Ask YC on Hacker News

"No" Means "Thank You"

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

http://voltagecreative.com/blog/

Ask HN: Is Perl dead?

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

I've been noticing that Perl doesn't get mentioned that much anymore in articles, blog posts, HN threads, etc.

A current example is the "Who's hiring" thread which is now on HN: Most of the requirements are C/C++/Java/PHP/Python/Ruby, and almost none are for Perl.

However, this is not just about hiring. In almost anything I read, there is barely a mention of Perl anymore.

FYI, I use Perl extensively for text file parsing and processing, and I'm not familiar with Python or Ruby, but it seems that these two languages are "winning the war" against Perl (although I assume some of you may dispute that these two languages are even comparable to Perl, for a variety of reasons)

Is my general observation correct?

Will Perl 6 be able to turn things around, or is it too late?

I Hate Captcha- Come beta test my alternative

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

I am getting ready to launch BaffleBot, a captcha alternative. In a nutshell, it's a picture/question combo challenge, and the challenges are submitted by humans. It's monetized with a small ad, with revenue share for bloggers, and challenge creators are rewarded with a link shown in every challenge. So, if you want to contribute or check it out, please go www.bafflebot.com. If you are a WordPress blogger, I'd especially appreciate it if you would install the plugin and give me feedback on how well it works. The beta code is "baffleboy" (all lower case). Send me an email if you have any questions or comments (kapauldo AT gmail.com).

Thanks, Kevin

Ask HN: Why was my previous submission dead on arrival?

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

I don't know why, but this submission:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1659517

Was dead as soon as I submitted it. Have I been banned or something?

Ask HN: Who's hiring? (September 2010)

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

I'm really interested in London, UK but I'm sure one of these is overdue so feel free to let others know what else is out there.

A little format to the first couple of lines is always helpful. <Vague Job Title> - <City>, <Country>

And then a little bit describing the role and your startup/company.

Thanks in advance.

Ask HN: What payment model should I adopt for my new site?

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

Hi guys,

I am setting up a payment model for my new site.

The first question is do users prefer to pay a one off fee (even though that fee could be quite large) or do they prefer to pay a set of smaller monthly fees?

With regard to the payment model - I was unsure as to whether to give the user the account for free for 3 months and then once out of Beta to charge a fee for that account. Or the other option - when the user signs up they are asked what account they want - a basic account, with limited benefits, with no cost to the user or a premium account with a fee with the whole range of benefits.

Which model have you found to work better for both customer and owner?

Any advice you can give would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Ask HN: Who here struck out on their own without a plan?

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

When I signed on with my current employer, I ensured that I wouldn't be prevented from working on something on the side. I made it clear during the interview process that my intention was not to be there forever. Recently, I submitted a disclosure regarding the side project and today it was just approved by the Legal and Compliance departments.

I've become disillusioned with my current work situation, which is better than most places, but still has the usual fundamental issues (project mismanagement) that won't be remedied in the next two to three years. I've let some contacts know that I'm looking for a change of scenery while I work towards a release, however based on some events today, I'm strongly considering giving my immediate notice. Tomorrow is Friday, so the opportunity is there.

Who here has done just that: Just up and quit, then didn't decide to take up another job? (I've done part A without part B before) If so, aside from the obvious need to immediately produce revenue, what did you take away from the experience?

Thanks in advance.

Ask HN: How do VCs behave when you fail?

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

They treat you like you're the best man on the planet when you're making them money right. But what what do they do when things go south? What is the best way to deal with them?

Do they force you to sell every asset? What about IP? What about virtual assets? source code? Will they make you take pennies on the dollar?

I have heard horrible stories about this, so I am curious about your stories.

Ask HN: How to avoid double-post in HN?

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

Hey, guys. I was going to submit an article to HN. More often than not, the article has been posted already. Aside from clicking through all the New article pages, and manually trying to find key term. There must be a better way.

Ask HN: Your opinion on AGPL license

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

I started to play with some open source software and was quickly told by author to keep all my code available to download on the same site as I am providing service.

In my case this is not a problem, since it somewhat hobby project, but I thought about using my experience in future to deploy commercial projects using the same stack. Now I doubt.

To make clear - it's poker-network software.

