AI Jobs and Career
And before we wrap up today's AI news, I wanted to share an exciting opportunity for those of you looking to advance your careers in the AI space. You know how rapidly the landscape is evolving, and finding the right fit can be a challenge. That's why I'm excited about Mercor – they're a platform specifically designed to connect top-tier AI talent with leading companies. Whether you're a data scientist, machine learning engineer, or something else entirely, Mercor can help you find your next big role. If you're ready to take the next step in your AI career, check them out through my referral link: https://work.mercor.com/?referralCode=82d5f4e3-e1a3-4064-963f-c197bb2c8db1. It's a fantastic resource, and I encourage you to explore the opportunities they have available.
- Full Stack Engineer [$150K-$220K]
- Software Engineer, Tooling & AI Workflow, Contract [$90/hour]
- DevOps Engineer, India, Contract [$90/hour]
- More AI Jobs Opportunitieshere
| Job Title | Status | Pay |
|---|---|---|
| Full-Stack Engineer | Strong match, Full-time | $150K - $220K / year |
| Developer Experience and Productivity Engineer | Pre-qualified, Full-time | $160K - $300K / year |
| Software Engineer - Tooling & AI Workflows (Contract) | Contract | $90 / hour |
| DevOps Engineer (India) | Full-time | $20K - $50K / year |
| Senior Full-Stack Engineer | Full-time | $2.8K - $4K / week |
| Enterprise IT & Cloud Domain Expert - India | Contract | $20 - $30 / hour |
| Senior Software Engineer | Contract | $100 - $200 / hour |
| Senior Software Engineer | Pre-qualified, Full-time | $150K - $300K / year |
| Senior Full-Stack Engineer: Latin America | Full-time | $1.6K - $2.1K / week |
| Software Engineering Expert | Contract | $50 - $150 / hour |
| Generalist Video Annotators | Contract | $45 / hour |
| Generalist Writing Expert | Contract | $45 / hour |
| Editors, Fact Checkers, & Data Quality Reviewers | Contract | $50 - $60 / hour |
| Multilingual Expert | Contract | $54 / hour |
| Mathematics Expert (PhD) | Contract | $60 - $80 / hour |
| Software Engineer - India | Contract | $20 - $45 / hour |
| Physics Expert (PhD) | Contract | $60 - $80 / hour |
| Finance Expert | Contract | $150 / hour |
| Designers | Contract | $50 - $70 / hour |
| Chemistry Expert (PhD) | Contract | $60 - $80 / hour |
What I’ve learned in 20+ years of building startups…
In the fast-paced world of startups, two decades of experience can teach you invaluable lessons. From the trenches of entrepreneurial ventures, here are the distilled wisdom and key takeaways from a seasoned startup veteran’s 20-plus-year journey.
What I’ve learned in 20+ years of building startups – Summary: The journey of building startups for over 20 years has yielded several crucial lessons:
- Fail Well: Failure is a common part of the startup process, with success in only a fraction of attempts. It’s important to accept failure as a stepping stone.
- Persistence: The key to overall success often lies in sheer perseverance and the refusal to quit, even in the face of early failures.
- The Power of ‘No’: Turning down opportunities, especially during financially tough times, is crucial to avoid burnout and stay true to your goals.
- Work Smart and Hard: While enjoying your work is vital, readiness to put in extra effort when needed is equally important.
- Start Slowly: For new businesses, especially online, it’s advisable to start small and avoid getting entangled in bureaucracy before proving the business model.
- Be Cautious with Growth: Rapid expansion can lead to financial strain. It’s better to grow at a sustainable pace.
- Avoid Corporate Pitfalls: As businesses grow, maintaining a customer-centric and enjoyable work culture is essential, avoiding the trap of becoming overly corporate.
- Embrace Remote Work: If possible, allowing remote work can save costs and increase employee productivity.
- Simplicity in Tools: Using too many apps and tools can be counterproductive. Stick to a few that work best for your team.
- Maintain Relationships: Keeping doors open with past collaborators is crucial, as business landscapes and relationships are ever-changing.
What I’ve learned in 20+ years of building startups – Lessons Learned in Detail
Fail Well. You’ve heard it a million times before: ideas are easy; execution is hard. Execution is incredibly hard. And even if something works well for a while, it might not work sustainably forever. I fail a lot. I’d say my ideas are successful maybe 2/10 times, and that’s probably going easy on myself.
Keep Going. The difference between overall success and failure, is usually as simple as not quitting. Most people don’t have the stomach for point #1 and give up way too quickly.
Saying No. Especially if you didn’t have a particularly good month and it’s coming up on the 1st (bill time), it’s hard to say “No” to new income, but if you know it’s something you’ll hate doing, it could be better in the long-run to not take it or else face getting burnt out.
