and are more then just pretty. I'm thinking of working out an SEO offering with a monthly payment, but I still need to do research on that and figure out what I can do every month in order to help my clients.