It consist of server, which is AGPLv3, and client jPoker which is GPLv3. Author claims everything on the server side should be AGPLed too. But this also involves disclosing code for custom integration with other products as well. And if I would do commercial project, I will definitely need to do some custom stuff. There is still question if I communicate with server through API, will my server code, which in fact is also client, become automatically AGPL...

Anyway, what do you think about AGPL license for open source projects in general keeping in mind that with so much SaaS projects, owners legally able to benefit from GPLed work while not giving back to community.

Do you work with AGPL software deploying end product for client on his servers? How you deal with requirement to make code available to download?

Ask HN: Is USA that bad when it comes to health insurance, etc?

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

In Sweden we annoyingly socialist and have completely ridiculous taxes. Any discussions on this subject with swedes usually results in the other person saying something like "What do you want, a society like the USA where people can't afford healthcare and you have homeless people everywhere?" Now, how accurate is that? Is it actually a problem to pay for premium insurance and save up to your childrens college degree, etc?

Ask HN:How do you cope with frustrations in single person startups.

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

While starting up I'm sure all of us have times when we are frustrated or dejected. With n-person startups you usually have someone to listen to/help you. What do you do when you are a single person startup and specially when you are not very comfortable with people around you ?

Ask HN: How do I teach myself better writing skills?

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

I am a decent enough writer, but considering how important writing is in almost all online work, I'm highly interested in improving further. I'm currently in college but I don't feel my English classes give me an significant improvements. What websites or programs do you recommend to learn how to craft really engaging stuff?

Ask HN: Do super smart people avoid entrepreneurship?

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

Perhaps it's not a rational thing for them to do given the risks. They would probably have much better opportunities as employees.

Poll: Do you have Gmail Priority Inbox already?

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

Ask HN: looking for a tech cofounder, already have 13k users after 2 months

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

I'm looking for an exceptional technical co-founder who knows RoR and potentially C++.

We started up a few months ago, but my co-founder has decided to move on (he thinks a competitor will take us down - I don't!).

We've already been featured in lifehacker and mashable, got 13k users, signups are flooding in, with a sensible business plan and investors interested.

Looking for someone based anywhere but looking to move to SF, even just for YC this winter.

drop me a line: niccolo.pantucci@gmail.com

Ask HN Emacs Users: What's in your .emacs file?

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

Are there any key bindings or modes that have been especially useful for you? If so, what are they?

Cheers.

Ask HN: Any interest in a Salt Lake City or Provo, UT Hackers/Founders meetup?

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

I'm thinking about spearheading a Salt Lake or Provo Hackers/Founders meetup (depending on feedback from both areas) and wanted to gauge interest here first. If you are interested in coming to or helping to organize such a thing, shoot me an email (in my profile).

Discuss/Remind HN: Apple Live Event On Right Now

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

Figured whatever Apple is coming out with today would steal the front page for the next few days - thought this place could be a good start for initial reactions/Live discussion.

Ask HN: When should we ask for credit card details?

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

Hey HN,

We (me and markbao) are Supportbreeze. We're working on our marketing pages now and we're not sure if it's better to ask for credit card details at signup or sometime after the trial expires. We know a lot of companies, like 37signals, ask at signup, but we don't have a free plan (for more on that, see here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1615416) and only offer the trial. So if we ask for credit card details, there is no way to trial our product without providing it. Will asking at signup deter people from trialing? Is it better to ask at signup or after trial expires?

Thanks.

Thinking about making my table-top RPG an iPad app. Looking for advice.

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

I wrote a fantasy role-playing game called Wayfarers a couple of years ago, and have been selling PDFs and hardcopies of it and supplements since. It’s more of a hobby than a business, but one that I plan to continue for some time.

After playing with the iPad, I think it would be awesome to rewrite the book as an app. Tables in the book could randomly generate results, and characters could be built. Also, I could update for errata and new features and material.

I don’t think I could make much money, but I am really excited about the idea, and I think it would be a lot of fun.

I have all of the art and text ready to go, but my programming experience is limited to some FORTRAN and Matlab for physics research years ago.

How difficult of a task am I looking at here to teach myself how to build the app and do it? I’m considering teaching myself, but I have other projects in the works. If I were to pay someone to do it, what kind of time frame could I expect?

Any advice at the moment would be appreciated, as I am trying to figure out the best way to make this happen. I’m convinced that this is going to be the future of tabletop RPG material, and it would be so cool.

