What's your excuse for not having your own venture capital backed startup?

>media company
>in the era of duplicatable "free" media

Exactly: that's why I need more buzzwords so they don't realize how easily the content can be pirated

No but seriously, I'm seriously thinking getting into the marketing agency side of things may be a way to go, but it's gonna be difficult to get cashed up clients who will pay for their own video content.

Also HBO and Showtime and Netflix have shown that having marquee franchises are essential to keeping subscriptions. If you can create a series with enough hype and brand it well it becomes a very valuable asset. The problem is getting the VCs to fund the production costs of such a show so you can have a sizzle reel or proof of concept to show around... better yet build a fanbase online that carriers or even Netflix and Hulu will want to buy the rights to.

I know everything says it's a dying industry, but it is making money right now: sooooo yeah...

making money compared to what?

the only people making money are the ones who have plenty of money to burn thru to break that one random "peice" that hits.

>making money compared to what?
Anything and everything. Do you know how profitable ESPN, ABC etc. are for Disney?

I'm being facetious... but also not really. There is money to be made in content: just look at Pixar, Lucasfilm, Vice, or any Self-Help Guru who tours the world. Yes content then only becomes the center of a larger business paradigm, but it becomes quintessential to that business working.

>Do you know how profitable ESPN, ABC etc. are for Disney?

you aren't espn abc marvel or disney
those are all super old media companies with vaults of ip, royalty and merchandise licensing dividend and cash.

if ur trying 2 start from square one , the odds are stacked overwhelmingly against u , ie: you will not succeed. ...
thats cool . just dont make the mistake of being stubborn and wasting ur time trying.
im not trying 2 squash ur dreams or hate.
just giving u the rational finances and statistics
do whatever you want, but be aware
if you don't have a few mill in the bank to fund your endevour , and aren't willing 2 get naked/suck cocks,
your better off buying scratch offs.

>if you don't have a few mill in the bank to fund your endevour , and aren't willing 2 get naked/suck cocks,
>your better off buying scratch offs.
Literally a thread about VC backed startups

oh i guess u think vc's are like free public money faucets?

i wasn't talking about the vc's money btw.

i was talking about you or your businesses un levered cash. if you don't know how business works , your not going to receive venture capital , my man.

When you look at the real duds they've sponsored in the past, companies with utterly no revenue plans: yes.

>i wasn't talking about the vc's money btw.
You didn't make that clear. I was speaking about a hypothetical situation where you get millions in VC backing t get a production company off the ground: something probably internet based which is leveraging "direct feedback" and "data" in a similar way to Netflix.

Like I said, trying to formulate it, don't know the specifics yet. I don't like the idea of relying on a ad-revenue model or selling on rights to distribution platforms: that leaves you either with a pay-per-view model, a subscription model, or using it as the center of a larger business model like Lucasfilm and Pixar do. In fact I would make the argument that Metallica, Iron Maiden, AC/DC have all started touring/merchandising empires using the same business model.

It's a business model I think that can be replicated on a smaller scale. And there have always been outsiders in the music industry: just look at Lou Pearlman.

But keeping it with film and video you only need to look at Bondi Hipsters, Tai Lopez... all people who have taken online personas and capitalized on them.

Or I could just challenge Sharp Entertainment head on:
>Most Outrageous AnimalsonAnimal Planet
>Man v. FoodonTravel Channel
>Underdog to WonderdogonAnimal Planet
>ExtremeonTravel Channel
>The Fabulous Life of...onVH1
> BiographyonThe Biography Channel
>Videos That Rocked the WorldonFuse
> Most Chrismasy Places in AmericaonTravel Channel
>Most Terrifying Places in AmericaonTravel Channel
>Christmas to the ExtremeonTravel Channel
>20 Most Outrageous MomentsonBravo
> 25 Biggest Real Estate MistakesonHGTV
>The iPod RevolutiononThe Discovery Channel
>30 Even Scarier Movie MomentsonBravo
>Criminal RecordsonTruTV
>100 Greatest Red Carpet MomentsonVH1
>Red Hot Red CarpetonVH1
> 100 Funniest MoviesonBravo
>Great Thing About HolidaysonBravo

MOST OF THESE SHOWS ARE SOOOOOOO CHEAP TO MAKE

>When you look at the real duds they've sponsored in the past, companies with utterly no revenue plans: yes.

MOST OF THESE SHOWS ARE SOOOOOOO CHEAP TO MAKE

just start a pure tech company.

they get 7x valuations.

media whores are retarded and beta.

