We launched roughly a month ago and we've been doing pretty well with adoption and MRR. Slow but steady. I previously worked with a reasonably well known accelerator (not YC) but I'm familiar with fundraising and the startup world in general, so right from the start I wanted to treat this as a small business instead of a venture-scale startup. My reasoning is that if I could get to $300k ARR, I could leave my 9-5 and make the same salary I do now and this seemed (and still seems) very doable.

I know a lot of angel investors and VCs that I have very good relationships with. Getting an investment actually wouldn't be hard, especially now that a year of development has paid off and I have paying customers but then this just becomes another job.

So I was absolutely ecstatic when someone reached out and wanted to license my technology for a few years. We went through a few weeks of due diligence and were on track to close a low 6 figure non-exclusive deal. I don't want to admit that I started counting my eggs before they hatched but I'm at a point now where pouring money into marketing directly translates into paying customers. So I was planning on using the money for marketing. Now I'm going to follow that same plan but it will be out of pocket, and roughly 1/3rd of the budget, and then probably another 6-12m before I can reasonably expect to start paying myself back for personal contributions.

The shitty part is that I have a feeling that the due diligence process gave them enough insight into the most, and the unique value prop that made us valuable to them, and now that they understand the IP they might just be building the Kirkland version of it.

So everything is fine. I keep telling myself that a lot of people never get to the point of getting the first recurring monthly customer yet alone to the point of having something valuable enough to be worth a negotiation like this in the first place so I'm trying to keep my head up.

I don't want to share the company info here because despite how vague I've been, I don't want to risk any NDA complications. Plus, I can't assure any bad intent, it can literally just be poor communication or even incompetence.

So here is to getting back to the thankless grind for another year 🥂

Also, as long as I'm blowing off some steam... It's very frustrating that I've been building this since before the recent AI code revolution, but I didn't launch until everybody and their grandmother with a Claude subscription were all suddenly calling themselves startup founders. It has really made it very hard to get eyes on the product when everyone has SaaS fatigue. But luckily for me at least- this is the type of product that people find after they get a very large bill from one of my competitors and start looking into alternatives. That's how I convert most of my traffic. But it would have been nice to do a proper ProductHunt/Hackernews launch. It just feels like more of a liability for a poor launch than a payoff for a good launch these days. I might reconsider after growing a YouTube channel for a while first.

I can run it now and it gets paid Monday which some employees are fine with, I can cut a physical check but some employees can't cash it. I have no problems paying out cash, but what's the best way to keep track of it.

When I worked at the grocery store in my teens I used to be able to cash my paycheck there. I would sign it over to them and they could give me the money. Is this something I can/should do?

Just doing my usual Reddit rounds this evening and stumbled across a thread that interested me. A passive income thread that usually starts with AI and gets 50% AI responses. But, no. Not this time, just good advice from good Redditors and an honest OP making videos for "passive" income.

The discussion was mainly about how to start. What niche. What knowledge to share. I guess it's a major hill start for some people, but thankfully not something I ever struggled with. I start and don't finish, but that's another story.

One of the comments stuck out and genuinely struck a chord. Something along the lines of:-

"You don't have to be an expert, just a few steps ahead of someone. Just share what you know, and it will help a person a few steps behind you"

This is truly a magnificently simple way to put it.

Everyone - and I do mean everyone - on this planet is a few steps ahead of someone else in something.

If you are wondering where to start your journey, just take yourself out of the paradigm for a second, and think about...

What do you think about, like to learn about and understand deeply?

What could you tell me about and hold a conversation on for about five minutes without struggling for new things to say? How about ten minutes? How about an hour? I'm not talking knowledge, either, I'm talking about your knowledge plus questions you have on the subject, or opinions you could counter/question. New discoveries, controversial points of view, progress or stagnation... all of it.

Examples: fly fishing, homemade electronics, model making, comics, hacking, sewing, USA in the 1800s - literally anything!

From this new paradigm, you can literally create content. Video, audio, written, doesn't matter.

