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Tony Wright
tonywright.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2007
Tony Wright writes about startups, covering founder pay, stock options, bootstrapping, and why selling a company rarely makes you rich.
What HN saysHN commenters call it perhaps the most informative blog they follow per word. They cite his bootstrapping and 'retire rich' posts as helpful.
36HN people shared it
14linked it in comments
44stories submitted
1.4Kstory points
13 years agolast shared
2007people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1A Newbie’s Guide to Startup Compensation (or “Stock Options will Make Me Rich”)4 people · 77 points · first shared 2008 · 42 comments on HN
- 2Half-assed Startup - How to Start your Company and Keep Your Day Job4 people · 44 points · first shared 2008 · 11 comments on HN
- 3No, You can't retire rich at 30 if you sell your startup3 people · 244 points · first shared 2010 · 214 comments on HN
- 4How to Evaluate a (paid) iPhone App Idea3 people · 70 points · first shared 2012 · 30 comments on HN
- 5Bootstrappers Beware3 people · 50 points · first shared 2008 · 27 comments on HN
- 6Every Piece of Startup Advice is a Lie2 people · 68 points · first shared 2008 · 15 comments on HN
- 7Startup founder evolution (or, the biz guy *is* valuable, just not at first)2 people · 53 points · first shared 2008 · 16 comments on HN
- 8Bootstrap Design for Hacker-Founders2 people · 38 points · first shared 2007 · 8 comments on HN
- 9Should you move your startup to the Valley?2 people · 10 points · first shared 2009 · 3 comments on HN
- 105 reasons not to partner with an "idea guy"2 people · 7 points · first shared 2007 · 1 comments on HN
- 11Homepage2 people · first shared 2007
- 12Rethinking 'Fuck You' money1 people · 164 points · first shared 2010 · 168 comments on HN
- 13How to Ask for an Introduction1 people · 93 points · first shared 2010 · 12 comments on HN
- 14Just How Important is the Valley? Let's Look at some Data.1 people · 83 points · first shared 2009 · 26 comments on HN
- 15Considering Applying to Y Combinator?1 people · 83 points · first shared 2010 · 24 comments on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
DenisM · 2008-07-15
Tony writes plenty of good stuff on his blog over here: http://www.tonywright.com/
In terms of amount-of-insight/word his blog is perhaps the most informative I follow.
kirillzubovsky · 2013-06-25
In this day and age, a million bucks is not even close to an economic freedom. @webwright has a good post on what he calls "Fuck you money", the amount you'd need to retire rich. Well worth the read.
http://www.tonywright.com/2010/no-you-cant-retire-rich-at-30-if-you-se…
andrewtbham · 2011-01-27
2% and a salary is fair in my limited experience... one of my friends had .5%, the company sold after 3 years for 60 million, he got 300k. He didn't get rich but the last company I was with I had options and they got bought out and my options were worthless.
Here is a decent article... seems consistent with what people tell me...
http://www.tonywright.com/2008/a-newbies-guide-to-startup-compensation…
glen · 2010-03-09
You really shouldn't feel tacky. You offer some great advice. This article from several years ago (http://www.tonywright.com/2008/bootstrappers-beware/) was particularly helpful to us when we were just starting to profitable. Thank you!
froo · 2009-06-16
Then how do they explain Washington's higher 8.2% rate?
You should read the comment in the original post (http://www.tonywright.com/2009/should-you-move-your-startup-to-the-val… by user abscondment.
He contends that the data that Tony wrote is uncertain because there is less data available on Washington than California, so he propses using a confidence interval of at least 97.5%, which puts California in the lead. Lowering the confidence interval even more would give California an even greater lead.
webwright · 2007-12-19
I just posted a blog post about this-- in response to a fellow YC Winter 08 founder asking about design resources on the cheap...
http://www.tonywright.com/2007/bootstrap-design-for-geek-powered-start…
That's for tight budgets only-- if you've got a budget, find a usability/UI god and pay what they are worth. :-)
tjtrapp · 2013-01-16
Tony Wright has a good write up about free vs paid iOS apps here http://www.tonywright.com/2012/how-to-evaluate-a-paid-iphone-app-idea/
cotsog · 2012-08-06
I really like this article from Tony Wright which offer good advices.
Half-assed Startup – How to Start your Company and Keep Your Day Job
http://www.tonywright.com/2008/half-assed-startup-how-to-start-your-co…
huhtenberg · 2011-10-16
Retiring on 900K? Here's a breakdown for 3-4 mil range and, no, it's not enough under conservative assumptions - http://www.tonywright.com/2010/no-you-cant-retire-rich-at-30-if-you-se… - though this is not to say that this analysis is accurate.
pchristensen · 2010-03-11
There are three hurdles for bootstrapping (http://www.tonywright.com/2008/bootstrappers-beware/ ):
covering operations (ie hosting)
ramen profitability
salary profitability
For a web startup, you should bootstrap or take very small investment (ie YC's $15K) to get to ramen profitability. At that point you can choose whether to grow slowly from revenues (like patio11) or seek growth capital (like DropBox did a few months ago).
With the fall in costs for build web companies, a beta is the new PowerPoint. Any credible angel or VC will want to see a product and traction before giving you money.
kqr2 · 2010-03-03
Read this recent thread/article and reexamine your equity position:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1151743
Also, read this:
http://www.tonywright.com/2008/a-newbies-guide-to-startup-compensation…
What is your % stake in the company? If you aren't getting a good piece of equity then I would push for a market rate salary based on your position and years of experience.
prakash · 2008-05-02
Well said. 10 different entrepreneurs, will tell you 10 different things as the #1 most important characteristic.
That article written by Tony Wright comes to mind:"Every Piece of Startup Advice is a Lie (including mine)"
http://www.tonywright.com/2008/every-piece-of-startup-advice-is-a-lie-…
jyu · 2008-02-22
good graphic design can be bought for a couple hundred bucks. having a good UI design guy on the team is really valuable and should be more a long-term commitment.
http://www.tonywright.com/2007/bootstrap-design-for-geek-powered-start…
tx · 2007-06-14
"every time I approach a hacker about starting a project and bring up the subject of my contributions to the business end and also me being a source of ideas and creativity, they are instantly turned away, and essentially treat me as someone who would be useless as far as the development of the product..."
It depends on what kind of impression you make. Frankly I am a bit tired of creative people who can't get things done. I am not implying you are one of them, just giving you a reason why techies may be discouraged.
Good article on the subject:
http://www.tonywright.com/2007/5-reasons-you-dont-want-to-partner-with…