The 2012 Startup or Shut Up Challenge<p>I'm getting tired of reading and not doing, and I'm ready to fail. Here's my idea:<p>Let's meet on IRC (or Skype, facebook, Google+, whatever) and throw our half baked ideas and orphaned domains into a hat, break into groups of 3 to 5, and start something(s). What do you have to lose besides a few hours? (don't worry, reddit and HN will still be here when you're done)<p>I've got some proposals for ground rules:<p>-MVP in 14 days, some sort of traction in 90 or fold<p>-Keep 'investment' to < $100 per founder
--if you don't already have a server, use a AWS micro instance or Appspot or Heroku or something
--for email, google apps for domains is free for ten users or less, don't waste too much time thinking about that kind of stuff.<p>-don't even think about things like company organization or equity until you have something viable<p>-no titles beyond "biz guy" or "python guy" or stuff like that.<p>-don't obsess about minutia: names, domains, jobs, he-said/she-said, etc<p>-Touch base with your team daily, if you can't do a live chat, email. Google+ Hangouts might be good for this.<p>-don't quit your day job<p>If this seems like something you'd like to do, awesome. I think a channel on freenode is a good way to start (i've registered ##startup2012). We can also just hash it our in the comments here on HN too.
1. Why not jump into something yourself rather than trying to form something with a bunch of random strangers? Honest question. This resembles a lot like a local startup weekend (not saying there is such an option wherever you live).<p>2. MVP in 14 days in some cases is unrealistic without even knowing what it is you're looking to do. Some ideas can be done in a day. Some require several weeks or months to get a few features done for a basic MVP. It all depends on the idea.
Count me in! I have a beautiful orphan that needs some work to become an MVP. It't an art gallery for digital art. I've been working on it for quite some time now, but kinda lost interest (finishing stuff is Not my strongest point...) in. I'd love to work on it with a bunch of guys/gals and see it finished!