nicholas73 (u/nicholas73)

nicholas73 commented on Fair market value vs. strike price · Posted by u/um-not-my-name

nicholas73 · 5 years ago

I'll leaving the price for others, but it seems to me the more important number at this stage is the percentage of ownership you'd get if exercised.

I mean a startup's purpose is to go from 1 to 10 or even 100, or go bust. So it's not as material whether the options are 1 or 1.25 strike if it does work out. In fact arguably you'd want more 1.25 options rather than less 1 options.

Of course that's all things equal, and the board may have screwed you on the total number of shares too.

nicholas73 commented on Tell HN: Scammed by Google Fi customer support out of a device trade-in · Posted by u/tolbish

ocdtrekkie · 5 years ago

This is a really bad idea. Tech companies are very aggressive about chargebacks, and it's common to find your account permanently banned in response. In Google's case, that might cost you all of your email, all of the paid apps on your phone, and all of your personal photos.

As a general rule, do not try to initiate a credit card dispute or chargeback with any company you ever intend to do business with ever again.

nicholas73 · 5 years ago

This is evil.

nicholas73 commented on Ask HN: Starting a SaaS business as non-technical founder · Posted by u/nicdc

Alex3917 · 5 years ago

> Also, worst case, the project fails but the technical skills I acquired make me more marketable for tech-type jobs.

This. The chances of hiring folks to build an MVP and getting enough paying users off that to bring them on full time or getting enough traction to raise money are absurdly small. If you're already both very wealthy and are the single most famous person in your industry then maybe there's like a 10% chance of it working, if neither of those things apply then the chances are much closer to 0%. What will happen is that you'll spend a ton of money to build something, not really validate any assumptions or de-risk anything, and then be stuck with this poorly constructed prototype that's too complicated for you to modify yourself.

Spend six months learning to code, then try to build your product. If you're not making progress at a reasonable pace then just get a job as a full stack developer and spend a couple years learning from the best people in the industry while getting paid for it, and then finish your prototype on nights and weekends. After a couple years of working professionally as a developer, things that would have taken you a month you'll now be able to do in a day.

nicholas73 · 5 years ago

"The chances of hiring folks to build an MVP and getting enough paying users off that to bring them on full time or getting enough traction to raise money are absurdly small."

What about the chances if you build yourself? Any better?

nicholas73 commented on US citizens warned they face arbitrary arrest in China m.dw.com/en/us-citizens-w... · Posted by u/everybodyknows

mthoms · 5 years ago

This is incorrect. The two Michaels have been accused of spying. You're thinking of a third Canadian Robert Schellenberg. His punished was suddenly changed from 15 years in prison to a death sentence after a recent retrial.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-53104303

https://globalnews.ca/news/5257482/robert-schellenberg-death...

nicholas73 · 5 years ago

IIRC, Schellenberg requested re-trial to try to take advantage of the politics despite that a re-trial had the possibility of increasing the penalty to death penalty even without political motivation. That is, he gambled and lost.

nicholas73 commented on Ask HN: If you plan success, why ever raise equity instead of debt? · Posted by u/flibble

nicholas73 · 5 years ago

Assuming you can raise debt, the other reason would be that if you fail to make debt payments then you potentially lose your company. Shit does happen, and it doesn't take a once in a lifetime virus to wreck your plans.

nicholas73 commented on Ask HN: Should I switch from software eng if I want to be an entrepreneur? · Posted by u/lmdol

_448 · 6 years ago

There is something called "TME" i.e. Technical Marketing Engineer. Some big companies have these roles that are a go-between the technical teams and the prospective customers. Try to find these type of roles. Another option, as suggested by other here, is to collaborate with the sales team to help them in understanding technical details of the project.

nicholas73 · 6 years ago

I've done this job. Sure you do learn some sales, but you don't really practice it. Nor does it necessarily expose you to market needs that aren't going to be covered by your bigco.

nicholas73 commented on Ask HN: Should I switch from software eng if I want to be an entrepreneur? · Posted by u/lmdol

nicholas73 · 6 years ago

In the end you have to play to your strengths and do what you enjoy. If you think you would like a sales role and a sales driven company, then go for it. If not, you are spinning your wheels for a chance to glean something. If it's an avenue you would take anyway, then you have more possible positive outcomes.

nicholas73 commented on Ask HN: What is going on with the US stock market? · Posted by u/scottporad

zw123456 · 6 years ago

Yes, sometimes the vagaries of the stock market can be confounding. But the in addition to expectations already mentioned, investors often compare the potential return from stocks vs. other investments primarily interest bearing such as bonds. If interest rates are very low, then stocks will be more attractive. Right now, the Federal Reserve is maintaining a very low interest rate to help combat a possible recession due to the covid19 crisis. I think the low interest rates is also one major factor (although there are a lot of others).

nicholas73 · 6 years ago

Yes we should remember that stock markets pale in size compared to bond and currency markets. Money leaving another market can buoy stock markets in a way that is almost mechanical, separate from attempting to value individual stocks.

nicholas73 commented on Ask HN: Has anyone been fired because they were job hunting? · Posted by u/jgwil2

giantg2 · 6 years ago

I'm guessing it was http (not logged in or a Google search). I would assume they could also do it based on the IP/DNS.

nicholas73 · 6 years ago

Ok but how did they know it was her phone?

nicholas73 commented on University of California Will Stop Using SAT, ACT wsj.com/articles/universi... · Posted by u/big_chungus

paxys · 6 years ago

There are a lot more cases which are the exact opposite. People who have done well in school, extra curriculars and more, but are held back by a meaningless test.

nicholas73 · 6 years ago

I don't have perspective, maybe, but what is exactly holding back someone who does well in school to score higher on a test? It's not like you don't get to retake it if it was a fluke.

If it's the test fee, just allow a retake for free like a gas station smog check offer.

Or, a college can bucket grades and test scores separately and just take whichever is higher.