You're going to fail. I can just fucking smell it.
I guarantee you're one of those faggots who thinks they're above everyone else becasue they "are starting a business", nobody gives a shit, if you have a bsuiness or a tech startup, it doesn't make you anything, report back when you're making money you moron.
I bet you wake up everymorning feeling like a champ, then go play vidya and browse Veeky Forums for hours on end and do little to nothing the whole day.
YEEEAAH, real fucking startup material there bud.

>nasa spent millions of dollars designing the computer mouse
>refuse to use it and instead use a shitty track pad

I took money from investors.

Don't want to do it again. My dream for now is starting my next business 100% by myself (or with my best friend).
I'm a mobile developer afterall so I can do a shitload of things with only my laptop and 2months ahead of me.

I believe in this very moment that's all you need. I've seen so many companies burn money on shit, it's hilarious.

Just typing it here so I can read it to myself:
I'll have my own business quietly generating 10k/month for me, without any ties to external investors, and completely location independant.
Wish me luck anons.

Also, I believe VC firms are old schools in the sense most entrepreneurs don't need millions at the moment. I want to prove that you don't need them.

Ehhh... tech isn't a field I claim to understand.
I'm not in it to get rich, I'm in it to subsidize/enable a lifestyle.

But do go on? are Tech start ups that much more coveted?

>venture capital

Can we please stop with this meme. Venture funding is just another shitty canned finance product that most businesses do not need.

Posting ITT because Stripe is a great example

They're not trust fund babies, and they started the company when the oldest brother was 19.

And then there's the liars

Bingo

They're from Ireland and were funded by an American fund. This fund invests in people internationally and encourages them to come to America. If you're from a poor country, then they'd be more likely to fund to tb h

And you're also not doing anything to begin with, nor will you ever.

Quit browsing this place
Tropical MBA podcasts

>This fund invests in people internationally and encourages them to come to America.
Hmmm very interesting.
Not from a poor country either. Just a risk averse one.

But anyway, as I said above: I'm not enough of a salesman to court big backing, so I suppose for example if I created a startup first priority would be a working beta, a proof of concept that obviously can make money, then hire a CFO or someone to court the big investors.

Plus alot of Venture Capitalists are basically mobster loansharks. Good luck ever paying back that kind of money though. Alot of the guys who start these cutesy startups end up with cement shoes.

then share user, and let us all discuss how you should implement. youre assuming anyone on Veeky Forums actually has the initiative to even do what youre saying.

Do you think software engineers are typically talented salesmen?

Building a working beta - or in another words a ~~~MVP (minimum viable product) - seems to be the way to go. These guys invest in more than just tech companies as well, and not all of the founders of these tech companies are techincal. The fund is called Y Combinator.

>Do you think software engineers are typically talented salesmen?
Probably better than me. haha. Seriously, I could fuck up selling ice-water to a dehydrated man on a salt flat in the Sahara.
Having said that, I'm pretty confident I can fix that if I work at it.

>These guys invest in more than just tech companies as well, and not all of the founders of these tech companies are technical.
Just had a squizz at the wiki list: you're right about the non tech. there's emotional wellness apps, career advice organizations,and freighting companies. Nice.

So baring that in mind mind: how do I make sure I'm not just the "ideas guy". I have only minimal experience in management (valuable experience though), and have never run a company before. How do I make myself indispensable?

Hustle.
And you may very well not be CEO material. In this case you can hire a CEO with a combination of venture payment and equity.

Honestly, the goal with starting any company is to make sure that you aren't indispensable. But in the beginning phase I think all employees would make a difference.

To answer your question I get the feeling that not all founders are amazing workers or CEO's. The goal with management is to 'hire people smarter than you'.

Finding employees in the early days is apparently a can of worms unto itself.

I obviously can't give you firsthand advice on any of this. I feel like I would be CEO material. Right now I'm just working on becoming job ready though (I'm learning to code).

If you want demystify the world of startups Y Cominator is a great place to start. They have an active YouTube account, a podcast (with a new season on the way), they have a Stanford class that's on YouTube (another on the way as well) and many of the partners blog.

They're one of the best VC funds and the most successful accelerator in the world.

tech gets higher valuations because it is a future facing market seeking to landgrab in an uncharted but tangibly world changing/dominating territory.

here we have 2 companies.
an abacus company and a calculator company
both have the same financials, do good business in their niche, pull down the same revenue etc.

which one would you rather invest in?
if there is a bidding war, which would u rather have to pay more for?

>Honestly, the goal with starting any company is to make sure that you aren't indispensable.
That's a very good point.

>If you want demystify the world of startups Y Cominator is a great place to start. They have an active YouTube account, a podcast (with a new season on the way), they have a Stanford class that's on YouTube (another on the way as well) and many of the partners blog.

Will look into that.

That's a very clear analogy. Thanks.

