Micah Baldwin

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• If I chase investors wont that make them think im desperate?

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    depends on what you mean. If they dont know you exist, then they wont think of you at all.

• Try to get media attention for the launch of a new app or wait until we have traction?

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    Timing is everything. I always want to get a bit of interest brewing, and then release, rather than wait until after the release.

• Is it a bad idea to go public for a startup to raise funding, and why do we rarely see startups doing this?

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    It is almost always a bad idea. Usually its a reverse merger or some sort of wizardry to make it work. The public markets are hard to understand and highly regulated. Its better to not go down that path until the business is ready for it.

• how do you determine how much to pay yourself in a bootstrapped start-up? % of sales? etc.

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    The smallest amount possible until you are profitable enough to give yourself a raise.

• What's the best advice you can give to a college student wanting to startup his own company?

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    just do it. Stop thinking. Just do it. Stop thinking. Just do it.

• How do you maintain momentum and productivity on a startup when you are not seeing results as quickly as you hoped?

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    There is a moment in the life of every startup where the founders go “what the hell?” Its really faith and re-examination. Sometimes, its just a timing thing. You have to wait for people to see your vision and except it. Other times, you are flat out wrong. Knowing which is which is probably the most important skill of a founder.

• Whom should i invite to the alpha stage of my online servicr? Friends & family?

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    Inviting F&F will not always give you the feedback you want. They hate being mean. Find 10 people you dont know or ask your F&F to invite people you dont know.

• What are your insights on evaluating whether to hire a new employee?

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    Hire a new employee before the people doing the function quit, but not until they threaten to do so. Engineers, Marketing and to a lesser extend BD/Sales should always be deeply underwater, but not so far underwater that they cant see the surface.

    And hire slow, fire fast.

• What are the most important things to keep in mind when creating an online marketplace (similar to Bonobos or Gilt?)

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    User experience. If you build something with a solid user experience, everything else will fall into place. (then think about marketing / creating noise).

• How do I get in touch with Investors?

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    email them. Tweet them. Find them on facebook. But, most importantly, get introduced to them by someone they trust.