Be honest: Did you think about money when you started your company?

Of course, a company need to be profitable.

I did, although to a lesser extent than I had previously.

In the past with anything I did it was always "Will this make me a ton of money" - often the answer was no but I was too stuborn to see that. It was a foolish mentality to be in as you quickly realise that even if it was going to make money, you're in it for the wrong reason and will likely build something that sucks.

With ServerAuth.com however it was mostly about the fact that we'd found a problem to solve, and had a really cool and unique way of doing it that we wanted to build.

We didn't even add the ability to take payments when we first built it. The plan was to release it for free, see if there was any interest and go from there. Because of how we created it, it meant the overheads were low, and were offset by our other work so keeping it as a free product really wasn't an issue.

Now that we've gone to a subscription model I of course want to see our paying customer base increase. But I by no means see it as a 'get rich' money making enterprise. If anthing the fact that it makes money is more of an incentive to make it an even more awesome product.

I guess it all comes down to aims and mentality. I had no interest in building a big corporate machine. I'd rather have a product that solves a problem well, that I can refine over time. If that project eventually helps pay the bills then thats great.

Not really. Its not always about money at first. But its about experience and matter of fact it's about find the WHY, HOW AND WHAT you are building.

Build, Experiment, Learn and then Earn

Once the user accepts it, then it sells itself and only you need is to push a little to make it roll.

By the way, the question is phrased I'm assuming you mean "did you think about getting rich?" In which case, no.

But if you mean to ask "Was revenue a factor in deciding to build your company?" Then, yes, absolutely. We want to build something that can grow because it actually does something useful for people.

I want to be building something that creates value in the world, one of the best indicators that you're on the right track is if people are willing to exchange their money for the value you're creating. Unless you're going to make money in advertising, in which case your customers are trading their time for the value you offer.

I'd argue that you HAVE to think about money when you're doing a startup. You should have a long term vision and EXIT plan as well. Whether you're trying to create a lifestyle business or a startup that's going to raise VC funding and eventually go IPO route, it's always a good idea to think about whether it's worth it financially. Of course, that shouldn't be the ONLY thing you should care about. If it is, you are probably going to have a hard time. I'd say that once you understand that financially it makes sense and then focus on delivering value to your end customers, you are well on your way to success.

Nope. Not at all. In fact, I almost don't earn anything from my products (less than 1 dollar per month per customer!).

I originally just wanted to use it for myself, and contribute to others in the process. That's also why I recently open sourced everything.

I have a nice career that is stable and allows me to be creative and make decisions on my own, providing financial stability too. I'm generally happy with where I am.

It is also super fun to work on, and I can use it to power all my other spare time projects too.

I like building things. Each time I start a project, I feel like it's either going to make it big or it will look good on my portfolio for the next job interview. It is a win-win either way😁😁

Money is a byproduct of building a solution that solves a problem. Obviously it's up to the people with those problems that decide whether they are willing to pay for the solution and how much. As an entrepreneur, I've built platforms that make money but didn't add value to people. So now my focus is on social good and working with non-profits. I always believed that when you help people first, money will come eventually.

This is somewhat complex question.

When I started pingr.io, the reason consisted of two points:

1. I wanted money. No doubt.
2. I didn't like the interface of other solutions, so I wanted to do what I like

So when you combine two sides of your personality, greedy person who wants money and artisan who wants to create something meaningful, I think this is when you get most out of it.

On the one hand I would't work if I knew that I won't have any revenue. On the other hand I wouldn't work as well if I knew that what I'll have to do is what I don't like.

P.S. This is applied to my own projects, at the full time job something we don't have a choice

Yes for my second one. Not for the first one. I wish I had done for the first one too, it would still have been alive :)

At first, I built a fun tool with a friend, and we didn't think about money because we didn't want to turn it into a business. We were just happy for people to use this tool.

Once we decided to turn it into a business, then yes we absolutely thought about money.

Not sure who this 'everybody says...' is referring to. I think you can start a project for fun, for profit, or for both.
In fact, I score my sideprojects based on 5 criteria, 2 of which are 'fun' and 'money potential'

For me, it was the problem solving as I spent 10 months without earning anything. But yes, I wanted to make a profit, it was not for personal satisfaction only

For sure you have to think about money to an extent. Obviously the goal of starting a business is to help solve a problem for people for money. And to do that in a sustainable way means you need to make enough revenue to pay yourself and others to keep improving the business, providing support, etc.

I think focusing on how you will make your first $ of revenue from actual customers is a great way to start. The conversations you have with prospects when you actually ask them to enter their credit cards are invaluable. The sooner you can start that feedback loop the better IMO 👍

of course! i want to make something meaningful and useful for others... while turning a profit so i can feed my family.

so, yes. yes. and yes. a good business thinks about the dollars and cents constantly.

is there another question underneath this question?

Yes, if it is not profitable in the expected time, it is not sustainable.