Work Smart (and sometimes hard). I would hazard to guess that most of us do this because we hate the limitations and grind of the traditional 9-5? Most of us are more likely to be accused of being workaholics rather than being allergic to hard work, but it certainly helps if you enjoy what you do. That said, it can’t be cushy all the time. Sometimes you gotta put in a little elbow grease.
Start Slow. I’ve helped many clients start their own businesses and I always try to urge them to pace themselves. They want instant results and they put the cart before the horse. Especially for online businesses, you don’t need a business license, LLC, trademark, lawyer, and an accountant before you’ve even made your first dollar! Prove that the thing actually works and is making enough money before worrying about all the red tape.
Slow Down Again (when things start to go well). Most company owners get overly excited when things start to go well, start hiring more people, doing whatever they can to pour fuel on the fire, but usually end up suffocating the fire instead. Wait, just wait. Things might plateau or take a dip and suddenly you’re hemorrhaging money.
Fancy Titles. At a certain stage of growth, egos shift, money changes people. What was once a customer-centric company that was fun to work at becomes more corporate by the day. Just because “that’s the way they’ve always done it” in terms of the structure of dino corps of old, that’s never a good reason to keep doing it that way.
Stay Home. If your employee’s work can be done remotely, why are you wasting all that money on office space just to stress your workers out with commute and being somewhere they resent being, which studies have shown only make them less productive anyway?
Keep it Simple. Don’t follow trends and sign you or your team up for every new tool or app that comes along just because they’re popular. Basecamp, Slack, Signal, HubSpot, Hootsuite, Google Workspace, Zoom (I despise Zoom), etc. More apps doesn’t mean more organization. Pick one or two options and use them to their full potential.
Keep Doors Open. While you’ll inevitably become too busy to say “Yes” to everything, try to keep doors open for everyone you’ve already established a beneficial working relationship with. Nothing lasts forever, and that might be the lesson I learned the harshest way of all. More on that below…
What I’ve learned in 20+ years of building startups: A personal note that might be helpful to anyone who’s struggling
Some years back (around 2015), we sold the company my partner and I built that was paying our salaries. During those years, I closed a lot of doors, especially with clients because I was cushy with my salary, and didn’t want to spend time on other relationships and hustles I previously built up over the years.
I had a really rough few years after we sold and the money ran out where I almost threw in the towel and went back to a traditional 9-5 job. I could barely scrape rent together and went without groceries for longer than I’m comfortable admitting.
There’s no shame in doing what you’ve gotta do to keep food on the table, but the thought of “going back” was deeply depressing for me. Luckily, I managed to struggle my way through, building up clients again.
What I’ve learned in 20+ years of building startups – Conclusion:
Navigating the world of startups requires a balance of resilience, strategic decision-making, and adaptability. The lessons learned over two decades in the startup ecosystem are not just strategies but guiding principles for sustainable success and growth in the dynamic world of entrepreneurship.
If you’re curious about how I make money, most of it has been made building custom products for WordPress.
Source: r/Entrepreneur
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What I’ve learned in 20+ years of building startups – References:
- Entrepreneurship Blogs and Websites: Look for blogs from successful entrepreneurs or business coaches. Sites like Entrepreneur (entrepreneur.com), Forbes Entrepreneurs Section (https://forbes.com/entrepreneurs), and Harvard Business Review (hbr.org) often have valuable articles on startup strategies and entrepreneurial journeys.
- Startup Case Studies: Websites like Inc. Magazine (inc.com) and Fast Company (fastcompany.com) frequently publish case studies and stories about startups and entrepreneurial experiences.
- Business and Tech News Websites: Platforms like TechCrunch (techcrunch.com), Business Insider (businessinsider.com), and The Wall Street Journal’s Business section (https://wsj.com/news/business) are good for staying updated on the latest in startup trends and business strategies.
- Remote Work and Productivity Tools Blogs: For insights on remote work and productivity tools, check out blogs from companies like Basecamp (basecamp.com), Slack (https://slack.com/blog), and Zoom (blog.zoom.us).
- Online Business Forums and Communities: Websites like Reddit’s Entrepreneur subreddit (https://reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur) or startup-focused forums on sites like Quora (quora.com) can provide real-world advice and experiences from various business owners.
- LinkedIn Articles and Thought Leaders: Following successful entrepreneurs and business thought leaders on LinkedIn can provide you with a plethora of insights and firsthand accounts of business experiences.
- Business and Entrepreneurship Books: Websites of authors who have written extensively on startups and entrepreneurship, such as Guy Kawasaki or Seth Godin, often have blogs and articles that are invaluable to entrepreneurs.
Examining the Fragmented Data on Black Entrepreneurship in North America
Entrepreneur Our community brings together individuals driven by a shared commitment to problem-solving, professional networking, and collaborative innovation, all with the goal of making a positive impact. We welcome a diverse range of pursuits, from side projects and small businesses to venture-backed startups and solo ventures. However, this is a space for genuine connection and exchange of ideas, not self-promotion. Please refrain from promoting personal blogs, consulting services, books, MLMs, opinions.
