As a SV/startup outsider, I would really appreciate any help the benevolent members of HN care to offer in figuring out the best next steps in pursuing my goal.<p>I have an idea for a social media app that will help people explore truth together more effectively, which I've been brewing for about 10 years. I have an initial demo now, but there is much more to do. I have thought through many many design issues, so it is not simply a general idea but many specific ones combined.<p>Ideally I would like to work on that app, or a product that fulfills the same goals. It doesn't have to be my own company, but I would like to be able to influence the product direction if I have something useful to add. I would also like to maintain a high level of user focus and intellectual integrity, not sacrificing these just to eek out a little more profit.<p>I applied to YC and wasn't accepted, so now I am trying to figure out my next move. I could:<p>1. Apply to Launchpad LA and other YC alternatives<p>2. Try to get VC funding<p>3. Find a company doing something similar and try to get a job there (Obvious Corp may be doing something similar, but I can't even find contact info, much less get hired. But they seem like great people.)<p>4. Take a job building something else, try to establish credibility in the SV community, and look for future opportunities. Along with this, I could also work on my project on the side, and possibly try to launch small and grow organically.<p>As my idea is novel but possibly unpatentable, I am uneasy about sharing all the details. How much detail must be typically shared to secure funding or incubator acceptance, especially without inside connections?<p>Those of you who made it this far, you are very generous. Thank you in advance for your thoughts, they are much appreciated.
A lot of those options rely on circumstances not entirely within your control. You can't force anyone to give you a job, you can't force your employer to give you time / resources to work on your idea and you can't force anyone to give you funding. If you do happen to achieve any of the above (except for funding,) then you can't be sure that you will have enough influence for the idea to remain your own. There is a lot of potential for wasted time and headaches here.<p>Why not bootstrap? SV is insanely expensive and your progress will be slow working on this thing during your down time. Can you do freelance work? If so, one crazy idea would be to banish yourself for six months or so to a super cheap area of the world, do freelancing part time and then spend the rest of the time furthering your app. There are lots of places in the world where you can live for as low as $600 / month, internet included! If you can do some freelance work for even $50 / hour then you could truly be living a 4 hour work week! At the same time, you get to experience another part of the world. Perhaps you could even pick up some cheap developers there to help you out with certain parts of it.<p>Do you have any users yet? Would it be possible to build out a community before you even get the app to a point where it's usable? You may get more interest in funding if you could demonstrate some traction. I'm pretty sure investors are more interested in their ROI as opposed to throwing money at cool ideas. Would this be a wise investment? ;) If not, then that's probably the component you need to be working on.
>>>I have an idea for a social media app that will help people explore truth together more effectively<p>I don't even know what that means to begin with.
Who are you? Around here, ideas aren't very important. Everybody has ideas. They're easy to come by, and they're usually not as huge as you might assume. The most important aspect of a startup is a founder that can get things done.<p>Do you know how to build it? Then build it. Else, find a cofounder that knows how.
<i>Find a company doing something similar and try to get a job there (Obvious Corp may be doing something similar, but I can't even find contact info, much less get hired. But they seem like great people.)</i><p>C'mon, man - you can do better than that:<p><a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=Obvious+Corp" rel="nofollow">http://www.google.com/search?q=Obvious+Corp</a><p>Second result:<p><a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/obvious" rel="nofollow">http://www.crunchbase.com/company/obvious</a><p>Twitter @ObviousCorp
Phone 415-285-4255
164 South Park Street
San Francisco, CA, 94107<p>Whois reveals yet more.
How hard is it to implement your idea? I don't know the details of your situation, but if you can build it yourself, and you are confident in its ability to succeed, you can move somewhere with a cheap cost of living and just do it all yourself. It only costs like 15k to live frugally for a year in some parts of the country.