Thanks,

-Jimmy

Ask HN: Writing a master thesis about freemium, need some ideas

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

The last few years the freemium business model has been talked about and used extensively, but lately companies such as Ning, 37signals, Get Satisfaction and others have started to play down (or remove) their free offering. At the same time, as far as I can see, there have been little mention of this business model in academic articles.

Sachin Rechi (http://www.sachinrekhi.com/blog/2010/02/16/freemium-design-pattern-scale-pricing-with-customer-success) wrote: "I believe we are still early in our understanding of [freemium] models and to date most of the available analysis has been limited to anecdotal evidence, one-off case studies, tips & tricks, and a few early overviews of what’s been tried."

Here are some of the blog posts that inspired me to want to write about freemium: http://www.readwriteweb.com/start/2010/04/is-the-freemium-model-still-viable-for-startups.php, http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2284-eyeballs-still-dont-pay-the-bills, http://www.markevanstech.com/2008/10/17/freemium-is-not-a-business-model

I haven't specifically pinpointed my hypothesis or, generally, what I want to answer in the thesis, so I hope any of you have some interesting ideas as to a possible direction. I just know that I have a keen interest in business models, and want to better understand the how's and why's of the freemium model.

So, dear HN, do you have any ideas, thoughts, examples or articles?

Need some legal advice on debt collection

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

I was in the US for a number of years, international student. Had a baby and as a result of that got hit with a lot of health bills - that I am still paying although I went back to my home country.

I got promised a job when I graduated, but due to the recession - it didn't work out too well. I was able to work remotely, but that has since fallen through.

I had a car while I was up there and was making my payments consistently for a while - but after I moved and ran out of cash and income, I have decided to not pay it right now (mainly because I have to put my kid through school, etc.).

Now I am being notified by a debt collection attorney, and I have 35 days to reply in writing otherwise I will be liable for not just the outstanding debt, the interest and possibly the attorney fees of the company.

I no longer live in the US, and if I wanted to I could just walk away from it - but I believe in honoring my obligations (I have been doing that for my credit cards and hospital bills still outstanding).

What do I do? Do I contact the debt collection agency or do I get an attorney? I am kinda strapped for cash right now, so can't afford an attorney.

Once I get my cash and income situation taken care of, in the next few months, I would definitely be willing to settle it - but I don't want to just ignore it and then get hit with a big bill in a few years - or possible immigration issues.

I would prefer not to burn my bridges, and would like to go back to the US (if I need to) without having to look over my shoulder. So I would really like to get this taken care of.

Thoughts?

Ask YC: Have you ever ignored Paul Graham?

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 PST

....and got away with it?

Hire HN: Apache is crashing every hour. Seeking Drupal/Nginx-friendly sysadmin

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

I run a social news site called Windy Citizen in Chicago. Right now and for some time, it has been majorly, and embarrassingly screwed up. It crashes every hour, like clockwork.

I first reached out to my network of developers I've hired in the past for contract work to fix the problem. Three of them either a) couldn't figure it out or b) got bored working on it and said they didn't want to spend any more time on it.

I then asked a few gracious dev friends for advice. This got me some theories and ideas that I've spent a great deal of time trying to prove out. I have not been successful though. We keep crashing hourly.

So I turn to you, HN to see if there's anyone on here who'd be interested in fixing this problem for our company. We're a two-man business, ad-supported and ramen-profitable, that gives people in Chicago a central place to share and talk about their favorite local stories.

This has been going on for close to two months though, and our users are getting sick of it. I'm doing a bad job taking care of them by not getting this fixed but am running out of options and people to ask about working on this.

I realize debugging the hosting set up on a complex Drupal site isn't the sexiest type of freelance gig to take on, but if there's interest in this, I will provide more detail in the comments and also explain why this is in fact a sexy job to take on.

AskHN: Should us youngins be taking a Java class as a first programming class?

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

I'll be starting with a computer engineering program this fall (curriculum: http://resources.msoe.edu/cdb/programs.php?progCode=SE2.4 ). My advisor has chosen classes for me -- and I see that one of the classes I'm taking, 'Software Development I', introduces the concepts of programming with Java.

After witnessing so many rants everywhere at just about all social bookmarking websites about the atrocities of Java (and especially nowadays, with what Oracle is doing), I find this a little bit unsettling. Should I just take it as my first programming language, or should I protest and try to find a way around it?

