desertfox508's comments

I would say the whole thing is a monetizable business. To have good data, you'd need a mix of human and tech input. So why not charge $x for y number of updates? or charge for specific searches that requires more human work? or charge for a premium account that shows price fluctuations of certain items for the last 6 months?

I do it as a challenge for myself and a way to give back to the people I want to help. To me there is nothing more exciting than having to potential to shift the paradigm.

I have a well paying job now, but would drop it once my startup launches even though I have no plans or real ideas for pulling in revenue (income). But I have faith that the more people I help, eventually money will come.

I agree with your thinking. Do what you feel is right... there will always be startups of 10+ people for you to join later on if you so desire. If you join now, you will always be wondering "what if..."

You've already got multiple languages under your belt and have been developing for 5 years, so you are probably in the top 1% of developers your age. By the time you are 26 with 15 years of coding, you will still, no doubt, be among the top 1% of developers your age. I agree with the other comments about finishing high school, but in your free time, focus less on developing and instead focus on expanding your horizons by talking to people who are different from you. Who cares if you drop to only top 10% of developers your age by the time you are 26? Do you think most people who have the money to fund you can tell or care? Ideally if you come up with a brilliant startup, 2-3 years in, you shouldn't even be coding anymore.

I was in India last year for my developer's wedding (He operates out of India and...that was the first time we ever met face to face) and from the conversations with his friends, it was strange for me to learn that entrepreneurship on a resume is looked down upon by companies there. Basically, once you quit your job to start your own startup, there is no turning back to corporate life. So I can imagine the wall you are running into. But here is my suggestion, expand your understanding beyond your own personal world by talking to people who don't share the same background as you. There are hostels or places where backpackers from other countries hangout at in your city. Go talk to them and listen to their perspectives on anything and everything (backpackers love talking to locals). That's where you'll figure out what you can do to help change the world. PG once said that the most powerful people in the world are developers with ideas. good luck!

Fourmii - I'm about a two months away from launching my site after having not one, but two false starts with co-founders that made me decide to go at it alone as well. In hindsight I wish I had a co-founder or at least a mentor who's built and launched a site before. Most of my decisions were off and/or not immediately necessary for the launch. Even choices that I thought were brilliant turned out not as expected. None of this has to do with the product itself, but just getting from development to launch. good luck!