Corporate bigots have an idea they want executed. They raise a friends-and-family round, get some developers. While trying to pay developers, they pay for NFL/NHL/MLB sesaon tickets. Mind, the company hasn’t made a dime, albeit has handshake deals with some huge corporations.
They’ve already incorporated, have approved patents. They now have a good-working product built by a solid team.
I’m personally owed almost $20k, and haven’t been paid in almost two months. I built the API, the back-end for admins, the back-end for businesses. De facto CTO and PM by all means.
Oh, did I mention that the CEO/President ” ” is the least technically inept as they come? Running a tech company? You don’t even want to know what’s in “{his name here} quotes.txt”
I’m now in $4k in debt. I have a dying mother (stage-IV brain cancer); I recently found out I, myself, under the age of 25, have Cushing’s and an Adrenal tumor.
I’ve allowed myself to be walked over, I realize. It’s a character flaw of being an entrepeneur. When I was 19, I owned and ran a company that was doing about $50k a month. Not amazing by any standards, but for the blasted, tested, and congested industry of web hosting, for a company that was a year old, it was great.
I lived in a shithole. I ate ramen ten times a week. I paid myself enough to stay alive and stay sane, while I paid my other employees (I had 4 people working alongside me) enough to live comfortably. I’m not bitter by this at all, and I’m so glad I did. I guess what I mean by saying this is, that, even if you live in the dumps of Minneapolis, and run a company, you’re still able to pay the guys who hold up your empire/build your house/turn your idea into reality.
It’s about whether or not you want to.
Thanks for hearing me out, internet.