(Sorry, I know this isn't the forum to ask for personal advice in the manner that I am doing -- but I think the discussion that might ensue might interest the community, so that's why I'm asking).

My first product

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

Hi everyone, I've just launched my first product. It's a jQuery image tagger plugin. I just wanted to know what do you think of it or any suggestions other in terms of SEO .

Cheers

Ask HN: What is a good % of active users?

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

I'm trying to gauge the acceptance of my startup by looking at the percentage of active users (out of all users that have signed up so far).

Ideally, I'd like to compare my numbers with those of other startups.

But I can't seem to find any such information. Evernote seems to be the most open when it comes to this type of stats, still I could not find active vs. signed-up.

I do expect it to be low, as the site has been under heavy beta testing, but I need a baseline to make a better judgment.

Any insight is welcome!

For the curious: The startup is Feedlooks.com

Tech guy looking for business person co-founder

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

Hi. I have quite unusual problem.

I've been a web developer for 5+ years and I can say that I became a PHP (and LAMP in general) guru.

I can build any kind of web application and I had experience handling website with thousands of visitors per hour.

On the other hand, I'm an 'entry-level entrepreneur'. I'm finishing my MBA at Babson College with concentration in Entrepreneurship and I'd like to start a company after graduation.

Right now I'm working on a prototype of one idea that I think is great (yeah, of course, everyone thinks his idea is great). My problem is that I can't implement it on my own. I can build the whole application from scratch, but I can't sell it neither to customers nor to VC's. I'm just not that kind of guy. So I need somebody to team up with, but I just don't know where to look for. My college is one of the options, but so far I had no luck...

Can anybody suggest the best strategy of finding a good BUSINESS co-founder? I know there are a lot of people looking for technical co-founder but where are they??

It's probably the biggest decision I have to make now and I want to do it right.

Thanks.

Ask HN: Where to sell your profitable company

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

I am a student living in Canada, over the last 2 years I have built out a company in a niche market where at the time there were a couple of competitors (now around 5-6). 3 of them are VC funded.

I am doing this part time still and trying to earn my business degree but now I am finishing up and want to sell this business so I can try something new, the business generates around 2 million a year (CAD) in profits, so I am wondering what sort of 'investment banks' or people I should get in touch to sell this company.

I love working on this and would not mind working on it a more, the sad part is, being in Canada and not a active guy in the 'VC/Tech' scene so I don't know which route to take or who to approach.

Ask HN: Best PHP hosting provider?

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

I have a small app that is built in PHP. Just wondering who you all would recommend for a hosting provider? We aren't big (yet) but, would like a solution that could scale with the business.

Thanks!

Show HN: VoiceForms 4000, my submission to the Wufoo API contest

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

Hey guys,

Just finished up hacking on my submission for the Wufoo API contest. VoiceForms 4000 takes any existing Wufoo form and turns it into a phone survey. The app is written in Python, runs on App Engine, and uses Twilio for all the phone magic.

https://voiceforms4000.appspot.com/

Go ahead and fill one of the sample forms and tell me what you think. Enjoy.

Ask HN: What does your development environment look like?

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

I'm curious as to what others' development environments look like. Screenshots are best. I'll kick it off.

Ask HN: Are there any good online communities for UX design?

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

I'm wondering where i can find good online communities for front-end design. There's too many 'graphic design' forums but I can't find any good places to get feedback on GUI design.

Ask HN: Should I fire half of my team because their performance is terrible?

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

Sorry for the throw away account for obvious reasons.

I've a small startup,all telecommuting,8 technical guys. Most of them with the team for a year or more now. Their performance is generally bad, it's sometimes good sometimes bad, but I have to nudge them to get things done,constantly.

I've tried lots of things to motivate them and didn't succeed. I'm part of the core technical team which means I end up working extra, covering for them as well as working with all other business related stuff. Put it this way,I'm fed up with them.

I'm planning to fire 5 problematic ones and hire new guys slowly and carefully.

2 Questions; * Shall I fire, and how should I proceed? * How can I hire new telecommuters and ensure that their performance will be good? (I know many thinks performance is nothing to do with an office, but my experience in several companies makes me think different)

FYI: All getting well paid, happy with business and if you ask them all performance problems are personal and they do accept that their performance is bad and unacceptable.

