I really enjoyed the post too. The older I get, the more I feel I can learn from a kid. Usually we over-complicate things, and kids can remind us how simple happiness can do. Stop over-think, and do the things we enjoy!! :)
Yes, we are planning to work with him on a contract basis. It would be the best for both of us.
We have learned a lot from our users, and know what problems we need to solve now. We are working on the most important bit of the conversion funnel maximisation, and we think some UX input could help us to do that better, quicker, and more efficient.
Yes, we would like to get him couple days a week as a contractor to start-up. If we work together well, we would be more than happy to make the relationship even closer.
His rate is fairly high to us, but I know he is happy to discount the rate for us. I really appreciate it. A lot of people discount their rate working for us as well. I just feel a lot of appreciation of that, and hope I could pay them the rate they deserve (or other type of compensation) very very soon.
Yes, I think it is about the balance as well. A rising star needs to be able to product decent work already, and keen to learn more to become that super-star.
We had experience getting a young graduate, and it turned out that it took a lot of time to teach him some basic things. It did not work out at out at the end.
I totally agreed that it would not be fair to ask other people to take as much risk as founders. It is all about structure it and get the balance.
Yes, we are not getting him full time. He is going to have another job in parallel. Hopefully, we could work with him 1-2 days a week to start with, and compensate his highly discounted rate the other way.
That is something we definitely want to work out. I understand that it could actually get time-wasters if you do not put the payment at the front. But, on the other hand, if you put a payment right at the beginning, it causes friction.
We are just experiment to find the best approach for both experts and clients.
I do like your "how do I do X" + 30sec answer idea. Thanks a lot
yes, that is definitely an issue. In many cases,I think some people need to worry about their rent, monthly expense, or mortgage (personal burn-rate) to worry about. If you are in your early twenty, your personal burn-rate would be much lower than in your late thirty.
Shares/options are great for motivating the team. They are bonus. But, we all need to at least cover our personal bur-rate to live.
I feel, as a founder, at least I should not let my devoting team members worry about that.
I will definitely stay in the game for sure. :) I know it is important to motivate people. But, to the people who work so hard for your vision, I think founders need to take care of those hard-working employees. I feel frustrated because I wish I could offer what they deserve.
I think, start-ups need strong team with good talents. We are fighting with big companies and well paid jobs. If we just wanna take people who are willing to take high risk to join the start-ups, we are gonna miss out a lot of great talents.
Start-ups are fun, and we can attract great talent. But, we all need to pay rent and survive. I am just hoping that we could find a balance, pay the talents a fair salary, and enjoy the fun start-up ride together.
I think you make a fair point. Yes, that is true. It is a high-risk investment for other employees, and different people can take different level of risks.
It would not be fair to ask a late thirty person to take the same risk as a early twenty person. People have different financial concerns in different stage of lives.
I think a good founder need to consider that. It is just not right to ask everyone takes the same risk as the founders do.
I liked what you said. Yes, I want him to focus on UX 110%, and not worry too much on the money. But, the fair rate to him is too high to us. That is the struggle. I am sure we will find a fee we are both fine with. But, I just wish that I could pay him, or anyone in the team, the rate reflecting their value. That is it. :)
No no, not looking for a UX guy full time at all. We want him as a contractor, to have him 1-2 days a week. But, the rate he is charging other people is too high to us. He deserves that rate though. I know he would comprise and charge us a discounted rate, but I just feel a little bit bad that I could not pay a fair rate for him, and for other team members who have worked so hard for MinuteBox
Thanks. I know it works as you said. But, to some people who do not have enough money to cover the rent,expenses or mortgage, shares/options are just not immediate enough.
I have met a lot of talents in this situation. That is why I wish I could retain them better. It is important to give the team member a peace of mind, right? Otherwise, they need to worry about money all the time, and it probably is not good for the productivity.
Thanks for pointing it out. I am not a native English speaker, and this is another lesson learned to me. :)
The point I want to make is that people are spending too much of their time and effort on raising money. We need to build a sustainable business after all.
I think Seth put that in a much better way than I do:
"The goal isn't to get money from a VC, just as the goal isn't to get into Harvard. Those are stepping stones, filters that some successful people have made their way through."
Their Pre-authorised payment and parallel payment fit our model perfectly. Our CTO knows them pretty well. We think it is the best option for our initial stage. Once we scale, we will look for more payment options.