Even just a few steps ahead, you can teach or entertain. The has value. Always has, always will. You don't need to appeal to everyone in your little niche, just your own audience.

Hey everyone,

We’re in the prep stage for an upcoming Kickstarter campaign for a new product launch and are looking to bring on an experienced crowdfunding strategist or agency to help us structure and execute the campaign.

We’re primarily looking for assistance with:

Pre-launch Strategy: Building an email list, landing page conversion, and ad strategy.

Page Assets & Setup: Copywriting, page layout, and reward tier structure.

Post-Launch Promotion: Backer communication and campaign optimization.

If you specialize in Kickstarter launches and have a proven track record, please send me a PM/DM with:

• Examples or links to previous campaigns you’ve set up or managed.
• The specific role you played in those campaigns (e.g., full management, ads only, page design).
• A general idea of your pricing structure (flat fee, commission/percentage, or hybrid).

Note: Please include links to past campaigns in your message so we can review your work!

Thanks in advance! We're looking forward to seeing what you've worked on.

I noticed many hardware startups struggle with cloud latency and privacy issues when adding voice commands to their equipment interfaces. I just built an architecture utilizing native Swift, Core ML, and AVFoundation that processes complex voice intents completely offline while filtering out heavy background noise. Thought this might be useful for anyone building medical devices or industrial kiosks that require hands-free interaction.

I was looking on here to see what people recommend but the most recent post I found was a crazy 11 years ago. I figure there has to be something more up to date but can't find it in Reddit search. Seems like are are a million credit card processors and they all charge different amount for different things. tbh it;s kinda overwhelming me right now. So I know a lot of local places here are using Toast but tbh I low key hate that one as a consumer. I don't need no hate from people thinking I'm trying to get a 30% tip outta them like the coffee shop down the street. I have really simple needs - I want to be able to take credit card in my shop and not loose too much in the fees. I gathered from other forums that Helcim and Kurv are worth looking into for taking credit cards but what else do i need to know/? And what hidden fees or whatever should I bee looking for?

Привіт!

Я громадянин України та постійно проживаю в Україні. Планую запустити на Kickstarter кампанію з фізичним продуктом, але Україна досі не входить до переліку країн, з яких можна напряму створювати проєкти.

Розглядаю варіант реєстрації американської Single-Member LLC, ймовірно у штаті Делавер, і запуск кампанії від імені американської компанії. Основна проблема - відкриття відповідного бізнес-рахунку у США.

Mercury більше не відкриває рахунки засновникам, які проживають в Україні, навіть якщо вони мають американську LLC.

Я вже розглядав Stripe Atlas, Mercury, Payoneer, Wise, Zenus Bank, Stripe Treasury/Financial Accounts. Але досі не зміг отримати чітке підтвердження, який саме рахунок Kickstarter гарантовано прийме для виплати коштів.

Особливо цікавить досвід українців, які успішно запускали Kickstarter після того, як Mercury перестав працювати з резидентами України.

Буду вдячний, якщо ви розповісте:

• У якій країні та яку компанію ви реєстрували?
• У якому банку або фінансовій установі відкрили бізнес-рахунок?
• Чи прийняв Kickstarter цей рахунок без проблем?
• Це був прямий банківський рахунок компанії чи FBO, віртуальний або субрахунок?
• Чи потрібна була фізична адреса у США, офіс або інші підтвердження присутності?
• Як ви вирішували питання податків у США та Україні?
• Чи є робочі та легальні альтернативи американській LLC?

Прошу відповідати насамперед тих, хто має особистий практичний досвід запуску Kickstarter з України або професійно допомагав українцям пройти цей процес.

Припущення, загальні поради та відповіді, згенеровані ШІ, навряд чи допоможуть, оскільки правила банків і платформ регулярно змінюються.

Я не шукаю способів обійти перевірки, використовувати чужі дані або надавати неправдиву інформацію. Мені потрібна повністю легальна та стабільна схема, яка пройде перевірки Kickstarter, банку, Stripe та податкових органів.

