Sounds like a lot of fun; I wish you a lot of luck.
I would highly advise that you work on the startup outside of existing school hours- While I can certainly understand why you might not find finishing HS as fulfilling as the potential of a startup, there are several mitigating factors:
1) Highschool is not (easily) deferrable. You can put off a Master's degree, or even a Bachelor's.. You can put off taking a new job, and find a new one later. Highschool is not deferrable in the same way though. Once you're out of the system, it's very difficult-to-impossible to re-enter.
2) Most startups fail, even ultra-determined ones.
I understand that some entrepreneurs might advocate throwing yourself into the wind and hoping for the best- The theory behind their advice is that if you eliminate your backup plan, you have no choice but to succeed. The difficulty comes in that many shortfalls are outside of your control- The market could change dramatically, you could become sick, or burned out, or a major player could release a stronger, slicker, competitor. It's not to say that you couldn't work around these problems, but you shouldn't ensure that you have to.
3) Many people, not only future jobs, but VCs and Angels included, view HS graduation as a necessary filter. Unfortunately, you're age will make it more difficult to get meetings with a great many investors- Not finishing HS will further exacerbate this.
4) You don't yet have the background you need to go full-time on the project. Right now, your team needs to beef up their programming skill. You're job, as the producer and business guy will be to make sure that happens, even when it's boring for both of you.
You're other job is to be looking out for the long-term survival of the partnership and the company; Everyone else might panic from moment to moment and want to rush into things, but you're the one with the calm, reasoned plan, and the wherewithall to see it through.
As annoying as it is, that means that you probably should focus on developing your programming skill and finishing the degree. They'll both be crucial later.
You should each work to pick up whatever language you're going to be writing in; Even if he'll be doing most of the coding, you can't do a reasonable job of helping where necessary, and eliminating roadblocks if you don't understand what's going on.
I find that pair-programming, or at least reviewing together and discussing design together, will greatly improve the quality of the code, as well as making sure that any design decisions get a second set of eyes.
I think you're on the right track with your plan, but would recommend that you take the time while you're each in school to focus on getting to KNOW the technology.. Not just "I sort of understand it", but really knowing it, and knowing it's limitations.
Again, as the business-guy, one of the things that you'll need to do is think three steps ahead of where the code is right now- You want to make sure that your programming language/framework won't cause you major problems, and then you want to start to tackle the business planning and revenue side.
If everything goes well, the two of you should be able to put together a prototype just before graduation, at which point you'll be in Great shape to apply to YC, Techstars, and CloneOfTheWeek.
Best of luck to you and the team- You sound like you've figured out what you want to do, now it's matter of executing.
1) Despite high school not being easily deferrable he can get a GED instead and go to community college
2) We are not most startups. We may still fail and we accept that. We believe the process has inherent learning value. So we win regardless of financial gain.
3) Due to our youth we will have to prove our competence in other ways. We will work extra hard to make people take us seriously. Age is only a biological number. Maturity is different.
4) I am making sure we both work hard to learn. Learning is part of the process. There is always more to do so we want to work as hard as possible.
I will do my best to remain calm and keep the team level headed. That is some important insight.
I agree with you about the importance of collaboration on the different elements and we will check and help each other.
I started up when I was 18, and ended up going to uni when I was in my mid 20s - "these people are so much younger than me!". It was a mistake (for me) not to go when I was 18.
But in your heart you know what it is you want to do. You can always change track later. Richard Branson didn't finish high school.
Comments
Sounds like a lot of fun; I wish you a lot of luck.
I would highly advise that you work on the startup outside of existing school hours- While I can certainly understand why you might not find finishing HS as fulfilling as the potential of a startup, there are several mitigating factors:
1) Highschool is not (easily) deferrable. You can put off a Master's degree, or even a Bachelor's.. You can put off taking a new job, and find a new one later. Highschool is not deferrable in the same way though. Once you're out of the system, it's very difficult-to-impossible to re-enter.
2) Most startups fail, even ultra-determined ones.
I understand that some entrepreneurs might advocate throwing yourself into the wind and hoping for the best- The theory behind their advice is that if you eliminate your backup plan, you have no choice but to succeed. The difficulty comes in that many shortfalls are outside of your control- The market could change dramatically, you could become sick, or burned out, or a major player could release a stronger, slicker, competitor. It's not to say that you couldn't work around these problems, but you shouldn't ensure that you have to.
3) Many people, not only future jobs, but VCs and Angels included, view HS graduation as a necessary filter. Unfortunately, you're age will make it more difficult to get meetings with a great many investors- Not finishing HS will further exacerbate this.
4) You don't yet have the background you need to go full-time on the project. Right now, your team needs to beef up their programming skill. You're job, as the producer and business guy will be to make sure that happens, even when it's boring for both of you.
You're other job is to be looking out for the long-term survival of the partnership and the company; Everyone else might panic from moment to moment and want to rush into things, but you're the one with the calm, reasoned plan, and the wherewithall to see it through.
As annoying as it is, that means that you probably should focus on developing your programming skill and finishing the degree. They'll both be crucial later.
You should each work to pick up whatever language you're going to be writing in; Even if he'll be doing most of the coding, you can't do a reasonable job of helping where necessary, and eliminating roadblocks if you don't understand what's going on.
I find that pair-programming, or at least reviewing together and discussing design together, will greatly improve the quality of the code, as well as making sure that any design decisions get a second set of eyes.
I think you're on the right track with your plan, but would recommend that you take the time while you're each in school to focus on getting to KNOW the technology.. Not just "I sort of understand it", but really knowing it, and knowing it's limitations.
Again, as the business-guy, one of the things that you'll need to do is think three steps ahead of where the code is right now- You want to make sure that your programming language/framework won't cause you major problems, and then you want to start to tackle the business planning and revenue side.
If everything goes well, the two of you should be able to put together a prototype just before graduation, at which point you'll be in Great shape to apply to YC, Techstars, and CloneOfTheWeek.
Best of luck to you and the team- You sound like you've figured out what you want to do, now it's matter of executing.
1) Despite high school not being easily deferrable he can get a GED instead and go to community college
2) We are not most startups. We may still fail and we accept that. We believe the process has inherent learning value. So we win regardless of financial gain.
3) Due to our youth we will have to prove our competence in other ways. We will work extra hard to make people take us seriously. Age is only a biological number. Maturity is different.
4) I am making sure we both work hard to learn. Learning is part of the process. There is always more to do so we want to work as hard as possible.
I will do my best to remain calm and keep the team level headed. That is some important insight.
I agree with you about the importance of collaboration on the different elements and we will check and help each other.
Time to execute
I started up when I was 18, and ended up going to uni when I was in my mid 20s - "these people are so much younger than me!". It was a mistake (for me) not to go when I was 18.
But in your heart you know what it is you want to do. You can always change track later. Richard Branson didn't finish high school.
>> Richard Branson didn't finish high school.
Neither did the guy who served me fries this afternoon.