no demand · 4 years

4 years on a startup with no buyers

4 years trying to get a startup to revenue, building for a niche audience that turned out not to want it. Burned out badly enough to stop for the sake of their own mental health, and took a normal job 3 years ago. Says life got dramatically better afterwards: new sports, a house, and no constant sense of having to work more and spend less. The technology was impressive enough that the job search took a couple of months and paid better than anything before it.

Nobody said what it cost. Our estimate is ≈ $1,000,000 — 8,320 hours at about $120 an hour, the senior contract rate over 2017–2021 when the work was done.

Told by chrisaycock on Hacker News, 25 Feb 2024. Retold here in our words, with some of theirs kept; the original is linked above.

Written by them, summarised by us, and linked back. Ask us to take it down and we will, no questions.