Yeah it turns out those are hard to go to market with, who would have thought

Only way it can work is if you can bootstrap something hyperlocal to start with (think Uber in San Fran)

Thank you :)

I like to think we are the only 2 people who noticed :D

I find it's all about hitching your wagon to the right horses

That’s the trick, isn’t it. It’s just so hard to figure out which horses are the right ones and which ones are going to bolt off track. In my case, the founders seemed to have good bonafides - former execs from big name tech companies - but had very limited startup experience. Turns out it takes a different skill set to build a company from zero versus running an already successful one.

Thank you :D

Yep this is exactly my summary at the end! I'm glad I sat on this story a few years to let it develop and let the positive career consequences play out.

It's an entertaining and well-written story. After reading it I momentarily entertained writing up my own similar misadventure, but even 15 years on, I think I'd find it too difficult to write about. I'm glad you were able to pull it off though!

"This is just object code for my idea why would I want to read it"

Thank you for reading :)

Hey man, don't knock 2020/2021 ZIRP era projects

Don't you remember before inflation when we were able to focus on climate change!

But you totally got us there, the startup failed because we were a vitamin (and because our on-the-fence seed round was scuppered by Putin cooling some feet)

Yeah, not so much harping on you as on the whole ecosystem. You seem to have done your part well.

I certainly should have spotted this as soon as they offered me a contract that was a clumsily-reworded version of the contract for the awful overseas contractors

Oh hi! Are you me?