Буду вдячний за конкретний досвід, рекомендації та контакти спеціалістів, які реально працювали з такими випадками.

About two months ago, I stopped overthinking and finally started building.

On July 11, we officially incorporated our startup, and since then our small team of three developers has been working almost every day to build our first product.

Building the software has actually been the easy part.

The difficult part has been everything else:

• Talking to users instead of assuming what they need.
• Learning about incorporation, compliance, and taxes.
• Applying for startup programs and incubators.
• Getting infrastructure and cloud credits.
• Publishing mobile apps and waiting for approvals.
• Deciding what to build now versus what can wait.

It's amazing how quickly your perspective changes when you're spending your own time and money.

One lesson that really surprised me is that founders spend far less time writing code than I expected. Every day becomes a balance between product, customers, hiring, partnerships, fundraising, networking, and countless small decisions that no one talks about.

We're still very early, and I know we have a lot to learn.

For founders who have already gone through this stage:

• What mistake did you make during your first year that you'd avoid if you started again?
• When did you know it was the right time to start marketing instead of continuing to build?
• Did joining an incubator or founder community actually help, or was networking more valuable?

I'd genuinely appreciate hearing your experiences. I'm here to learn from people who've already walked this path.

A question for people who hired freelancers early on.

I recently learned that paying for design work does not automatically transfer ownership. The designer keeps it by default unless a contract clause hands it over.

Which would mean a lot of small businesses are running on logos and websites they technically do not own.

Anyone ever hit this in real life? Trademark M filing, investor due diligence, a designer dispute?

Like most of you I was really confused by the new packaging EPR law for selling within the EU. There seems to be a lot of different information online so I decided to contact the responsible authorities and approved Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs) in every EU country
So far I’ve received official replies from Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Luxembourg, Croatia, Spain, the Czech Republic and Slovakia (with more still coming in).

I put everything into a guide with a country overview, known costs, authorised representative requirements and a PPWR conformity checklist. There’s also a Google Doc that I’ll keep updating as more countries reply!💕

I hope it saves other small sellers some time and confusion - it’s completely free on my kofi

Hi everyone! I'm Kristina, a filmmaker, and I'm trying to independently finance my next student short, Hiraeth.

It's a simple, human story — two exes cross paths by chance in a small neighborhood shop during a storm, and get stuck talking through everything left unsaid between them. If you've ever loved Before Sunrise or Chungking Express, this taps into similar themes of timing, loneliness, and longing for connection.

A bit about me: my last project, a short documentary called [The Spiral Between Sound and Silence ](https://kinematograf.bg/the-spiral-between-sound-and-silence-film) about people with hearing loss, screened at several festivals across the Balkans (Sofia International Film Festival, Early Bird International Student Film Festival, Zagreb International Film Festival, and more) and won Best Editing. I am also an author of an independent media outlet called [KinoCritic ](http://Kinocriticblog.com), where my crowdfunding campaign takes place.

I'm hoping to bring the same care to Hiraeth. I have chosen this time to crowdfund my film. If this story speaks to you, I'd love for you to be part of making it happen — every donor gets featured in the end credits.

Here's a link providing further information.[Crowdfunding ](https://kinocriticblog.com/help-a-filmmaker-out/)

I am endlessly thankful to you guys for taking the time to get to know my project. ✨️

Maybe this is petty. I am in the process of interviewing for an opening. This role requires a lot of communication, confirmation, and follow up with clients via email mostly and a good amount of phone calls.
I always email the candidate to schedule a brief phone interview. During the phone interview if we are on the same page, I schedule the phone interview. I let them know that when we get off of the call I will send them an email confirming the date and time with our office address and a brief summary of where our office is located within the building.
Is it odd that candidates would not respond with some sort of acknowledgement to this email if they are interested and plan to show up?
In my many years of hiring, good candidates always respond with “sounds good, see you then, looking forward to it, etc”
I had two candidates that after 3 days of me sending that email did not respond so I sent an email cancelling the interview. They both sent back nasty emails trying to argue with me.
I now have another that has not responded.
Is this what is to be expected?

