« Kontera is down | Main | Word Emporium »
Tips on running a startup by Jason Calacanis
By Colbert | March 8, 2008
Jason Calacanis, that blogging guru who sold Weblogs Inc to AOL for a lot of money, has some tips on how to save money running a startup (17 really good tips) ? Haha….If you think its time to fire your boss, then learn how you can open a dotcom startup. Jason Calacanis is pretty serious…. Or is Jason’s tips bordering on slavery ?
Personally I like Tips 1 and 3…and 12,13 and 14
#1 Buy Macintosh computers, save money on an IT department ( or run Fedora Linux machines, my own thoughts)
#2 Buy second monitors for everyone, they will save at least 30 minutes a day, which is 100 hours a year… which is at least $2,000 a year…. which is $6,000 over three years. A second monitor cost $300-500 depending on which one you get. That means you’re getting 10-20x return on your investment… and you’ve got a happy team member.
#3 Buy everyone lunch four days a week and establish a no-meetings policy. Going out for food or ording in takes at least 20-60 minutes more than walking up to the buffet and eating. If you do meetings over lunch you also save that time. So, 30 minutes a day across say four days a week is two hours a week… which is 100 hours a year. You get the idea.
#12 Jura espresso machineGet an expensive, automatic espresso machine at the office. Going to starbucks twice a day cost $4 each time, but more importantly it costs 20 minutes. Buy a $3-5,000 Jura industrial, get the good beans, and supply the coffee room with soy, low fat, etc. 50 people making one trip a day is 20 hours of wasted time for the company, and $150 in coffee costs for the employees. Makes no sense.
#13 Stock the fridge with sodas—same drill as above.
#14 Allow folks to work off hours. Commuting sucks and is a waste of time for everyone. Let folks start at 6am or 11am and you’ll cut their commute in half (at least in LA).
Topics: Announcements, Blogging |