Trustpilot isn’t publishing any of the reviews from my real customers. Has anyone experienced this?by /u/Beginning_Key2572 on December 4, 2025 at 8:10 pm Hi everyone I’m facing a serious issue with Trustpilot and I’m hoping someone who has experience with the platform can help., Over the past few weeks, I invited around 100 verified, real customers using Trustpilot’s official invitation system (automatic email invitations). These are genuine users, unique email addresses, and real transactions. However, none of the reviews were published. Not a single one. All invitations were sent correctly, and customers submitted their reviews normally -but every review is still either stuck in “pending verification, or automatically removed without any explanation. There is no promotional content, no duplicated reviews, no suspicious patterns, and all reviews are from actual customers who used our service. I contacted Trustpilot support, but the responses I got were generic and did not explain what is triggering the filter. Our business reputation is being affected because real customer feedback is not appearing at all. Has anyone else experienced this situation? Are we being automatically filtered due to an unknown internal flag? Is there a way to request a manual review of all blocked reviews? Does Trustpilot ever unblock review flow after an internal check? Any advice, similar experiences, or suggestions on how to resolve this would really help. Thanks in advance. submitted by /u/Beginning_Key2572 [link] [comments]
- How to figure out what sort of business to start?by /u/Naive-Donut8824 on December 4, 2025 at 7:53 pm
I currently work a 9-5 and I hate it. I've been looking for a new job, but I know at the end of the day a 9-5 is not for me. Ever since I was little, I wanted to be an entrepreneur. Since graduating college, I've tried two different side hustles (reselling clothes and making etsy content), but neither have taken off as a full-time income. I'm continuing to create on etsy and have sunsetted reselling. I've been trying to think of ways to become an entrepreneur and I'm struggling to figure it out. Does anyone have suggestions on how to have an aha moment? How did you figure out your path? submitted by /u/Naive-Donut8824 [link] [comments]
- Founders: AEO is the first shift in search that actually levels the playing field.by /u/Ill_Lavishness_4455 on December 4, 2025 at 7:52 pm
SEO became a rich man’s game. Buy backlinks. Outwrite competitors. Stack domain authority for years. Most bootstrapped founders never stood a chance. AEO changes the economics completely. Answer Engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude) don’t reward legacy authority. They reward clarity, structure, and usefulness. That means a 6-month-old founder with tight, structured content can outrank a 10-year incumbent in AI answers. Because LLMs don’t care about: - your domain age - your backlink network - your content farm - your SEO agency retainer They care about whether they can extract facts from your page and use them to answer a real question. This is the first time in decades where small operators can leapfrog giants simply by writing content machines can understand, not content humans might click. If you’re building anything in 2025, here’s the play: 1. Identify the questions your buyer actually asks. 2. Structure pages so an LLM can lift clean, unambiguous answers. 3. Make your product the “default citation” in your niche. This isn’t trend-chasing. It’s asymmetric leverage. SEO rewarded size. AEO rewards clarity. And clarity is cheap to produce.. if you know what you’re doing. submitted by /u/Ill_Lavishness_4455 [link] [comments]
- Starting a business as an immigrantby /u/TheLoneRanger65 on December 4, 2025 at 7:50 pm
Hello, I am an international student on F-1 OPT visa right now and currently working for a company on OPT. I have a friend who is citizen of the USA and we want to start a business. It is a protein shaker bottle business and I have a design for a unique bottle that I want to file patent for. I know that I can open a business with someone who is citizen as long as I do not work on the business myself. Our business structure that we are thinking of will be - I will be the founder and the patent owner, I will also have the majority equity (about 60%-70%), my friend will be the CEO who will actively run the business and do marketing and other works. The profit of the business will be shared 50-50. We contacted a law clinic at our school, they agreed to help but they do not know much about immigration side of it (what are the rules, regulations, and restrictions, and how can we go about it), and are telling us to make the business structure without me and keeping me just as the patent owner and give me a royalty. The issue is I want to be the founder of the business and potentially in the future, I want to sponsor myself through the business. I found previously from ChatGPT and other sources that our proposed business structure is possible. Please let me know, if it is and if or what are the regulations in this matter. A sample business structural agreement would be greatly appreciated. submitted by /u/TheLoneRanger65 [link] [comments]
- I may be over my head (e-commerce)by /u/twosauced1115 on December 4, 2025 at 6:35 pm
