hey guys so I have narrowed it down to 3 or 4 domains with functional MVP. I had about 10 but I really asked is this a vitamin or a painkiller and was able to narrow it down to a 3.<p>I want to raise money to hire 1 engineer to polish up the MVP and be the go to guy for changes.<p>I want a sales guy who will work on base salary and 15% comission.<p>I want a marketing guy who will spin content and accountable for inbound lead generation.<p>I am located in Vancouver, BC. Here's why I think Vancouver is a great place to start, #1 salary is super cheap because of the exchange rate. I don't need a 100x engineer. I already laid down the bare paths and need a few more bodies to help maintain the ship.<p>So about how much I need to raise I'm thinking to cover salary:<p>1 intermediate engineer = $65,000 CAD / year = $48,888 USD / year.<p>1 sales guy + SDR intern ($10.25 cad/hr minimum wage in BC) = $45,000 CAD / year + 15% comission cap + $21,320 CAD / year for SDR intern = 66,320 CAD / year = $49,890 USD / year.<p>1 marketing guy = $35,000 CAD / year = $26,000 USD / year.<p>So all together salary burn rate is $124,778 USD / year.<p>$10,398 USD / month + rent + supplies = $12,398 USD / month.<p>So roughly 13k USD / month to upkeep with 1 year of runway will be $156,000 USD. I want to target 1 million USD in sales in that period.<p>These are all B2B SaaS products that I've been able to spin off from my main SaaS that I've been working on for 2+ years alone.<p>No free plans, no $19.99/month, charge money and earn revenue from day 1.<p>Is this a realistic figure to raise in the beginning? What local meetups should you attend? Do you think it's wise to raise money from your own network instead?<p>Basically I'm looking to see if anyone is interested in going naked call on an option that expires in 1 year without time decay.<p>absolutelynotalking@gmail.com
> 1 intermediate engineer = $65,000 CAD / year = $48,888 USD / year<p>The gross annual amount of an employee's base salary is very different than the cost of hiring an employee with said base salary. I know CA != US, but payroll taxes, benefits, retirement contributions, unemployment and disability insurance, etc can't be that alien of a concept. Or is it? In the US estimate 130%-160% of the salary for base employment. Or is circa 30k for an intermediate engineer normal in Vancouver? In which case what would the entry level position make?
I had a similar idea as you originally with my startup: build a functional MVP, launch with beta testers, recruit co-founders, raise seed capital, and then (finally) start to focus on growth.<p>I wasted probably six months going down blind alleys with this approach. Here are some of the lessons I learned:<p>1) A small group of beta testers will not give your product the time and attention you need to find product-market fit.<p>2) High quality collaborators, willing to devote all their spare waking hours to your vision, are extremely hard to find (and even harder to get up-to-speed). Especially on a budget. You'll probably see several promising co-founders come and go before you find a good match.<p>3) Even if you have a really sexy MVP and a great team, it's nearly impossible to fundraise until you can point to a handful of satisfied early customers. You might think you can raise $100k (chump change!) to fund your first six months of operations, but you're probably wrong about that.<p>The only thing you should be doing right now is getting your product into as many customers' hands as possible. In your post, you say you plan to "charge money and earn revenue from day 1".<p>Today is day 1. Go get some customers!
Does the main SaaS make money? Use that money to get your first 10 sales. Do annual deals for cash-flow.<p>If someone told me that they will make $1mio in sales on a $156k investment, and they wanted that investment from me (not just do it themselves), I would think it was some kind of scam.
I wish I could be of more help, but I'm the wrong person to ask. On the
bright side, the right people to ask (like YC partners) often hold
"Office Hours" to take and answer questions.<p><a href="https://hn.algolia.com/?query=office%20hours&sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=story&storyText=false&prefix&page=0" rel="nofollow">https://hn.algolia.com/?query=office%20hours&sort=byDate&dat...</a>
The salary for a marketing person is on the low side IMO. With rent prices being some of the highest in the world, can you even live in Vancouver for $35,000 CAD?
Realistically I'd say double or triple your expense estimate. You are low-balling yourself. Everything takes much longer and costs more than you expect.
You should probably put some money aside for tools and marketing budget. You probably need a server somewhere and a domain name. Marketing almost certainly needs an advertising budget.
You're being incredibly optimistic with all of your estimates here. If you are looking at 3 employees your burn rate is going to be much closer to $300k.