Ask HN: How is the avg in my HN profile calculated?

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

I currently have a karma of 1556 and an average of 2.55. I'm a HN'er for 509 days as on date. Clearly, the average is not straight forward. So, how is it calculated?

How often do you "Google" while programming?

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

Let's face it. We all google/search a lot while programming. I am a new programmer (from the last 2yrs) and I hate it, but when ever I am stuck, I search for quick solutions online.

What about you guys? How can this "problem" be solved? or...its ok?

Ask HN: How to be successful online without SEO bullshittery?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

This is a hot topic near and dear to my heart.

I create a site 4 years ago that I've been writing on every since... there are probably near 2000 articles on it. Everything from fixing your MTU settings on your Q1000 modem to Java framework tips I find handy to years worth of game and movies reviews to hilarious cat pictures.

It's just anything and everything I've ever found interesting written in a slightly more professional manner than "stream of thought" with a small amount of attention paid to titles and internal links only when appropriate and valuable (I HATE how sites like Engadget inner-link every keyword for Google sake).

My understanding was always that "If I wrote it, they will come".

4 years later and that's not the case at all... I seem to be hitting a goddamn glass ceiling that I cannot figure out for the life of me why it exists or who is imposing it and I want to scream.

This topic on Reddit recently: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/d7e24/my_job_was_to_game_digg_using_infographics_voting/

Got my ire up... then combined with typical junk search results I see on Google in any given day for a legit topic I'm searching for and I'm coming to the conclusion that you just can't win online unless you are an SEO-douchebag.

When was the last time you searched for something technical and found a CNET link and headed over only to notice it's a landing page that says "We didn't review this BUT we reviewed..." and has 97 links to other things on the site?

What the fuck.

Is this the only way to succeed now with this content diarrhea mill that is the web?

Ask HN: how do you decide when to quit, stick or pivot

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

The single hardest question in the startup world for me is, when to quit/pivot/stick.

1. Stick (keep pushing forward; it's too early to quit) 2. Pivot (change the product, but stay in the same industry) 3. Quit

I'm thinking of putting my recently relaunched startup iSound.com back to side project status - which essentially means quitting (at least as a business).

Most great companies take years to build, so is moving on after a few months myopic?

The numbers tell me to move on and so does my gut. I've been doing startups for 6 years with some success so it's not a work ethic thing. I actually have a problem (to a fault) quitting before something is "done."

How do you personally decide when to quit/pivot etc?

PS: The book "the dip" by seth godin and is about this, but I didn't find it helpful.

Ask HN: When does programming start to make sense?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

How long did it take before you could write code on your own? Every time I try to learn programming, it feels painfully slow compared to other things I've picked up. Maybe I'm the opposite of a natural. I took C++ in college and studied Ruby & PHP on my own.

Ask PG: Applying to YC

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

Hey PG,

I've heard that it's reasonably important to apply early, but I'm at least 1 month away from a functional prototype of my site.

Is it worth submitting now with what I've got at the moment? Or should I wait? Or should I give both a go?

Cheers

Ask HN: Review our app, Gameplan

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

Hi everyone - We've just come out of beta to launch our app Gameplan (http://gameplanapp.com) which lets you schedule and manage your amateur sports league/tournament.

We've been in beta for the last two months and our blog Naked Startup (http://nakedstartup.com) is pretty widely read.

Do try us out and let us know of any feedback that you have. Thanks in advance for your help!

P.S. The recent Startup Cup held in San Francisco (http://thestartupcup.com / http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/16/startup-soccer/) was scheduled and organised with the help of Gameplan.

What is Hacker News?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

This post is spurred by seeing the Hacker News guidelines this evening: [Moderator: feel free to remove this]

What IS Hacker News? Is it a social site for startups? Or venture capital? Is it similar to Slashdot (or was Slashdot once similar)? Is it a combinator for startups? (No pun intended). Or is it a more "elite" group of like minded individuals?

I am relative newcomer to the Hacker News scene, being a member for just under a year, but I've gained significant knowledge from those that participate here. I own and manage a well established Internet business, but with regards to Hacker News I struggle to understand who exactly Hacker News is designed for, and targeted to. Frankly, I suffer from an identity crisis at times.

I may need to be content with the understanding that I gain great perspective for my business by reading and participating here, but my curiosity still recommends that I ask this question.