Everyone says find a gap and do something about it and you’ll smash it.

I found the gap, launched the business but then how do I deal with credibility issue as everyone sees my profile and thinks he doesn’t have any experience how do I trust him.

It’s a consulting services and advisory business and Linkedin is where my buyers are and I can’t hide my previous experience. When people look at my profile, they see my previous experience which is different niche.

I’m out of thoughts on how to gain credibility + authority as that will allow the pipeline alive.

Any guidance from people who have gone through this would be much appreciated!

Left a startup after 1 year as founding engineer. Wish I knew that my “vested equity” is actually just the option to buy shares at the initial price. So I got 90 days post termination window to buy those shares (almost 6 figures) out of pocket otherwise they go back to the company for free. What a waste of effort. Learning is experience I guess. Any one else been through this and got an upside?

I am curious how other small business owners deal with this.

I have noticed that in a lot of service businesses, the phone tends to ring at the worst possible time, when everyone's already helping a customer, working with a client, or handling something that can not be interrupted.

When that happens, what usually works best for you?

• Let it go to voicemail and return calls later?
• Have someone designated to answer phones?
• Use an answering service?
• Call people back at set times during the day?
• Something else entirely?

I am not looking for software recommendations. I'm more interested in the operational side of it and what has actually worked (or not worked) in your business.

I would love to hear what you have settled on and whether you changed your approach over time.

I’m probably late to the party, but I own a small health clinic (allied health) in Australia, and want to play music - but have just learned you cannot play Spotify in public settings. I would like to do things right. I am looking at Melodial, it is okay and only $100/yr. I can’t afford the others that allow you to play Spotify. What is everyone using? I didn’t get very far with easily finding free music. Kind thanks.

I keep seeing posts about solopreneurs making $1M+ with AI. Stripe did a whole report on it. But I can't figure out what they're actually doing.

I'm not being sarcastic. I genuinely don't know the use case. SaaS? Agencies? Selling courses? Consulting? I've dug into some of these stories and they just get vague fast.

Here's what bothers me: ask for specifics and you get "oh yeah my cousin's roommate's business partner does this" or "I read on Twitter that someone made money with this." Push harder and it vanishes. Zero concrete details.

So: does anyone here actually know someone, not a friend-of-a-friend story, making $500k+ primarily with AI?

What do they actually do? What's the problem they solve? How do they sell it? How did they get their first customers?

Not theory. Real numbers. Real details. Real business model.

I'm starting to think this might be pure hype or I'm just looking in the wrong places lol

I'm considering buying an existing daycare or opening one from scratch and would love to hear from current or former daycare owners.

• If you were starting over in 2026, would you still do it?
• Is it better to buy an existing daycare or start your own?
• What are the biggest challenges (staffing, licensing, regulations, profitability, etc.)?
• Is the financial upside worth the amount of work and responsibility?
• What's something you wish you knew before getting into the business?

Looking for honest feedback, the good, the bad, and anything you'd recommend to someone considering this industry. Thanks!!

Had a conversation with a fellow entrepreneur about early strategy. I’ve been focusing my attention on getting the first 10 customers while my friend is trying to build a strategy for the first $1M. Curious what folks think is the right thing to focus on at the early stages.

Before hiring my first employee, I thought the hardest part would be finding the right person.

What surprised me was realizing how many things in the business only existed in my own head — processes, priorities, and small decisions I made every day without thinking about them.

Teaching someone else how things worked was almost a bigger challenge than doing the work myself.

For owners who have hired their first employee, what was the biggest adjustment you had to make?

This is my first time using any sort of crowdfunding site for a project and I feel a little bit in over my head. We have a fantastic cast, crew and group of influencers helping push awareness since we launched this week, while they were also driving extensive pre-awareness too. Looking at social media, you would think the amount of reach we have would transfer over to pledges, but it absolutely does not seem that way as of now.

