[sudo-discuss] Startup House

Hol Gaskill hol at gaskill.com
Fri Mar 28 15:46:34 PDT 2014


anything posted to a discussion list that starts a discussion should be considered a successful post.  the word goes out, people start talking about it, and maybe there are real flaws that get brought up that can be responded to either with articulate clarification a la phil, or by the people make that thing happen truly starting to think about changing some aspect of their plan, or by simply ignoring because you have more pressing priorities than to respond to people saying something that you don't feel is relevant.  thank you all for contributing your flavors to the stew!

Also Liberty, to the list's credit, I was refreshed to see that your request for leads on housing (because you were trying hard to not make thinks any more difficult on your landlord, who is apparently a wonderful person who happens to be going through a very difficult time) did not morph into a protracted renters' rights / squatting thread.  I hope some housing leads came out of posting to this thread and that your landlord will be happier for your approach to this.

also...what happened to the announce list?  is it still moderated or can we just post to it again?  we have all kinds of lists but the only one i subscribe to that seems to have spawned a steady stream of communications is the mesh list: 

https://lists.sudoroom.org/

I'd like to see the market list in use for bartering and sharing random CL finds and whatnot.

on Mar 28, 2014, Andrew <andrew at roshambomedia.com> wrote:
>I don't think anything is going to stop Sudo Room from giving critical commentary
>on things posted to the list. The real issue seems that we should have created a
>separate thread to talk about "start-up houses" that wasn't in direct response to
>a thread asking for a specific kind of help.
>
>
>On Fri, Mar 28, 2014 at 3:02 PM, GtwoG PublicOhOne <g2g-public01 at att.net> wrote:
>
>
> 
> Pete's "keep the critical commentary to a minimum" = "don't worry, be happy."  Right,
>we should only criticise The Government, not entrepreneurs (especially never criticise
>Google or Facebook), and if we're really really lucky, some of us might hit the jackpot
>and make the bigtime bucks.  Right.
> 
> When I was getting started, it was understood from widespread experience, "don't
>live with your coworkers, you'll drive each other crazy."  
> 
> 24/7 immersion?  No place to escape from work, no time to escape from work.
> 
> Double rooms?  No privacy or solitude, even when you're sleeping.
> 
> Manage a tech biz that's also a collective household?  "Item 3 at today's Board meeting
>is, Who is leaving dishes in the sink? (the kitchen camera wasn't working last week),
>and item 4 is nasty bathroom smells (the bathroom camera is working so we know who
>you are)."
> 
> Relationship problems?  Expect them to become a Topic of Conversation with all of
>your coworkers.  (What relationship?, you're sleeping next to your boss.)  
> 
> Meat-eaters, vegetarians, vegans?  Experience the thrill of "competition" over deciding
>kitchen policy.  If you lose, tough, you can eat somewhere other than home, if you
>don't mind being left out of important meetings over dinner.
> 
> Misc. details of your personal life all subject to group process, and don't you dare
>complain because this all goes on your resume, and getting thrown out of the house
>is Very Bad for your career. 
> 
> It's Reality TV meets Social Darwinism, and that's a show you ought to think twice
>about starring in.
> 
> For those who wish to try it, good luck, but remember that "luck" isn't a scientific
>theory or an engineering principle. 
> 
> And if you really want 24/7 immersion, join the military, and get your hands on some
>really awesome technology!  Who needs big screens and video games when you have a
>real tank?  
> 
> -G. 
> 
> 
> ======
> 
> 
>On 14-03-28-Fri 12:41 PM, Pete Forsyth wrote:
>
>Want to chime in with a general observation: this thread was started as an effort
>to find one or two people who ARE excited about the idea, and want to devote substantial
>energy to making it happen.
> 
>Instead there has been a lot of commentary about why it might NOT be the "idea that
>saves Oakland" or whatever.
> 
>I think it's important this list be a resource for people looking for partners to
>hack on stuff with. I am sure I'm like lots of you, 99% of the stuff that gets proposed
>is not going to motivate me to the point of rolling up my sleeves and getting to
>work. Some hacking projects are up your alley, some are not.
> 
> Couldn't we try to keep the critical commentary to a minimum? So list members can
>find people to work with with more easily?
> 
>-Pete
>[[User:Peteforsyth]] on the wiki
>
> 
>On Fri, Mar 28, 2014 at 12:25 PM, Andrew <andrew at roshambomedia.com> wrote:
>
>Did you like how in college you didn't have to worry about taking care of your self
>or putting any effort in to making friends and connections? Then come live at a start-up
>house, where money > REAL LIFE.
>
> 
>On Fri, Mar 28, 2014 at 12:21 PM, Phil Wolff <pwolff at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>So here's the pitch: 
> 
> You want to come to Silicon Valley and be a successful founder while you're still
>young, hungry, and unencumbered? 
> 
>You'll need a place to stay, great network connectivity, partners (this is a team
>sport), connections, and mentors. Location matters: you'll want ready access to neighborhood
