What do you want from me?

[AndrewNC]

Ok, I'm trying to go with catchy titles recently... hope that intrigues you.

So the other week I started a thread introducing a business venture I was embarking on with some co-founders. The general concept is to connect to programmers who are willing to develop your site for equity. There has been a lot of great feedback on the idea, and the main thing that came up: Are we wasting our time developing a service that people won't pay for?


I love learning new areas related to entrepreneurship and helping others, so my question to you is to find out what you really need. After all most the people here are half of my target market:

What product or service are you willing to pay for if I had it available for your today? I'd like to see what people really need for their business, and not what I think they need.

Thanks again!

Andrew

 

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[theag]

Well thats a dilemma, I dont know what I could possibly need.


"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."
― Henry Ford

 

[x11joex11]

I would be willing to sign up on a site that connects me to talent (in particular software developers that are willing to work for a reduced rate for equity, or equity entirely. This is useful because I don't have a lot of money and finding affordable talent when you are starting out is difficult.

As the talent myself, I'm always looking for jobs to do and if I can get long term value (equity) out of a project and still get paid a little bit that is a good deal for me so that would be useful. As long as I don't have to pay to use this service, and if I'm working for equity the entrepreneurs are rated somehow to show the possible effectiveness of their project, and furthermore I'd want my investment in time/code to be protected somehow by a third party escrow or contract with a lawyer.

If anyone else agrees with my idea and would do the same let me know.

 

[Jake]

A site that links up investors and entrepreneurs. Kick-starter for equity. But I would prefer it if the companies were farther along, product in hand, looking for cash to expand.

Like a Shark Tank but for the normal investor who isn't at the VC level but is still looking for small companies to invest in. I see it at the $5,000-$50,000 level or could go higher.

Make this. You could get a small percentage off the top and could get a cut from the lawyer who closes the deal as well.

I would be on there looking for companies to invest in

 

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[theag]

A site that links up investors and entrepreneurs. Kick-starter for equity. But I would prefer it if the companies were farther along, product in hand, looking for cash to expand.

Like a Shark Tank but for the normal investor who isn't at the VC level but is still looking for small companies to invest in. I see it at the $5,000-$50,000 level or could go higher.

Make this. You could get a small percentage off the top and could get a cut from the lawyer who closes the deal as well.

I would be on there looking for companies to invest in

This already exists and is very popular. Http://angel.co

 

[Jake]

This already exists and is very popular. Http://angel.co

Thanks. I was looking for a similar site about 6 months ago and couldn't find anything. I'll check it out

 

[wade1mil]

This already exists and is very popular. Http://angel.co

Thanks for the link. Pretty cool idea and I understand what the purpose of the website is, but it's confusing. I think I read that someone invested $32 million in a taxi service that you could pay for with your phone. The listing had one paragraph describing what they do. Do you have to sign up in order to see more of the details, or is all of the business happening offline? I wouldn't invest in a single company that told me what they do in an elevator speech. What am I missing?

 

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[theag]

Thanks for the link. Pretty cool idea and I understand what the purpose of the website is, but it's confusing. I think I read that someone invested $32 million in a taxi service that you could pay for with your phone. The listing had one paragraph describing what they do. Do you have to sign up in order to see more of the details, or is all of the business happening offline? I wouldn't invest in a single company that told me what they do in an elevator speech. What am I missing?

I never used it, but I think you see more details if you sign up and even more details when you explain your interest in a particular company. They then invite you to some kind of online data room.

But yes, angellist is basically just a networking/matching tool for startups and investors. The real due dilligence and investment process happens offline, so its not a fully automated platform like kickstarter.

 

[Jake]

Thanks for the link. Pretty cool idea and I understand what the purpose of the website is, but it's confusing. I think I read that someone invested $32 million in a taxi service that you could pay for with your phone. The listing had one paragraph describing what they do. Do you have to sign up in order to see more of the details, or is all of the business happening offline? I wouldn't invest in a single company that told me what they do in an elevator speech. What am I missing?

I think you need to be an Accredited investor as well. Don't know if you are or not..just sayin. Looks like the legal situation is tricky for that kind of site or maybe just how they set it up to cover their asses.

 

[theag]

I think you need to be an Accredited investor as well. Don't know if you are or not..just sayin. Looks like the legal situation is tricky for that kind of site or maybe just how they set it up to cover their asses.

Yes, thats right. Theres some more info in their help section.

https://angel.co/help/investors
https://angel.co/help/regulations

 

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[theag]

Oh, just found out that it actually CAN all be done online:

https://angel.co/help/docs


What is Docs?
Docs lets seed-stage startups close their round online. It consists of a beautiful term sheet, automatically-generated closing documents, and tools to manage the process, including gathering electronic signatures, gathering wire information and generating PDFs.

 

[tincho1492]

I like it! Sometimes programmers/designers want to be involved on these projects to have some work to showcase in their portfolios or simply because they like the idea.

There is already one website similar but instead of programmers, you look for designers: Hunie.co

Time investments can help a lot to an entrepreneur, but you have to be sure to somehow filter the applicants.

BTW, my Angellist profile is this: angel.co/partylea It's also a nice hub to look for inspiration, just searching in trending startups I came with ideas to tweak and use in my country.

 

[AndrewNC]

This is another website I found in the investment niche https://wefunder.com/. It appears that the 'accredited' investor regulations might be loosened under the JOBS act

 

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[x11joex11]

I think andrew is looking for concerns you are having while trying to start your business, what is biggest hurdles right now? Or if you already are starting your business and running it, what hurdles are you running into right now?