Getting the vibe though that unless I can build a start up around my particular interests/skillset I'm simply not cut out for it.
Maybe this is a loser's mentality I have: but I don't have much interest in building up a company simply to make enough money so I can later buy my way into my dream career and industry (Filmmaking). I was brought up and told that if you want to do something, put all your energy into getting there, and don't bother with sidewards careers.

For example if someone wants to be a novelist: well then they should get a day job as a copywriter, or a journalist, or a editor. Rather than say, a investment banker, and eventually quit that and live off their saving to go into being a novelist.

Maybe I was taught wrong though....

The technology exists today to fairly easily make a good percentage of the jobs of retail workers (Target, Walmart) largely automated. This would actually result in a better store not to mention take a chunk out of their cost of labor. And again, this can be done easily with existing technology - as in, I can build it and afford a math major to fill in the blanks (computer vision to check isle inventory).

Ditto fast food. Ditto 'excel monkey' work. Ditto a large percentage of the health care industry (health chart auditing etc). Or anything that involves auditing - machine learning can do it, and do it better.

You need a very small knowledge of technology to see this. This is all food currently left on the table with very existing technology, just waiting for someone to do it. Add in the fact that this technology is increasing faster than any other major technology - so much that it's literally referred to as 'tech' - and that spells "Money"

I never thought of it like that: but your completely right.
You could theoretically build a prototype -- let's say of s shelf-stacker for Walmart, present and sell them on it (that is the hard part), they pay for a trial rollout, you take that money and build them the system.

Build a better prototype based on what you learned... rinse and repeat.

Sorry, I thought you meant from an investing standpoint.

I still think it's worth learning from an entrepreneurial standpoint. There is so much left on the table.

Try asking Siri, Google or any time management app to list your alarms. Try asking them to cancel.
I'm learning Java (which will be the third language I've learned so far - started in August) and my first coding project is going to be an android app that'll do this. Basically just be purely voice commanded (using Google's own tech in the phone) simple time management.
Not really planning on making money on this (though that would be nice) but that's just an example of the opportunity out there. I'm sure with some real work that would be a nice money generating app for a portfolio of them.

It's more about idea and execution than coding ability, especially if you're goal is lifestyle. But even something like AirBnB takes only mild coding talent to start.

when you have the money.
you will be able to pursue many interests.

you will beable 2 fund 10 movies.

u need 2 know ur passion , but also know , nothing can be done in this world w/o money

the two must be married, for you to experience the true power of your passions potential.

finance is most important.
everything else follows think.

how are u gonna stay in business if u cant make money

having a hobby is fine.
but once ur in business u need to make money..

i am of the conviction that ppl should just make arts as a hobby .

then u can keep your integrity and not try to do just for profit.

any art that is for profit , to me is tainted and impure, i have much more respect if u finance a work or statment, not for profit.

i am also an artist.
and i have learned these lessons the hardest way and see the light and hope to help others.
perhaps u must 2 learn these lessons on your own to appreciate them, but i wish i would have been just handed the answers like i am handing them to u.

I never thought of it from an investing standpoint. But if you do bet on the right horse... hmmmm... big money.

> and my first coding project is going to be an android app that'll do this. Basically just be purely voice commanded (using Google's own tech in the phone) simple time management.
Baby steps? You're working up towards developing your skill.

>It's more about idea and execution than coding ability, especially if you're goal is lifestyle. But even something like AirBnB takes only mild coding talent to start.
Now that's a good point. Sometimes just having good insight into the UX around a pretty pedestrian platform is enough to have a hit.

I disagree man. Vehemently too. I think the better artists are the ones who obsess over their medium, it's not a hobby, it's an all consuming raison d'etre. That's why I think it's okay to mix day jobs with art: because even when you're working on a commercial project you're still building your relationship with your medium, refining your techniques, your mastery of the form just becomes better and better and you can bring that back to your personal work.

Also it means you're earning money to MAKE that art. I'm not looking into startups to buy a yacht or dom perignong... I want to make films.

>Dom Pérignon
Boy I made minced meat out of that spelling.

just because you disagree doesn't make you correct.

your work will always be tainted by commercial compromise.

this may mean nothing to you.
but it means everything to those "in the know"

>I guarantee you're one of those faggots who thinks they're above everyone else becasue they "are starting a business"

well.. not really. I'm more wondering why I don't do the sensible thing and get a 9-5 job

>nobody gives a shit, if you have a bsuiness or a tech startup, it doesn't make you anything, report back when you're making money you moron.

oh wait is this thread only if you have a functional startup, not just working on one. ok

>I bet you wake up everymorning feeling like a champ
I usually wake up feeling like shit

>then go play vidya and browse Veeky Forums for hours on end and do little to nothing the whole day.
Okay you got me on that one

>Speaks in riddles and vague collection nouns.
>Expects me to capitulate on deeply held beliefs

Argue better. Create a cloud of doubt only works on those who aren't stubborn. Give me facts, examples, and analogies.