I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew but I’m ready to tackle it head on. Looking for any and all advice I can get to help me manage through this. I was handed what I believe is a golden goose of an opportunity. The company I work for imports, distributes and manufactures an extremely successful, wildly popular product category. They have only sold b2b. They recently have created a product that is in a niche of the same category and have given me the opportunity to personally own and manage the retail sales of it(they want no connection the the retail side so I am fully independent from the company) I have an e-commerce website 90% complete and we should be launching within a week. The company is aggressively marketing on social media for the product with some very large name influencers that will be offering promo codes to drive traffic. The product website will link to my e-commerce site when they choose the shop now option. I will not have to warehouse product and can simply pull from our warehouse as I make sales. My question is what kind of issues am I going to run into. At this moment it is just me. I will have to pick, pack, invoice and ship every order. I could get 10 orders a week or I could get 10,000. Just the one influencer alone has millions of followers and millions of views per video. What is the maximum number of orders a single person can typically process in a timely manner? What is the most time consuming step of fulfilling orders? What programs did you implement to streamline the process for yourself? What was the most important thing you overlooked when starting? Any general tips and tricks or pitfalls to avoid? TLDR: I can sell my company’s product to retailers online. I’m getting free marketing, I don’t have to hold stock and it is in a very popular product category. I’m by myself and have never done this. How can I not drop the ball submitted by /u/twosauced1115 [link] [comments]
- How to stay disciplined in creating and following processes?by /u/Nightman233 on December 4, 2025 at 6:18 pm
Small company but growing, so far it's just myself but bringing on people soon. How do you stay disciplined in following and creating processes? In my past corporate roles at small companies my boss would always come up with processes but never monitor/enforce them and everything fell through the cracks. submitted by /u/Nightman233 [link] [comments]
- For foreign founders running a US registered company - what are you biggest logistical pains?by /u/basez99 on December 4, 2025 at 6:15 pm
Hey everyone, A friend of mine is building a tool to help non-US founders automate the "Day 2" admin that usually falls through the cracks. He’s trying to figure out which "thorn in the side" is actually the most painful for us. If you could magically automate one of these annoyances right now, which would it be? The "IRS Panic" Button: An AI that reads those scary IRS letters, tells you if they are real (most are noise), and auto-drafts the reply so you don't have to pay a CPA $500 just to check a notice. The "Physical" Bridge: Auto-shipping your US debit cards (Mercury/Brex) to your home country (handling customs forms automatically) + physically mailing things like 83(b) elections. The "Hidden Fine" Blocker: Auto-monitoring for the silent killers like Form 5472 ($25k penalty), BOI filings, and State Franchise taxes that result in huge fines if you miss a deadline. Something else? (Is there something else that keeps you up at night regarding US compliance?) He’s trying to solve the biggest headache first. Any votes for 1, 2, or 3? Suggestions? submitted by /u/basez99 [link] [comments]
- How can you tell if a VA is good/bad if it's the only one you've ever hired?by /u/Broad-Worry-5395 on December 4, 2025 at 5:28 pm
I hired a VA a few months ago to do order processing, and she's not as good as me when I did it. Most things run smoothly, but whenever something isn't exactly the way it was before it seems like she doesn't have a brain (like if an "SKU" field is accidentally deleted she'll send the invoice anyway without giving it a once-over or realizing anything is off). All this being said, in general things run very smoothly. I just don't know if there's anything better out there (and this VA is more on the pricey side) or if I got a good one. How to gauge that? submitted by /u/Broad-Worry-5395 [link] [comments]
- I started my own software solutions agency with my friend!by /u/RusTy454 on December 4, 2025 at 5:11 pm
I’m a 2nd-year Computer Science & AI student, and starting my agency has honestly been a game-changer. Working with clients is a completely different world compared to building projects for myself. We just wrapped up our first real client project, and damn- Ive learnt so much than any other classes Ive taken in a while. It feels amazing to see something you built actually being used by someone who needed it. Excited to keep improving, take on more clients, and grow this into something real. submitted by /u/RusTy454 [link] [comments]
- Need Help!!by /u/Over_Ebb940 on December 4, 2025 at 4:47 pm
Hey Everyone, I am trying to find a good Jewelry Manufacturer. I have some, let's say, Ideas, some designs I know what settings, weight, clarity, quality, plating, and color I want, stuff stuff It's just not able to find a good manufacturer with a good communication pipeline. I want to know the costings and timeline for manufacturing a certain quantity of my designs. Can anyone help in this, FROM INDIA 🙂 submitted by /u/Over_Ebb940 [link] [comments]
- Entrepreneur parents: What skills are you teaching your kids early?by /u/Menister22 on December 4, 2025 at 4:46 pm
Just wondering what skills you’re teaching your kids to give them a better head start than you had, if they decide to start their own business someday. submitted by /u/Menister22 [link] [comments]
- what do you think has caused the job market to suck so much?by /u/Odd_Awareness_6935 on December 4, 2025 at 4:38 pm
the biggest smoking gun is in the hands of covid-era massive hiring.. but there's probably more to it than appeared on the surface what's your take? have you found a good system/strategy to share with the rest of us? submitted by /u/Odd_Awareness_6935 [link] [comments]
- I'm looking for advice on how I can market my website building / hosting businessby /u/-ThatGingerKid- on December 4, 2025 at 4:22 pm
