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David Heinemeier Hansson at Startup School 08

4.9K subscribers • 5 videos on Hallway

Recommended by 8 people: 8 on Hacker News.
A classic. People kept recommending it from 2011 to 2022.
Presented by David Heinemeier Hansson, creator of Ruby on Rails
An opinion. It argues one side of a question engineers disagree on.

Beginner. No background in the topic needed.

201K views17 years ago8 recommendations

Careers and interviews Tools and practice Startups Inside tech companies Career growth

David Heinemeier Hansson argues for bootstrapping sustainable, profitable businesses instead of chasing venture capital and rapid exits.

David Heinemeier Hansson, creator of the Ruby on Rails framework and Partner at 37Signals gives insight into creating a profitable startup company.

Why it's here

8 people recommend this

What people say. Engineers recommend this talk as a highly influential guide to building a self-funded, profitable software business.

csallenon Hacker News • 14 years agoRecommends

On “Startups Are Hard. So Work More, Cry Less, And Quit All The Whining”

I haven't read the book that some others have been recommending, but it looks good (I respect a lot of the people who gave it favorable reviews on its website). Aside from that, I'd say you should do some research on others who've successfully followed this path. They exist -- they're just less likely to show up in tech news, which is heavily influenced by investors (who only care about big wins) and bloggers (who only care about big news). Take a look at the early blog posts from Balsamiq's Peldi, anything by Patrick Mackenzie, the Wufoo guys, Gary Vaynerchuck, or anything from the 37Signals guys. This talk by DHH never fails to motivate me: link to this video

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biraon Hacker News • 14 years agoRecommends

On “Show HN: We decided not to apply to YC so we could try Kickstarter”

Have you already watched DHH's "How to Make Money Online" presentation ( link to this video )? If not, watch it ASAP. If you go down the bootstrapping road, you must have profits coming in, to fund and further the development of your product. Sooner or later you will have to make money and since you don't seem to have a lot of funds laying around, the sooner the better. Moreover, have you validated your idea(s) (included the previous, failed attempts to excute them and build a viable business)? Are you sure that there are enough people out there with the burning desire to throw money at you for this app to make it worth the hustle? (assuming you want to sell your app, which would be the best and most s…

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leelinon Hacker News • 5 years agoRecommends

On “The Rise and Fall of Ambrosia Software (2019)”

…urvive as they were just fine off their utility products Way back in the day, YC always said not to worry about competitors raising tons of money (not sure if that's still the rec). The 2008 DHH boostrapping talk during Startup School is still one of the most influential videos on my career as a founder. But that path is increasingly less popular! link to this video Lastly, for all the bolo comments out there, I remember the huge transition from modems to school ethernet that made it playable - it was honestly one of the reasons I was looking forward to dorm life!…

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mglon Hacker News • 15 years agoRecommends

On “10 YouTube Videos Every Entrepreneur Should Watch”

Nice collection but this one with David Heinemeier Hansson on bootstrapping a profitable startup is definitely missing: link to this video

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AVTizzleon Hacker News • 14 years agoRecommends

On “Workplace experiments: A month to yourself”

The other answers aren't wrong, but I think listening to 37Signals Partner DHH from Startup School would speak best: link to this video Almost more than their products, they're known for their very vocal broadcasting against the standard startup focus of investments, valuations, exits, etc... Their books "Getting Real" and "Rework" represent their bootstrapping, sustainable-business values - they're not timid in speaking out against the nonsense of the modern startup conventional wisdom. Personally, I think it's a very refreshing and empowering voice for entrepreneurs. It's not without controversy though, so dig in to their content for yourself to make your own judgement. (FWIW - "Getting Real" is a fr…

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hello_newmanon Hacker News • 13 years agoRecommends

On “The Best Companies Don’t Do Accelerator Programs”

"Not every important idea is a huge world-changing event. Sometimes building a small company that makes a big difference to a small number of people is more important." Totally agree. DHH actually gave a talk about this subject at Start-Up School back in 2008. Definitely worth watching link to this video

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graemeon Hacker News • 12 years agoRecommends

On “Ask HN: Did you get "never have to work again rich" through software?”

