Internet Start-up, what the _ad-hoc_ do I do?

Question

beloved s.o. (lowercase intended; indented, and, subsequently dedented),

I have a long-term project in mind, and when it's done I will definitely show it to you.

In the mean-time, as the title suggests, I will be attempting (nay, succeeding! think positively, right?!) at creating an internet-based company.

Essentially, I hope to utilize (read "exploit") crowd-sourcing and want to encourage collaboration among users for the purpose of (SECRET-MILLION-DOLLAR-IDEA).

So I want to know, from those who have attempted/succeeded/failed/learned from/participated in/on (or even tangentially on) an internet start-up:

What the heck do I do?

Now, I wouldn't be so fond of s.o. if people asked questions without providing their own crack at a reasonable answer, so: more specifically, I'm wondering about

• various hosting solutions,
(Do I set up a small server-farm of my own out of my apartment?)
• ways to predict bandwidth usage,
(Is it worth it to pay for a CDN or Amazon's A3?)
• ways to get the word out
(Can I advertise on a limited/non-existent budget and still look legitimate?)
• potential software suites designed for this purpose
(some interesting analytical tools perhaps)

As well as any suggestions / advice / notes-from-prior-experience-on-where-you-slipped-on-the-ice-and-if-you-could-live-two-lifetimes-you-would-definitely-not-slip-on-the-ice-in-that-particular-spot-again-because-it-hurt-like-a-mother-board gems of sagacity.

In the spirit of s.o. I am trying my best to not make this a discussion thread, but rather a question of "what approach/process would you use?" as I think there are definitely some successful patterns in creating an internet start-up. stackoverflow, being the kindest and most knowledgeable forum I can consider for such a query, I submit to thee I submit the above.

My penultimate ponder is, do I do it alone? Does it help to have friends helping you? Does this potentially cause business-disputes once you take off? (I think they made a movie about this)

Although I've tagged money (and cache-money, as I have a fondness for such geeky puns -- and I won't take offense if someone de-tags it), I don't care to be wealthy, I just want this project to succeed because I think it would be a great asset to the internet, and my internet brothers and sisters.

Other things you should know: I'm an amateur developer just out of college with a CS education, and frankly the task seems rather daunting.

tl;dr: i wanna has company, how do i shot web?

Answer 1

Go buy the book Founders at Work. It is quite possibly the best must have book for a person such as yourself.

It details how various little companies like PayPal, Hot Mail and Del.icio.us got started. It's funny, sad and guaranteed to help motivate you when things get rough. Which they will.

The things they did and how they grew are quite an eye opener. Also go read Y Combinator's site.

---

Now, the penultimate question: Do you do it alone? The answer is quite simply, NO. You might be the only person coding and even the only one doing sales. However, you absolutely must have others outside yourself to give you both a reality check as well as to keep you motivated.

Before you write one line of code, talk to people. Find people that would be interested in using or buying whatever it is you want to do. Don't ask them how much would they pay because, quite frankly, they don't know. But do ask if they would use it and pay close attention to their answers. Some people will tell you whatever you want to hear. Others will be more honest. You'll have to figure out how to tell the difference.

Assuming you go ahead, there are going to be times when you get burned out or down for some reason. Starting a business is like a roller coaster. You can go from being completely excited about your future to "OMG WTH am I doing? This will never work!" in 5 minutes. Flat. Usually it's a single phone call that causes this. Your circle of friends will help level you out. Hopefully they are close enough to not get tired of hearing your rants.. ;) Some outsiders might consider this manic-depressive behavior. It's not, other small business owners will tell you it's normal.

Hopefully the people you bring on are confident enough to give you honest opinions. Listen to them. If they say it's crap, then don't huff and puff. Find out why. If they say it's good, don't gloat. Find out why. I had someone tell me a particular project I was working on was horrible. The reason why boiled down to a color choice for hovers. Once that was changed they loved it. Go figure.

Take good breaks and pace yourself. This is going to take a huge toll on you both personally and financially. Again, this is where having good people around you will help. They'll know when it's time to just kidnap you for a break. Even if it's just to force you to shower and eat a decent meal.

So, can you start it "alone"? Sure.. with the help of a solid group of friends. Just be aware, at some point you will need to bring others in because it will grow bigger than you. Keep an eye out for those potential relationships. Whether it be a good sales person, additional coder, or some other aspect of the business. Sometimes just having a non-associated person to bounce confidential ideas off of can be a boon.

Finally, see if you can get others excited about what you want to do. If you can then you'll probably have a winner.