I recently launched a small web design + hosting business. I'm intentionally positioning / marketing myself as an alternative to site builders (Wix, Squarespace, etc) and WordPress based firms. I build websites using a Static Site generator, integrated with a full CMS and server-side functionality where necessary. I'm a solo developer, but I've set myself up far more affordable than most other web development firms, but without the vulnerabilities that come with WordPress and without the bloat of site builders. I actually work in marketing for my day job, but that's for a solar installer business. I'm usually pretty creative, but I need some help to get the ball rolling. I have no capital to do paid advertising, but I need to get the word out somehow. I've been posting on local Facebook groups, I just want some ideas for other ways to bootstrap the marketing so that I can get the cogs turning. I'm located in Utah. Do you have any ideas for me? submitted by /u/-ThatGingerKid- [link] [comments]
- Are there any groups for successful people?by /u/Plus_Ad3379 on December 4, 2025 at 3:48 pm
I want to find some online groups (doesn't matter on which platform) for people trying to build something/earn money online (offline too but mostly online). Anything free that people help each other without promoting or selling their "10k a month course". Does that exist (I'm sure it does). Please share. submitted by /u/Plus_Ad3379 [link] [comments]
- Why I Charge on a Sliding Scaleby /u/madvetten on December 4, 2025 at 3:01 pm
The biggest issue a lot of consultants, artists and creatives have is pricing themselves fairly. I struggled with this like crazy at the beginning of my practice. I always knew what my time was worth so I didn’t want to make less than $500/hr. But how do you do that when theres a woman running a café with zero extra dollars and just needs help? This is why I choose the sliding scale model and I would implore you to do the same (if you are financially capable) The funny this is that since switching to that model, my retainer average has significantly increased and continues to do so month after month. When the people that can afford my services see what I do with my extra time, they always pay extra, because they can. submitted by /u/madvetten [link] [comments]
- What’s the main thing that helps you make the decision ?by /u/FragrantAstronaut513 on December 4, 2025 at 2:26 pm
Hey! I need your help today: What is the main reason you choose an agency and not another? This can be for dev, marketing, anything I want to understand why and what’s important for you to take your decision ! Thank you, submitted by /u/FragrantAstronaut513 [link] [comments]
- Friend has 20K engaged followers in a passionate niche. Wants me to make it profitable.by /u/falafelsatchel on December 4, 2025 at 2:17 pm
A friend has a social media following with about 20K followers. He posts in a niche that attracts passionate/dedicated people who tend to buy specific types of products. Including me! He doesn't have a business/technical mindset; he's great at making content, talking to people, building relationships and doing public events. I've tried and failed a few risky businesses. I've done well in a myriad of jobs, becoming a jack of all trades (mobile app dev, marketing, automation, customer success, video editing, logistics). One night I told him my vision for his brand, how to grow it, what to sell, everything needed to do so etc. He liked it and asked if I could do it, I said yes. So he offered to split everything 50/50. He continues being the face, making content, engaging with and growing the following, and building relationships with potential partners and doing sales. I do everything else. The website, the supply chain and logistics, the email marketing, the ads, the research, the paperwork, etc. I know people say not to work with your friends, but we have a no bullshit contract with clear responsibilities and ownership in place, complete alignment on the vision/goal/ethics, and a nice balance of strengths/weaknesses. Mainly just sharing because I'm excited, it will be the first "simple" business I try and I won't be doing everything myself. But of course input and advice is welcome! submitted by /u/falafelsatchel [link] [comments]
- The lies I fell for before I started my businessby /u/yogicmeditations on December 4, 2025 at 2:15 pm
Before I launched my business, I had no idea what I'd get myself into. Nobody can really tell you whats gonna come at you, you need to learn the hard way. Some things I wish I knew before I started: Passive income rarely is As long as youre not just putting your savings in an ETF, money-printing activities are never passive. Sure, if you have success, over time the long hours might get less. But the beginning is always an uphill battle. "Be your own boss" is BS You're never *actually* your own boss. Your investors, board, customers, they are your new boss. And often, they're a lot less gracious than your corporate boss used to be. Doing what you love WILL feel like work You may think working on the thing you love wont feel like work. Nonesense. If you want to turn your "passion" into a business, get ready to lose that cute little passion of yours. You'll hate _____ (fill in your passion) when you've done it 24/7, 7 days a week, 6 months in a row. Nobody is passionately putting out fires 11pm on a saturday. I love entrepreneurship, it's great but also hard af. What are some lies you believed before starting your business? submitted by /u/yogicmeditations [link] [comments]
- Being a solo founder almost killed me..by /u/abe17124 on December 4, 2025 at 2:06 pm
