10 Simple rules to follow when starting a tech company with $100.

Oct. 11, 2011 - PRLog -- 10 simple rules to follow when starting a tech company with $100.


With almost constant news of social network sites being valued at hundreds of millions of dollars and the world’s biggest companies like Google getting in on the scene, how do you start a successful social network with $100 a month budget?

When micro-blogging social network site http://moodpanda.com started eighteen months ago, one of the biggest challenges was how to take on the giants of social networking with an initial funding of $100 a month?  Here are the ten rules that we lived by to get through the first six months of creating moodpanda.com and turning it into a vibrant network with thousands of happy panda’s.

Rules we used to create a fun social network on almost zero money:

1. Work from home.  You don’t need expensive offices just yet.  Whilst it would be nice to have a pool table and expensive coffee machine, let that come in time.

2. Use hosting that can be ramped up.  Don’t pay for server space you’re not using, but make sure your hosting service is ready for that day when you are featured on a big blog website.

3. Don’t try and be everything to everyone.  Find a niche and excel in it.  Then listen to your users and stay true to your vision.

4. Be your own development department.  A huge amount of money can by poured away on contractors who might not understand your vision.  Keep the important stuff internal.

5. Be prepared to work after hours.  Holding down a day job whilst running a start-up will take a lot of your time.

6. Be your own PR company.  While it would be nice to spend $100,000 on top notch PR in the beginning, try using social networking instead to get the message out about how great your new start-up is.

7. Use your contacts and be nice to everybody, do people favours when you can and don’t be afraid to ask for them in return.  You never know who will give you the push you need to make it big.

8. Stay small for as long as you can.  Do you really need a design consultant and marketing guru when you’re coding in your bedroom?

9. If you don’t know it, learn it!  When our budget didn’t stretch to outsource iPhone app development, the only thing we could do was to learn objective C and sign up to the Apple development program.

10. Set a budget and don’t be ashamed of it.  There is no point going to a meeting and pretending you have hundreds of developers and penthouse offices.  Investors are there for your ideas, vision and passion.  They have their own penthouse offices and sure don’t want to pay for yours.

Moodpanda.com, founded in Bristol in 2010, is a free web site and iPhone app.  Moodpanda has been built specifically to allow people to track their own happiness, and keep a graphical history of their wellbeing along with a record of the things that influence how they feel.

Ross Larter

Co Founder @ moodpanda
Spike island, Bristol, UK
ross@moodpanda.com
http://www.moodpanda.com

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MoodPanda is an interactive mood tracker that will let you keep a micro blog record of the way you have been feeling over time.