Warm regards,

Lindsay

Ask HN: Any Python hackers want to make stuff?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

Hey HN, I do .NET stuff at work and hack on Python projects most nights/weekends. I am looking for like-minded developers to work on side-projects with. I am by no-means some Python guru looking to write the next Django, but I think I am pretty decent and want to start making 'real' stuff that people will actually use.

Nothing formal, no start-up dreams, just hacking on projects with Python/git

Email is in my profile or find me on IRC (freenode #python-hn) if this sounds like something you're interested in.

Ask HN: How to motivate a non-technical cofounder

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

I've been building a basic CRM system for a specific industry that my co-founder and I have experience in. The problem is that he feels bad because I've been doing all the work developing the site. I've showed him earlier threads on HN about what non-technical co-founders can do to help out but I can't seem to motivate him to the point where he's just as excited about our software as I am. I'm counting on him to handle the sales/marketing part of the business once we launch while I continue developing and adding new features, I'm just worried he's not going to be enthusiastic enough to acquire customers.

There's plenty for him to do right now, but I still found myself putting together a list of potential leads the other day. How can I motivate him to get started on the business tasks like building lead lists and other non technical things?

What % of a startup should i offer to technical co-founder?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

After paying for the building of an application with a solid business model, I realized that i need a technical co-founder going forward--The application needs some polishing and fine tuning.

I have approach a developer who is just finishing graduate school. I told him about my intention of having an arrangement whereas i can pay some cash but also have a potential developer also work for some equity. He has told me how much it would cost to do the fix the bugs and little chinks in the application. He's also indicated that he's open to other offers. How much equity should i offer at this point? Should the equity share be contingent upon performance? Finding a co-founder is really tough... I want to do the right thing.

Ask HN: Is it possible to raise money without a working prototype?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

Hi HN! I'm between a bit of a rock and a hard place - in order to create a sufficiently working prototype I would need to dedicate about a thousand hours of time. Unfortunately that's very difficult with a pre-existing full time job.

Ask HN: Review my app, LayoutGenerator

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

Hi everyone -

I'm part of a start up working on creating a tool to simplify web development. Our first app makes it easy for developers to position elements of their site. People can draw in divs directly on top of an image/mockup using our editor (written in Cappuccino!) and we output cross browser compatible, table-free code. We'd love any feedback on this product and any tips on how we can improve it.

App is at: http://gen1.recreclabs.com

We eventually hope to make this a completely automated process (we have algorithms that detect various elements of a website) and have the editor be used only for minor fixes. Is this something you guys would find useful?

Edit1:

Some sample screenshots of websites we have been using are in:

http://dontbite.me/~okay/screens/

Ask HN: Please review the advertising page for an iPhone game I made w/ a friend

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

http://onehotgaming.com/perilcanyon

Hey everybody, thanks for taking the time to look at this.

A little background: a friend from college and I put together this game over the last few weeks, based on a project for a class we took together our senior year. This is entirely a side project, but since we put a lot of work into making the game, we want to put enough work into selling it so we have at least a shot of making it successful. Since we're very much novices at this sort of thing, we'd really appreciate some advice from the HN community.

This is our advertising page (for submitting to review sites, etc.). Basically we want it to be the landing page for any potential customers.

Some specific things I'd like feedback on:

  1) How is the game description copy?
     (Is it too verbose? Should it be a bulleted list?)
  2) Does the color scheme/layout work?
  3) How's the video?

Related: any tips for good iPhone game review sites to pitch this to?

Tangentially related: can anyone recommend a decent A/B testing tool for Django?

Tell HN: My rule of thumb for initial estimation

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 PST

I think it was Fred Brooks Jr in "The Mythical Man Month" who said that when planning a project he spent 1/3 of the time on design, 1/6 of the time coding, 1/4 of the time on component testing, and 1/4 of the time on system integration and testing.

I've found these estimates to be remarkably accurate and use them all the time. If I think something will take a day of coding, it usually takes a week of work to get it properly done. That's not one day from midday Tuesday to midday Wednesday because I turn it into 3 mini-projects and run around the design/write/test/integrate cycle as fast as possible, but it's a surprisingly good predictor.

I now use it when estimating other people's work. If they say it will take a day, or a week, I multiply by 6. If they say it will take a month, it'll never be done.

Unless they're using the same rule ...