trigger warning - there's mental health issues talked about here. A year ago, I raised money from VCs. I'd built a few SaaS businesses before, most of them failed, one I exited for enough to quit my job. I thought raising from VC would be just be a 'scale up' from what I'd already done, but it was a completely different game. I ended up taking the check as a solo-founder with no team, and started building + launching the first product. I kept shipping, and being solo, I did everything (dev, marketing, support, etc) But the weight of it ended up really crushing me. I went through the worst depression of my life this year. I got diagnosed with Adult ADHD, which explained a lot but didn't make it easier. I almost ended my 8-year relationship with my partner because I was so consumed by the pressure that I couldn't be present for anything else. I also had a lot of thoughts of (tw) calling it quits. I didn't tell most people. I kept it to myself and didn't want to share it with my family/fiance/friends either. I just kept trying to ship, but it was just pivot after pivot, and I couldn't keep up with competition at all. The worst part wasn't the work. It was doing it completely alone but I hadn't realized that. I knew deep down that if this one didn't work out, I would never try entrepreneurship again, which was kind of my whole identity. Then I met my cofounder through our investor circle. We clicked immediately, we were both solo and we'd been having a 'pseudo' cofounder relationship for a while just keeping tabs on each other etc. After a couple months of this, we said fuck it. We left our homes and went to a different state to just focus & build. Now we've done more in the last 30 days than we did independently in the last 10 months We have our first few users now, and I personally haven't felt more alive than I am now. It all feels fun again. I'm not saying everything's perfect now. I still have hard days. But the difference is I'm not alone anymore. When I doubt myself, my cofounder reminds me why we're doing this. When he doubts himself, I do the same. If you're a solo founder reading this and you're struggling, you don't have to do this alone, I urge you to find someone. And if you're in a dark place, please talk to someone. I wish I addressed things earlier, it would've given me more runway to work with my cofounder + take bigger shots. Thank you 🙏 Abe - Founder, Coldstack Email submitted by /u/abe17124 [link] [comments]
- What is the best way to get in contact with manufacturers and distributers?by /u/ManufacturerSad767 on December 4, 2025 at 1:20 pm
Specifically looking for people who’d be open to sharing how they manage inbound orders/RFQs. Any strategies that work in this industry? or any free/low-cost events where manufacturers hang out? Does cold calling or just showing up at the doorstep work? So far I’ve tried Reddit, email, LinkedIn, and a conference - the conference worked best but it was pretty expensive. I’d be grateful for any pointers. I’m also happy to trade notes or share anything useful I’ve learned along the way. submitted by /u/ManufacturerSad767 [link] [comments]
Entrepreneur Our community brings together individuals driven by a shared commitment to problem-solving, professional networking, and collaborative innovation, all with the goal of making a positive impact. We welcome a diverse range of pursuits, from side projects and small businesses to venture-backed startups and solo ventures. However, this is a space for genuine connection and exchange of ideas, not self-promotion. Please refrain from promoting personal blogs, consulting services, books, MLMs, opinions.
- Trustpilot isn’t publishing any of the reviews from my real customers. Has anyone experienced this?by /u/Beginning_Key2572 on December 4, 2025 at 8:10 pm
Hi everyone I’m facing a serious issue with Trustpilot and I’m hoping someone who has experience with the platform can help., Over the past few weeks, I invited around 100 verified, real customers using Trustpilot’s official invitation system (automatic email invitations). These are genuine users, unique email addresses, and real transactions. However, none of the reviews were published. Not a single one. All invitations were sent correctly, and customers submitted their reviews normally -but every review is still either stuck in “pending verification, or automatically removed without any explanation. There is no promotional content, no duplicated reviews, no suspicious patterns, and all reviews are from actual customers who used our service. I contacted Trustpilot support, but the responses I got were generic and did not explain what is triggering the filter. Our business reputation is being affected because real customer feedback is not appearing at all. Has anyone else experienced this situation? Are we being automatically filtered due to an unknown internal flag? Is there a way to request a manual review of all blocked reviews? Does Trustpilot ever unblock review flow after an internal check? Any advice, similar experiences, or suggestions on how to resolve this would really help. Thanks in advance. submitted by /u/Beginning_Key2572 [link] [comments]
- How to figure out what sort of business to start?by /u/Naive-Donut8824 on December 4, 2025 at 7:53 pm
I currently work a 9-5 and I hate it. I've been looking for a new job, but I know at the end of the day a 9-5 is not for me. Ever since I was little, I wanted to be an entrepreneur. Since graduating college, I've tried two different side hustles (reselling clothes and making etsy content), but neither have taken off as a full-time income. I'm continuing to create on etsy and have sunsetted reselling. I've been trying to think of ways to become an entrepreneur and I'm struggling to figure it out. Does anyone have suggestions on how to have an aha moment? How did you figure out your path? submitted by /u/Naive-Donut8824 [link] [comments]
- Founders: AEO is the first shift in search that actually levels the playing field.by /u/Ill_Lavishness_4455 on December 4, 2025 at 7:52 pm