…a baseline of entrepreneurial knowledge. Just shift out of startup mode. As long as you've got enough money or time that you can work on something new without starving, it's not THAT hard to make a business that gives you freedom. (No guaranteed success, but the odds are significantly better than in a startup. This talk by DHH is a good overview) link to this video…

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_448on Hacker News • 3 years agoRecommends

On “I am done. I give up”

Cold email is a hit and miss approach. Just go talk to people face to face. Initially it seems like a non-scalable approach but it works wonders. The silicon valley, VC preached mantra of hyper scale is what muddles the minds of most entrepreneurs. Everyone starts thinking of million of users rather than 100s of users. There is a very interesting presentation at YC startup school 2008: link to this video You will recognise the speaker :)

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sreitshameron Hacker News • 16 years agoMentions

On “Staying Healthy and Sane At a Startup”

I'd add that it's a good idea to take it easy because it's never going to be less work, as DHH suggested at Startup School link to this video

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thetrumanshowon Hacker News • 15 years agoMentions

On “Is it hard to build a web app that makes at least $1000 a month?”

"Its hard, but not THAT hard!" link to this video 6 years into building web-apps and finally I am just now seeing a few bucks rolling in (still <$1000 month). I wasted lots of time, primarily pursuing the wrong kinds of business models (free!!!) or putting effort into the wrong areas of a business, ultimately burning out because things weren't working. But, even if you've picked a good product with a good market, for the un-initiated engineer there's this mysterious delta between being able to build something (anything!), and making that something successful. My recommendation (because its working for me), is to find a co-founder who is a business guy employed at a successful small software company. Pa…

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amirmcon Hacker News • 15 years agoMentions

On “Steve Jobs' memo to startups”

The talk you link to in that essay leads to a 404. Is it this talk on YouTube ( link to this video )? If so, maybe you want to update the link.

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asc76on Hacker News • 13 years agoMentions

On “The Internet, new media, and the new American dream”

"Focus on building a community first, and worry about monetization later." I don't entirely agree with this statement. This is precisely why a lot of startups fail because they slap on the business model as an afterthought. DHH said it pretty well: link to this video

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rudedoggon Hacker News • 12 years agoMentions

On “12 websites in 12 months”

No, that looks interesting, especially with the ratings. A few years ago I remember reading various blogs and having it drilled into my head that there's a lot of money to be made with niche websites. Also, this talk for startups reminds me of these points: link to this video

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hbhakhraon Hacker News • 11 years agoMentions

On “The number of seed rounds in 2014 fell compared to 2013”

This talk by DHH explains why I prefer to bootstrap a company: link to this video The main point being, that if you start off by selling a product (rather than getting people to sign up for a free product and then monetizing later) and can get a fraction of the people to sign up then you are in profit. Further, if you own 100% of the company, you are profitable much faster so you don't need to grow as large. Ex: $30/month * 500 users = $15,000 a month. If that was a bootstrapped business with just a solo founder...$$$

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elliotecon Hacker News • 10 years agoMentions

On “Fundraising Advice for YC Companies”

This sentiment reminds me of DHH's talk at startup school ( link to this video ) in which he explains that the best way to create a business is to make money, but not just make money, make it on your own. I am a little removed from the Silicon Valley echo chamber and enjoy the ability to watch it from the sidelines, but I don't understand the obsession with the 'rapid growth, raise millions from investors, become a unicorn, own the world' mentality. I just don't get it. As a founder, your life is going to be just as good (probably better) if you made a couple million dollars in actual money that you don't have to divide up in odd percentages to all sorts of already rich guys who gave you tons of money…

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salukion Hacker News • 9 years agoMentions

On “Ask HN: As a single bootstrapper, how do you deal with the pressure?”

What would your friends and family think if you showed them something that looks like craigslist? Just because something isn't owned by Fbook or Google or doesn't look polished doesn't mean it isn't or couldn't make money. Or if you're not working for Fbook or Google or working on working there that you're doing it WRONG. My friends usually gloss over me talking about developing SaaS apps till I mention ones making $30k/mo or $60k/mo . . . that gets their attention. I love when they follow up with "wait, wait that's per month?" Making a product/SaaS that is successful isn't easy, but it's something most developers can accomplish, it's not s sure thing, but definitely worth the effort if it's…

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