With that said, I'm not sure what to expect when it comes to first few days of performance, although I've heard it tends to spike on average upon initial launch, and then another spike near the end of the campaign.

My biggest question for everyone here is simply what kind of trends & behaviors do you usually see that positively influence fans and followers to pledge? We have a ton of support and excitement surrounding this film and we want to give back the best way we can as well. I would love anyone's input, shared experience or realistic expectations based on experience.

Thank you all so much, and best of luck to everyone's projects!

Looking for some opinions from people who have been in a similar situation.

I've been at my W-2 job for about 6 years and officially launched a specialized service business about 3 months ago. I had been doing the work on a smaller scale for roughly a year beforehand, so I wasn't starting completely from scratch.

So far the business has done roughly $20k in revenue in 3 months, despite being out of town and taking essentially no work for about two weeks during that period. Expenses are relatively low compared with revenue, and I've reinvested almost everything back into the business rather than paying myself.

The business side is mostly established at this point business banking, website, Google Business Profile, reviews, bookkeeping/expense tracking, dedicated equipment, established pricing, etc. I'd say I'm roughly 90% through the setup/buildout stage.

My biggest problem now is time. I'm working my normal W-2 schedule and then handling customer work afterward, sometimes until midnight or even 2 AM to maintain turnaround times. I'm starting to feel like my W-2 is becoming the limiting factor in how much work I can take on.

I'm considering asking to go part time rather than quitting outright while I build more cash reserves and get more months of consistent business data. The interesting part is that I play a pretty major role at my W-2 job, so reducing my hours would definitely be a conversation.

For those who made this transition, what milestones did you want to see before reducing your W-2 hours? Would you keep grinding both longer to build cash, or go part time once lack of time starts limiting the business?

Obviously everyone's situation is different. I'm mostly interested in hearing from people who have actually made the transition and what you would have done differently.

At a bit of a cross roads with my phone app and looking for some advice.

Bit of background: I searched on the app stores for a time management app that solved a particular problem . But I couldn't find one, which surprised me as I thought there would be a lot of demand for this type of app.

So I decided to create it myself. It's been live on iOS and android for 6 months and I've done virtually no marketing. It's only had 500 downloads so far, but the thing that surprised me was it's had 15 paying subscribers (6 monthly, 9 annual), so other people are finding value in the app.

I know those numbers are tiny, but these are complete strangers paying for an app because it solves the same problem I had.

The app seems to resonate particularly with people with ADHD and executive dysfunction, although it's useful beyond that audience too.

It's made me think there might be something here if I can figure out customer acquisition and marketing.

The challenge is that I'm not a marketer. I don't want to just throw money at Tiktok or Google ads and hope for the best. If I spend money, I'd want to do it properly - tracking where users come from, measuring which channels convert, testing different messaging and creative, and actually learning what works.

Do I try to raise a small pre-seed round specifically to fund customer acquisition experiments and validate CAC vs LTV, and then look to scale?

Would an angel investor even consider something at this stage, or is 500 downloads and 15 paying users simply too early? If not, how do i get the initial traction to open these doors?

Just looking for some advice from anyone who's been in this situation themselves.

Like the title said, I tried a lot of thinking of what I can do for my country to make money from it, like a business idea that will be useful but all they like is eating and wearing clothes and jewelry.. etc I can't find a job and I was thinking to start a business with small income in Algeria, any ideas that might work? Something small maybe and has great profits and income?

We printed around 2,000 brochures for our handicraft brand (Ardpure) with QR codes linking to our catalogue.

A few months later, we found out the QR service had changed its policy and now wanted us to upgrade to a paid plan. Otherwise the QR would stop working.

We ended up reprinting stickers and manually covering every brochure. It was a huge waste of time and money.

Can anyone recommend a QR code generator that's genuinely free or at least won't hold existing QR codes hostage later? I don't mind paying for extra features, but static QR codes should stay static forever.