>Argue better. Create a cloud of doubt only works on those who aren't stubborn. Give me facts, examples, and analogies.

or what?

do what you want.
if im right , then you will eventually see and wish you had listened earlier.
and i will chuckle , pat your head and say i told u so.

if i am wrong.
then i am wrong.
why would i waste time trying to convince u i am right if i am wrong?

Mozart worked on commission. Da Vinci too. All the great architects worked on commission unless it was their own home.

I suppose their work is tainted too?

More to the point, if I work a day job to fund my "art hobby" isn't it tainted by the the fact that I was a cog in the system. That I worked for an industry, probably against my artistic inclinations and beliefs, to fund my art habit?

How then is my art pure? How is it any purer than if I use the same skills to make a living so I can fund my art hobby of self generated projects?

>tl;dr I think you're full of shit. Stop trying to proselytize on a crypto-coin board.

you know who didn't work on commission?

the writers of the bible.

the church commissioned most of the great art you have in mind.
im not gonna go deep into it.

just know u are a stubborn moron , who will always remain on the low level.
>mozart davinci.

you dont understand art in the first place. your just rattling off some big names. you dont understand if there is any inherent value or integrity 2 their art.

u might as well have said taylor swift and justin beiber if were just going on name recognition.

commercial media is tainted period
it is not pure art.
you said it urself.
you can lie to urself.
but ur not gonna pass of lies to or infront of me.

>you know who didn't work on commission?
>the writers of the bible.
Pretty sure the writers of the ol' bible didn't sit on Veeky Forums all day jacking off to trap porn like you are now, either.

Okay, actually that was a bit low, I'm sorry -- I'm better than that:
Just explain to me to me how this is not tainted:
>Work at ad agency writing copy
>My 'hobby' is painting. Use Ad-agency salary to buy paints, oils, and brushes

And this is tainted:
>work at ad agency painting advertisement
My 'hobby' is painting. Use Ad-agency salary to buy paints, oils, and brushes

?????

why are you pretending to know what I do with my time?

oh yea.
cuz ur an immature child.

It is telling is that's the second time you failed to answer my question. So I'll ask again:
How come working a day job doesn't taint the art habit, such as in my ad agency example, but using art skills to pay for an art habit is tainted?

you're putting words into my mouth.

now I know you're full of shit because you won't answer the question

I said:
>For example if someone wants to be a novelist: well then they should get a day job as a copywriter, or a journalist, or a editor. Rather than say, a investment banker, and eventually quit that and live off their saving to go into being a novelist.

These are your words:
>any art that is for profit , to me is tainted and impure, i have much more respect if u finance a work or statment, not for profit.

>commercial media is tainted period
it is not pure art.
you said it urself.
you can lie to urself.
but ur not gonna pass of lies to or infront of me.

So... answer the question. This is the third time you've evaded it.

i wont answer your question because u starting flinging shit and acting like a child. and i dont have to put up with that, im not ur nanny, im not ur floor mat parents.
i dont have any more respect for you as a conversational partner, and im basically wrapping up our talk and ignoring everything else you say.

also.
if this was real life and you were talking to me like you are here
i would have probably punched you in the mouth by now.

not for nothing and not saying i would win against you in a physical fight. but thats not how i let ppl talk to me .

No you won't answer it because you don't have an answer. Not because some anonymous person(s) on the internet broke your little feelings

>if this was real life and you were talking to me like you are here
>i would have probably punched you in the mouth by now.
WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING ON Veeky Forums BRO!?
You earned the way I spoke to you because of your airs of moral suprtioty, your implicating me as a philistine who would sully the name of Mozart by using it analogously to Justin Beiber... and yet you're the one who's iddy biddy fewling are hurt?

I'm incredulous, vexed, and quite bemused!

But still, answer the question: prove to me (and yourself) that I was wrong to talk to you that way.

*superiority
*analogous

Whoops. Gotta spend more time writing these things.

no

if it's all the same to you I wouldn't have punched you in the mouth or been roused to so much anger in real life. But I'm disgusted you don't have the dignity or the self belief to explain your reasoning behind the commercial tainting of art and where you believe the lines can be drawn on the matter.

i dont care about what you think of me.
you lost my esteem the moment you displayed your true, immature nature.

i don't need VC money. i have startup capital that can see me for a year. planned launch date is valentines day 2017. i think i can reach $25k revenue a month in the first 3-4 months. $250k/pm by end of first 12 months.

the goal is to sell it to the biggest tech/media company in the area once it has a few million users. hopefully within 3 years.