Author of the post here. Agreed with the general criticism of the title and have changed it to "How I Learned to Code".

That's a good question. If you can create a startup that's profitable day one, that's great.

But, there are lots of businesses that need a fixed cost base that only turn profitable after millions of users. But, they turn very profitable with tens of millions of users.

If you restrict yourself to just ideas that are profitable day one, that's great though you may miss out on some great ideas.

This is the way I see it:

If I have to scale to millions of users then my business plan is not as good as I thought. Why? Because as much as I'd like to think otherwise, tech startups do not produce a tangible product. Unlike automobile manufacturers, or hardware folk, we don't need a lot of money to build something big. All we need are people to write the code. Then we just focus on selling it. For me, a software product that requires millions of users to be profitable, is simply playing the lottery. I can play the lottery for $1 and not have to deal with investors and TC.

Someone might say that I lack experience doing so. Well, not really. I've been there, and done that. Online and offline. Nowdays, to me, its a matter of trying to win the millions lottery, or building something that makes me money without the drama of SV.

I know I'm wrong on various points. If you will, explain.

OP left a quarter-million a year hedge fund job to swing for the fences. I'd guess his floor for "acceptable" exits is in the multiple millions. Your personal mileage my vary.

http://viniciusvacanti.com/2011/08/03/why-i-quit-my-job-to-s...

I don't think you're wrong. It's a personal choice based on one's perceived strengths. Some people don't think it's a lottery. They think they can replicate success.

Personally, I do think there is skill involved unlike a lottery. But, I still think there's a fair amount of luck, too. In the end, I'm not sure I would start another company that didn't have the option of becoming profitable right away.

Sorry for the confusion. I just made it more clear by changing it to 1.5 to 3 actual months.

Assuming both parties are rationale, I would suggest the timeframe be more based on completion of a goal (e.g., transition someone else to the role or complete this project you were working on) rather than a specific time like two weeks.

Makes sense.

The post was loosely based on our experience years ago. We now have many users and our conversion rates are much higher.

I just wanted people to know that getting some PR isn't the finish line, it's the start of the race.

that's encouraging to hear. so what did you do to increase conversion rates? work on the landing page, change your product or something else?

ugh. sorry. looking into it. thanks for letting me know.

I would tell them to focus on a big problem that they are passionate about and have some credibility.

I just added reasoning next to each quote on why people regret saying them.

Of all the excuses I listed, I think fear of failure is the root cause.

Completely agree. I always try to tell entrepreneurs that I believe in them but then give the critical feedback on their idea / process.