[jppope]

1) Start your business BEFORE you quit your job

2) Make sure you are good at sales BEFORE you quit your job (and that you've sold stuff)

3) MOST businesses fail because they don't have enough revenue, not because of product or people.

Resources/ books:

* The E-Myth

* All the stuff written by the Basecamp guys

* Jim Collins books

* Creativity Inc

[rvz]

> 1) Start your business BEFORE you quit your job

I absolutely second this, but I would add a crucial section 1.5.

1.5) Also secure a seed-round to kick-start your company to test the for market fit. Then hire a few employees.

If after the seed-round it is either profitable or succeeds in the market and gets more investment, then it makes sense to quit your job and work full time for the startup.

[stingraycharles]

This assumes that OP wants to get VC money, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea. If anything, you’ll have much more leverage in negotiating a VC deal if you have actual paying customers.

[chasedehan]

No one is going to give you a seed round with you still in your current job. At that point you would be all-in if you raised a seed.

[LarryPage]

I got my seed round from acclaimed angel investor FF&S

Friends, Family & Savings

Don't let startup cash kill your idea before you give it a chance. Creative people can test an idea for next to nothing.

[joanna_]

I am not good at sales. Should I learn selling or hire someone who is excellent at selling things?

[r2b2]

From http://paulgraham.com/ds.html —

"There are two reasons founders resist going out and recruiting users individually. One is a combination of shyness and laziness. They'd rather sit at home writing code than go out and talk to a bunch of strangers and probably be rejected by most of them. But for a startup to succeed, at least one founder (usually the CEO) will have to spend a lot of time on sales and marketing. [2]"

...

"[2] Thanks to Sam Altman for suggesting I make this explicit. And no, you can't avoid doing sales by hiring someone to do it for you. You have to do sales yourself initially. Later you can hire a real salesperson to replace you."

[toomuchtodo]

This advice is great not just for bootstrapping your own startup, but for selling yourself in life (interviews, dating, etc).

[lacbuddah]

You HAVE to do sales and if you have to ask this question, don't quit your job.