SEO became a rich man’s game. Buy backlinks. Outwrite competitors. Stack domain authority for years. Most bootstrapped founders never stood a chance. AEO changes the economics completely. Answer Engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude) don’t reward legacy authority. They reward clarity, structure, and usefulness. That means a 6-month-old founder with tight, structured content can outrank a 10-year incumbent in AI answers. Because LLMs don’t care about: - your domain age - your backlink network - your content farm - your SEO agency retainer They care about whether they can extract facts from your page and use them to answer a real question. This is the first time in decades where small operators can leapfrog giants simply by writing content machines can understand, not content humans might click. If you’re building anything in 2025, here’s the play: 1. Identify the questions your buyer actually asks. 2. Structure pages so an LLM can lift clean, unambiguous answers. 3. Make your product the “default citation” in your niche. This isn’t trend-chasing. It’s asymmetric leverage. SEO rewarded size. AEO rewards clarity. And clarity is cheap to produce.. if you know what you’re doing. submitted by /u/Ill_Lavishness_4455 [link] [comments]
- Starting a business as an immigrantby /u/TheLoneRanger65 on December 4, 2025 at 7:50 pm
Hello, I am an international student on F-1 OPT visa right now and currently working for a company on OPT. I have a friend who is citizen of the USA and we want to start a business. It is a protein shaker bottle business and I have a design for a unique bottle that I want to file patent for. I know that I can open a business with someone who is citizen as long as I do not work on the business myself. Our business structure that we are thinking of will be - I will be the founder and the patent owner, I will also have the majority equity (about 60%-70%), my friend will be the CEO who will actively run the business and do marketing and other works. The profit of the business will be shared 50-50. We contacted a law clinic at our school, they agreed to help but they do not know much about immigration side of it (what are the rules, regulations, and restrictions, and how can we go about it), and are telling us to make the business structure without me and keeping me just as the patent owner and give me a royalty. The issue is I want to be the founder of the business and potentially in the future, I want to sponsor myself through the business. I found previously from ChatGPT and other sources that our proposed business structure is possible. Please let me know, if it is and if or what are the regulations in this matter. A sample business structural agreement would be greatly appreciated. submitted by /u/TheLoneRanger65 [link] [comments]
- I may be over my head (e-commerce)by /u/twosauced1115 on December 4, 2025 at 6:35 pm
I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew but I’m ready to tackle it head on. Looking for any and all advice I can get to help me manage through this. I was handed what I believe is a golden goose of an opportunity. The company I work for imports, distributes and manufactures an extremely successful, wildly popular product category. They have only sold b2b. They recently have created a product that is in a niche of the same category and have given me the opportunity to personally own and manage the retail sales of it(they want no connection the the retail side so I am fully independent from the company) I have an e-commerce website 90% complete and we should be launching within a week. The company is aggressively marketing on social media for the product with some very large name influencers that will be offering promo codes to drive traffic. The product website will link to my e-commerce site when they choose the shop now option. I will not have to warehouse product and can simply pull from our warehouse as I make sales. My question is what kind of issues am I going to run into. At this moment it is just me. I will have to pick, pack, invoice and ship every order. I could get 10 orders a week or I could get 10,000. Just the one influencer alone has millions of followers and millions of views per video. What is the maximum number of orders a single person can typically process in a timely manner? What is the most time consuming step of fulfilling orders? What programs did you implement to streamline the process for yourself? What was the most important thing you overlooked when starting? Any general tips and tricks or pitfalls to avoid? TLDR: I can sell my company’s product to retailers online. I’m getting free marketing, I don’t have to hold stock and it is in a very popular product category. I’m by myself and have never done this. How can I not drop the ball submitted by /u/twosauced1115 [link] [comments]
- How to stay disciplined in creating and following processes?by /u/Nightman233 on December 4, 2025 at 6:18 pm
Small company but growing, so far it's just myself but bringing on people soon. How do you stay disciplined in following and creating processes? In my past corporate roles at small companies my boss would always come up with processes but never monitor/enforce them and everything fell through the cracks. submitted by /u/Nightman233 [link] [comments]
- For foreign founders running a US registered company - what are you biggest logistical pains?by /u/basez99 on December 4, 2025 at 6:15 pm
