[mb21]

Thanks for the comments - this was my first HN post. I hope you didn't see it as being pessimistic - As someone who has started companies in the past and wants to do it again, I am trying to understand this new movement.

I love the thought of building a self-running business. Is that realistic? Is that realistic statistically? $12,000 profit per month after taxes is not livable in the US, and probably not Canada. Continuing to grow past $1000/month doesn't mean you are going to win; it could mean you win for a little bit and then lose all at once when something goes wrong, or someone else decides your idea is good and scoops it up. Maybe, maybe not. Again, I don't know. I do know that you can live frugally and without a cushion for only so long if your dream involves a family.

Pulling out of a phd program may be the right choice, but you are giving up on a tangible asset before you cross the finish line. Education isn't the be-all end all, but it still means something to a lot of people and that's a nice back up if your company doesn't work out.

I noticed you live in Thailand now which was apparently your dream. That lowers your costs significantly. Congratulations on that and the success you've had!

For me, living in a first world country changes the calculus. I'm not promoting the "big vc" route and I don't think YC invests in companies so the founders can make $20k/month and take vacations when they want. Your final point I'll assume wasn't trying to rub my face into the fact that you have this freedom that perhaps I don't have.

Again, congratulations on your success, and I think I'm going to try out your web meeting product.

cheers.

[ekidd]

$12,000/month after taxes is $144,000/year for a single founder company. U.S. median family income was $45,018/year before taxes in 2003. Even for programmers working in Silicon Valley, $144,000/year after taxes is pretty decent.

For comparison purposes, if you sold your company for $3.6 million, invested the money at 4% above inflation, and lived off the real interest, you'd earn $144,000/year.

Now, that's clearly not as nice as an $8.5 billion acquisition by Microsoft, but it's still pretty sweet. If nothing else, you can comfortably feed your family while working on a new startup. :-)

[mb21]

yes - typo. $1,000/month or 12k/year is not livable in the US.

Thanks for pointing this out. I actually did reread the post, but pre-coffee.

[Spyro7]

Just for the record, I was not one of the people who down-voted your comment. I personally think that your perspective is interesting.

"$12,000 profit per month after taxes is not livable in the US, and probably not Canada."

It seems to me that $12,000 per month is an eminently livable wage. Did you mean to write $12,000 per year there instead of $12,000 per month?

(Just a quick HN related tip. Something that helps me is to review a post carefully after I've posted it. It has helped me to catch myself saying some strange things a few times.)

In reference to your original post, Octopart is currently getting half a million unique visitors per month - and still growing. Given that they have low overhead, it is reasonable to believe that they are probably profitable at this point (including hefty owner's salaries).

I am currently in the process of bootstrapping a company in a similar way to the process that they took. I am not doing it because I was "sold someone else's dream of \"starting a company is the best thing in the world to do\"".

I saw a potential market opportunity (and something that I would enjoy working on) and I took action to meet what I saw as a need. Some people are just pre-programmed to want to own their own business. I know that it is something that I have been trying to do for a little over a decade.

I've had a few rough starts and a few no starts, but then that is how the learning process often goes. I realize that I would probably have been further ahead at this point financially if I had just taken a "normal job", but how much would that financial "security" have been worth with that constant feeling nagging me in the back of my head that I should have started my own business.

[Evgeny]

Did you mean to write $12,000 per year there instead of $12,000 per month

Looks obvious that it was just a typo - the parent mentioned $1000 per month per founder, $12000 would obviously be per year.

[3pt14159]

Guys, don't downvote self professed newbies without explaining why you are doing so.