Hey, I wouldn't have a book or really anything without hacker news. I'll give away a ton of free books here. Just email me: [email protected] with the subject line, HN Free Book and include your twitter handle if you have one. Will mail and sign. Sadly, DRM won't let me give kindle or digital version :(
Thanks for this, Jason. You've always epitomized one of the best things about the startup world -- that those who have achieved some level of success take it as their duty to mentor and assist the next generation of entrepreneurs. After all, none of us would be where we are today without our own great mentors along the way.
Being in the UK I've taken such offers in the past, but unless you mark every package as a gift and fill in the paperwork for it, HMRC will slap on an import tax and Royal Mail slap on a handling fee.
With that in mind, it's cheaper and less hassle to obtain the free book by paying for it.
I've gone and purchased the Kindle version.
Wouldn't have done so without your offer though, and that is appreciated as are all your comments on here.
I can't believe how awesome you are for doing this. I've been following you on twitter for awhile and consider you a role model for how a new/young CEO should behave. This isn't the first time you've freely shared your knowledge, and it certainly won't be the last, so thank you! Thank you very much indeed!
Good riddance. It's so frustrating to waste countless hours working on a detailed plan that you and anyone who reads it know is wrong. Such a pointless exercise. It is important to have a plan, but not a formal business plan per se.
> Is your business large enough? Most companies are not large enough to be backed by venture capital. To raise venture capital, companies should be in multibillion-dollar markets or have the potential to make revenues of more than one hundred million dollars a year.
That seems to be a nonsensical and arbitrary figure pulled out of thin air. Let's say hypothetically there's a business that needs $1m to start, the maximum revenue it can make is $50m/year of which $20m is profit. Why shouldn't they raise venture capital? The business would be providing a return for the investors because the business would be making money. Not every company needs to be making billions of dollars to exist.
VCs make their money by investing less in a company than their stake is/will be worth, if they invest $1m for 10% of the company and that company is then making $20m/year profit they have made a worthwhile investment... haven't they?
It's all based upon the exit. The VCs get diluted along the way and 1 million is the first step down the road. You'll probably raise way more. I believe the average dollars amount raised for tech companies going public this year was 65-70 mil. It's the general rule of thumb to gauge a market. Millennial Media had about 100 mil in rev and went public a few weeks ago at a 2 bil market cap (yes, the multiple was ridic, but let's leave that factor out).
$1m is more in the range of angel investments than VCs. I think angel investors would be very happy with a $20m/year profit company after only $1m investment.
Too early to say. VCs get paid when they can sell their stock, not when the company makes a profit.
Business making money != VCs making money. (Also, VC-backed business making money != founders making money. Your VC probably isn't going to let your company issue a dividend, which is how you'd get those profits out.)
The $100MM is probably a 'minimum revenue to plausibly take the company public and get paid' figure.
[+] [-] jasonlbaptiste|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sethbannon|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] buro9|14 years ago|reply
Being in the UK I've taken such offers in the past, but unless you mark every package as a gift and fill in the paperwork for it, HMRC will slap on an import tax and Royal Mail slap on a handling fee.
With that in mind, it's cheaper and less hassle to obtain the free book by paying for it.
I've gone and purchased the Kindle version.
Wouldn't have done so without your offer though, and that is appreciated as are all your comments on here.
[+] [-] odnamra|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mwww|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xxpor|14 years ago|reply
Ah just saw on Amazon you're published by Penguin. Guess this doesn't apply then.
[+] [-] dguaraglia|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] johncoogan|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] spsaaibi|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jcnnghm|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dedene|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] zackattack|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] motti_s|14 years ago|reply
Good riddance. It's so frustrating to waste countless hours working on a detailed plan that you and anyone who reads it know is wrong. Such a pointless exercise. It is important to have a plan, but not a formal business plan per se.
[+] [-] citricsquid|14 years ago|reply
That seems to be a nonsensical and arbitrary figure pulled out of thin air. Let's say hypothetically there's a business that needs $1m to start, the maximum revenue it can make is $50m/year of which $20m is profit. Why shouldn't they raise venture capital? The business would be providing a return for the investors because the business would be making money. Not every company needs to be making billions of dollars to exist.
VCs make their money by investing less in a company than their stake is/will be worth, if they invest $1m for 10% of the company and that company is then making $20m/year profit they have made a worthwhile investment... haven't they?
[+] [-] jasonlbaptiste|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] davidcann|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gyardley|14 years ago|reply
Business making money != VCs making money. (Also, VC-backed business making money != founders making money. Your VC probably isn't going to let your company issue a dividend, which is how you'd get those profits out.)
The $100MM is probably a 'minimum revenue to plausibly take the company public and get paid' figure.
[+] [-] noahc|14 years ago|reply
However, different investors have different risk profiles and prefrences and that investment may appeal to a certain class of investors.
[+] [-] jsmith72|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] andreheinemann|14 years ago|reply