Ask HN: How would you invest/manage $20K in startup seed money?

[anonymous007]

I have wanted to start a company for the longest time. I have $300K ($210K savings + $80K 401K), I'm single, am 31 and I just got my green card. I'm thinking of spending $20,000 on a startup.

(I'm mentioning my total net worth in case theres someone who knows how to handle money better than I do, and can help me maybe use it as leverage for a startup.)

Questions:

1. Do you think I'm nuts to leave a good paying job (12K a month) in this economy?

2. How can I invest/manage the money so that I can maximise the amount of time I get to build a company.

3. Would you try to do the startup part time first? (I've been trying this for a while but it hasnt got any customers yet.)

4. Where should I live to maximise the amount of "startup time" that the $20,000 gives me? Do you think I should open up a "startup house" someplace?

Ideas I've been considering:

1. Live in India and come back for 6 months a year to keep my green card in status. Open up an office in India with 2 programmers. 2. Try to get consulting jobs on the side? 3. Ask my present employer for a part time job. 4. Buy or rent a whole house in which I can host a couple of other startups and thus save some money and create a very useful network to share in my future "trials and tribulations".

I would be grateful for any ideas that you might have.

[joshu]

You need to build a bunch of inexpensive, low-effort prototypes. Do that while you're employed.

The most important thing here is what will the startup _do_, not how to run it. Spend some time figuring that out.

Anything you spend time on that ISN'T the product (renting out houses, consulting jobs) are a waste of time.

[clueless123]

Been there, done that.. with hindsight my personal recomendations are:

1. Don't leave your existing job until you have to , keep the income comming. 2. Spend as little as possible, as late as possible. 3. Leverage your knowledge and experience.. stick with what you know. 4. Have fun, enjoy what you are doing.. life is way to short.

[anonymous007]

Can you please describe your own experience here? I think a lot of people would find that useful.

I'm one of those people who needs to be allowed to have complete independence to do any work so its been hard in a corp environment.

[js3309]

From your statement, it doesn't seem like you want to "start" a company. My best advice is to angel invest in a company that can use your expertise. A good place to start is YC Demo days. DONT QUIT YOUR JOB!

My question for you: is 12k pretax, if it is how much do you save per month?

[anonymous007]

Hi JS,

Why do you think I dont want to start a company. I really do and it "seems" like the fact I cant work full time on it is making it hard for me to create a winner product.

I've never really calculated how much I save. I'd probably have a lot more if I didnt have any hobbies and hadnt partied so much in my younger days.

[joshu]

He doesn't have enough assets or income to be an accredited investor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accredited_investor