jcol

Entirely agree with you. They are nothing but script kiddies. Anyone can download Metasploit, Nessus, Nikto, etc. and test for thousands of vulnerabilities. Then they either turn vulnerable servers into botnet zombies or steal their data and post it on the web. I've seen no sign they have any 0day exploits (which would make them the real deal), just some basic SQL injections, XSS, and brute forcing.

Not impressed.

Reddit has quite a few stability/uptime problems. Probably not his fault, but a scary prospect nonetheless.

EDIT: Did I get downvoted by someone who thinks Reddit is stable? It clearly isn't and anyone who thinks otherwise is dreaming. I guess I'll stop going against the HN hivemind just to keep my account in good standing. This place feels more like Reddit every day.

There are many different kinds of people that drink wine.

I'd be more impressed if they could support themselves after 7 years and didn't need investments and an IPO to stay afloat.

Only sites that have the tracking code installed are accurate. Anything else is guessed (poorly).

Building the prototype is the easy part. If you're going to do 40% of the work, ask for 40% of the equity. This is assuming he has no revenue, no customers, and no other partners. Being accepted into an accelerator program doesn't make this a guaranteed success and even that 40% could end up being worth $0.

You're the first developer on board. Get more equity, 2% would be good if they are giving you half-salary. 1% would be good if they are willing to do full salary.

Walking away from lowball offers makes you worth more in the long run.

That is a much better question. Although I can't tell you why in this specific scenario, I can tell you that middle markets can be tough because they're not the cheapest or the most expensive, which are two common selling points.

I follow the needs of an industry. If you understand an industry, you can feel which direction to take it. I've never understood how or why people would use any other method.

Too many people these days think they are entitled to everything for free, especially on the internet. I dabble in angel investing and you wouldn't believe how many people think they are entitled an investment because they think they have "the next big thing" -- if they are so sure, bootstrap it and prove it!

Starting a website based on how profitable you think it is, or how profitable strangers on the internet tell you it is, is the worst idea I've heard in a long time.

Internet business isn't a get rich quick scheme.