My partner and I have an idea for a website. We are 18 and 17 years old. I thought of idea and do web design, and he has 4 years of programming experience. If we build a prototype or beta do we have enough for an investor to invest in our company/website? Plus I live outside SV.
Sounds like a good team. What's the idea? Three things I've learned thru the YC experience:<p>1) Investors like big ideas. If you can't tell a convincing story about how you've got the potential to build a $500m business, almost all investors will pass.<p>2) Traction wins. Don't build a prototype. Build a product. Prove that users want what you build and show a healthy growth curve BEFORE you take investment. It opens a lot of doors.<p>3) Distribution wins, too. Have a GREAT story on how you're going to find users without spending a nickel. SEO and viral marketing win. Don't say "word of mouth", "PR", "blogosphere" unless you've proven that your startup has legs there.<p>Regarding, "outside SV"... It depends. Right outside? Or in the Yukon? Where are you?<p>If funding is the path you should follow, not living in a hub is making a REALLY hard game a LOT harder.
The bubble is in full effect.<p>There seem to be a lot of people that think their projects somehow require funding. Your online social alarm clock is not a startup.<p>Stop imagining how you're going to make money off of crappy widgets. Get out there, be curious and build things that solve actual problems.
You'll really never know if you spend your time speculating and hesitating to take a step without 100% certainty. Just do it. See where it goes, and judge accordingly.
You must build first. It is much easier to sell and you have more pull with a completed or ready system. Also, unless you have real professional experience you can't call that 4 years experience. If I could count my experience back to my C64 days and Apple II days then it would be highly inflated. Experience usually means professional work experience, at 18 you need to prove yourself more. Deliverables help this immensely and once you throw down experience means minimal.<p>The hard part is building and getting noticed, once that happens the investment part is much easier. Truly great business ventures dont' always need lots of investment though, just enough to buy some time to build it or get it in production.
See how far you can get without raising money, even if you have to work part-time on the side. Unless you're building something that requires a lot of storage, bandwidth, or people you can get a lot done without a lot of cash. Your location outside a tech hub won't be a factor until you need to start hiring experienced people or you need to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars. By that point you may know if the site is going to be successful or not, and you can move if you need to.
if you build it (and its a good idea), they will come.<p>at 17/18, you can (most likely, i'm assuming) live with your parents or do the work in your dorms and not have to worry about making a living while starting your business.<p>find some time and just do it. worry about making money after you have something.
Along the lines of this recent thread and article, don't be too afraid of revealing your work outside of your cave.<p><a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=216614" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=216614</a><p>A great way to get some real feedback is to make it, then post it as an Ask YC. The community really steps up to give credit and criticism where they are due. Take this recent thread on Dabbleboard as an example.<p><a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=202798" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=202798</a><p>Don't worry about making money right away. It's more important to see if the idea goes somewhere interesting.
You don't have to be in the valley to build a successful Internet company!<p>Boston, NYC, Boulder, DC, Philadelphia.. all have current hot startups. There is money to be found too in these areas; more in the valley of course...
"If we build a prototype or beta do we have enough for an investor to invest in our company/website?"<p>Investors <i>tend</i> to invest in companies/people and less in ideas (unless the idea really is something revolutionary). Get your prototype in order, but also do a little business legwork. Are there competitors? Who is the market? What's the revenue potential? How are you going to market the idea?
When asked what would be the main factor for someone to succeed, Bill Gates answer was how young they start their first company, Warren Buffet who really is smart and was sitting next to him agreed.<p>Go for it, if you start now I guarantee you will have your life fixed by 35 yo.
You should do it, but don't expect to get funding. Make your site support itself. Since you are young, you can sink this if it doesn't work out and move on. This may sound pessimistic, but if you are going to fail, fail fast, so you can keep trying more things.
Your ages will be a strike against you; expect problems with that for another two years or so at least. It's not a fatal strike, though, so definitely give it a shot. Apply to YC. Above all, keep building.
Yes, you have a chance, of either invetment or (even better) market success.<p>A prototype might be enough to approach early-stage investors, mostly angels, and a live beta definitely is -- if either helps confirm a market exists, by demonstrating a compelling experience that attracts real use or a craving from a valuable market.<p>I think you're on the right track: build, build, build first. (Take up some programming yourself to help.) Use that experience to understand the interesting parts of the problem and test the concept either with representative customers or (best of all) real via-the-web users.<p>If you achieve accelerating adoption with users, or even hints of revenue. you have a good story to approach investors -- who exist everywhere, not just SV.<p>(Experienced folks can defer building a bit, because they can raise money based strictly on their proven abilities plus the intended market. But for young first-timers, proving-by-doing can offset that advantage quickly.)
No, coward. You have no chance. Hide in your basement and weep.<p>Seriously dude just do it. You're young, fuck it. Asking if you can do it is foolish; people have no idea what you're capable of until you do something.