VentureBeat - Latest Comments in Founders should live on Ramen noodles, and $2,000 a month

Re: Founders should live on Ramen noodles, and $2,000 a month

joe M — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 23:25:46 -0000

That is easy for Ram to say, sitting on billions of dollars and profiting from cheap labor. I certainly believe you have to do what ever it takes in the early days, but once professional investors become involved in your venture, employees are entitled to upgrade from the Ramen.

Re: Founders should live on Ramen noodles, and $2,000 a month

Startups.in/India — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 11:30:21 -0000

@Mike - "...talented folks donâ€™t come cheap nowadays."

and what better proof than VentureBeatâ€™s high-end jobs :)

Re: Founders should live on Ramen noodles, and $2,000 a month

Mike — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 09:10:05 -0000

Unless founders have all the necessary skills they need, by far the biggest expense of any startup is their employees. You cannot outsource original stuff on odesk or elance, you need someone talented nearby. But unless they are willing to risk with you, talented folks don't come cheap nowadays.

So I really don't know what all this talk about frugality relates to. Cool, eat ramen instead of paying 5 bucks for pizza, you can then afford extra 10 programmer-minutes... Great!

Re: Founders should live on Ramen noodles, and $2,000 a month

Jonny Diode — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 23:31:40 -0000

Frugal is back in style. This is nothing new. The best run companies are frugal by nature. The "great wealth" misteps of the late 90's were an anomoly. When you start seeing out of control spending this is the first sign of declining earnings and management misfocus on customer.

Re: Founders should live on Ramen noodles, and $2,000 a month

Marshall Kirkpatrick — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 15:29:57 -0000

Uh, am I the only person here who knows single moms making $9 an hour, or about $1200 per month after taxes plus a couple hundred in food stamps - and not feeding their kids ramen noodles? The discussion around that number seems really strange to me.

Re: Founders should live on Ramen noodles, and $2,000 a month

Anil — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 03:28:03 -0000

Ram is so right in saying that internet startups need to be frugal. With LAMP technologies its so much cheaper to make a web startup, however companies still need to invest in people and marketing. Extravagant expenditures can be postponed till after getting a cushy exit or VC funding.

Re: Founders should live on Ramen noodles, and $2,000 a month

Krish — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 09:41:39 -0000

Well, well, well...Next time when your VC comes calling, you know what to offer for lunch...You are sure to get your series A - Y through...!

Re: Founders should live on Ramen noodles, and $2,000 a month

Startups.in/India — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 20:31:15 -0000

Did Sherpa Ram really endorse "Ram"en noodles or did he just say noodles? ;-)

Re: Founders should live on Ramen noodles, and $2,000 a month

Todd Allen — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 20:09:28 -0000

Hmmm... maybe it's the sodium! That's it, I'm putting a salt lick in the cubicles.

Re: Founders should live on Ramen noodles, and $2,000 a month

somaking — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:48:24 -0000

Raw talent is all you really need. Too bad VCs couldn't spot talent if it fell in their lap.

Re: Founders should live on Ramen noodles, and $2,000 a month

NateW — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:00:27 -0000

There is a lot of empirical evidence that scarcity of resources increases the likelihood of success of startups. Eating ramen noodles for weeks on end (which I have done) is pretty motivating for a founder....

Re: Founders should live on Ramen noodles, and $2,000 a month

aishwarya — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 15:48:24 -0000

Excellent point. Frugality is the expression of sincerity. Sincerity wins !! . Usually :)