>conveniences; to San Francisco, Palo Alto, and San Jose tech/finance hubs; to parking
>and transit. 
> 
>If you're admitted to the Acme House: You'll get...
>24x7 immersion in startup culture, just the way Facebook started. 
>Great bandwidth, food, whiteboard walls, projectors, infinite post-its, and everything
>you need to focusSerious networking opportunities within the house, the better to find partnersAccess to an angel network and other outside networking opportunitiesWeekly check-ins with our incubator-vetted mentors 
>We limit the time you can spend here. We expect you to graduate to your own space
>inside a year. 
>Here's the reality: This is more expensive than a simple real-estate play. You're writing checks for recruiting,
>project staff, common facilities, and housekeeping (frat house squalor) above and
>beyond rent. You're selling rent+incubatorship+camaraderie and have to make that
>case. Most houses or apartment buildings in Oakland need some expensive retrofitting
>to get high bandwidth and enough power and outlets. Fiber is relatively unavailable
>(although San Leandro has local fiber loops). Depending on where you locate, working
>things out with neighbors and City permits can be time consuming and costly. 
>The money comes 
>from tenants (charging a big premium to people relatively unwilling to pay it) or
>
>from investors (who subsidize the house in exchange for equity or rights to equity)
>or 
>from collateral sources (producers of a reality TV show; sponsors who seek some marketing
>advantage). 
>You have to fight expensive churn: very high startup failure rates drive tenants out,
>there's drama from close quarters, and tenants move out if they find outside funding
>or co-founders living elsewhere in the Bay. Normal landlords seek long term tenants
>who pay on time without fuss. 
>So it's tough. 
>It would really help if the house has a tight focus. B2B Growth Hacks startups. Neurochem
>tech startups. Wearables/fashion/QS consumer startups. Health/clinical startups.
>This assures a more valuable space design (e.g. arduino startups would need a good
>hacker space) more synergy, better chances of connections having value, and an easier
>time attracting partners, investors, media. 
>- Phil
>
>
> Phil Wolff
> 
> pwolff at gmail.com 
> skype:evanwolf  
> 
> +1-510-343-5664 
> 
>http://about.me/evanwolf bio
>http://twitter.com/evanwolf @http://www.linkedin.com/in/philwolff cv
>http://LetMyDataGo.org blog
>http://www.facebook.com/philwolff face
>
>
> 
>On Fri, Mar 28, 2014 at 10:15 AM, Sonja Trauss <sonja.trauss at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I don't understand start-up houses - why not rent a house with roomates? What is
>the value added of the start up house?
>
> 
>On Fri, Mar 28, 2014 at 8:53 AM, Jehan Tremback <jehan.tremback at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>A guy I work with started and ran one in SOMA for a year. I asked whether he would
>like to help on this, but he is sick of that kind of stuff.
>They basically took over an empty building (legally), and renovated it into sort of
>a cross between a hostel and a community home for entrepreneurs (and wantrepreneurs)
>from out of town.
>They charged around $1000 a month for a dorm like situation where you would share
>a room. That's definitely a pretty high price, and may make people want to start
>yelling about rent-seeking capitalists, but the reality is that they barely turned
>a profit on that after a year, after legal and construction expenses.
>They basically spent the whole time fighting the SF zoning bureaucracy, and were really
>just delaying their inevitable expulsion from the building by the city.
>You could probably reduce expenses considerably by-1) using volunteer construction labor under some cooperative scheme (you'll still
>need to pay a bunch for skilled trades, like electricians and plumbers).2) either choosing a building zoned appropriately, or not informing the city of your
>plans to have people live there.
> 
>On Fri, Mar 28, 2014 at 12:23 AM, David Keenan <dkeenan44 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>I've worked for a lot of startups, but what is a 'Startup House'?
> 
> On Tuesday, March 25, 2014, Liberty Madison <libertymadison at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>Hey!Sudoers
>Anyone on our list skilled in writing business plans?Anyone passionate about Start up projects?
>A Former Mayor and I are working on seeking funding for a new Startup House .He suggested I find a team ASAP.  A person who can write a killer plan while conveying the vision as well as a person
>to develop a splash page for investors.And since I know Sudo has so many talented folks I thought I would throw it out here
>first!
>If you are interested to be a part of this FAST paced project or have ideas please
>message me. Would love to hack this out with a Sudoer You will be compensated in flat fee or equity once funding is secured So If you are passionate about startups and want to be a part of a cool, fun, innovate
>project that helps people grow their startup/project/invention please reach out
>libertymadison at gmail.com
>
> 415.937.3785 Text/Talk
> About.me/LibertyMadison 
>
>
>
> 
>
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> 
>-- 
> ------- Andrew LoweCell: 831-332-2507
>http://roshambomedia.com
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