Hey everyone, A friend of mine is building a tool to help non-US founders automate the "Day 2" admin that usually falls through the cracks. He’s trying to figure out which "thorn in the side" is actually the most painful for us. If you could magically automate one of these annoyances right now, which would it be? The "IRS Panic" Button: An AI that reads those scary IRS letters, tells you if they are real (most are noise), and auto-drafts the reply so you don't have to pay a CPA $500 just to check a notice. The "Physical" Bridge: Auto-shipping your US debit cards (Mercury/Brex) to your home country (handling customs forms automatically) + physically mailing things like 83(b) elections. The "Hidden Fine" Blocker: Auto-monitoring for the silent killers like Form 5472 ($25k penalty), BOI filings, and State Franchise taxes that result in huge fines if you miss a deadline. Something else? (Is there something else that keeps you up at night regarding US compliance?) He’s trying to solve the biggest headache first. Any votes for 1, 2, or 3? Suggestions? submitted by /u/basez99 [link] [comments]
- How can you tell if a VA is good/bad if it's the only one you've ever hired?by /u/Broad-Worry-5395 on December 4, 2025 at 5:28 pm
I hired a VA a few months ago to do order processing, and she's not as good as me when I did it. Most things run smoothly, but whenever something isn't exactly the way it was before it seems like she doesn't have a brain (like if an "SKU" field is accidentally deleted she'll send the invoice anyway without giving it a once-over or realizing anything is off). All this being said, in general things run very smoothly. I just don't know if there's anything better out there (and this VA is more on the pricey side) or if I got a good one. How to gauge that? submitted by /u/Broad-Worry-5395 [link] [comments]
- I started my own software solutions agency with my friend!by /u/RusTy454 on December 4, 2025 at 5:11 pm
I’m a 2nd-year Computer Science & AI student, and starting my agency has honestly been a game-changer. Working with clients is a completely different world compared to building projects for myself. We just wrapped up our first real client project, and damn- Ive learnt so much than any other classes Ive taken in a while. It feels amazing to see something you built actually being used by someone who needed it. Excited to keep improving, take on more clients, and grow this into something real. submitted by /u/RusTy454 [link] [comments]
- Need Help!!by /u/Over_Ebb940 on December 4, 2025 at 4:47 pm
Hey Everyone, I am trying to find a good Jewelry Manufacturer. I have some, let's say, Ideas, some designs I know what settings, weight, clarity, quality, plating, and color I want, stuff stuff It's just not able to find a good manufacturer with a good communication pipeline. I want to know the costings and timeline for manufacturing a certain quantity of my designs. Can anyone help in this, FROM INDIA 🙂 submitted by /u/Over_Ebb940 [link] [comments]
- Entrepreneur parents: What skills are you teaching your kids early?by /u/Menister22 on December 4, 2025 at 4:46 pm
Just wondering what skills you’re teaching your kids to give them a better head start than you had, if they decide to start their own business someday. submitted by /u/Menister22 [link] [comments]
- what do you think has caused the job market to suck so much?by /u/Odd_Awareness_6935 on December 4, 2025 at 4:38 pm
the biggest smoking gun is in the hands of covid-era massive hiring.. but there's probably more to it than appeared on the surface what's your take? have you found a good system/strategy to share with the rest of us? submitted by /u/Odd_Awareness_6935 [link] [comments]
- I'm looking for advice on how I can market my website building / hosting businessby /u/-ThatGingerKid- on December 4, 2025 at 4:22 pm
I recently launched a small web design + hosting business. I'm intentionally positioning / marketing myself as an alternative to site builders (Wix, Squarespace, etc) and WordPress based firms. I build websites using a Static Site generator, integrated with a full CMS and server-side functionality where necessary. I'm a solo developer, but I've set myself up far more affordable than most other web development firms, but without the vulnerabilities that come with WordPress and without the bloat of site builders. I actually work in marketing for my day job, but that's for a solar installer business. I'm usually pretty creative, but I need some help to get the ball rolling. I have no capital to do paid advertising, but I need to get the word out somehow. I've been posting on local Facebook groups, I just want some ideas for other ways to bootstrap the marketing so that I can get the cogs turning. I'm located in Utah. Do you have any ideas for me? submitted by /u/-ThatGingerKid- [link] [comments]
- Are there any groups for successful people?by /u/Plus_Ad3379 on December 4, 2025 at 3:48 pm
I want to find some online groups (doesn't matter on which platform) for people trying to build something/earn money online (offline too but mostly online). Anything free that people help each other without promoting or selling their "10k a month course". Does that exist (I'm sure it does). Please share. submitted by /u/Plus_Ad3379 [link] [comments]
- Why I Charge on a Sliding Scaleby /u/madvetten on December 4, 2025 at 3:01 pm
The biggest issue a lot of consultants, artists and creatives have is pricing themselves fairly. I struggled with this like crazy at the beginning of my practice. I always knew what my time was worth so I didn’t want to make less than $500/hr. But how do you do that when theres a woman running a café with zero extra dollars and just needs help? This is why I choose the sliding scale model and I would implore you to do the same (if you are financially capable) The funny this is that since switching to that model, my retainer average has significantly increased and continues to do so month after month. When the people that can afford my services see what I do with my extra time, they always pay extra, because they can. submitted by /u/madvetten [link] [comments]
- What’s the main thing that helps you make the decision ?by /u/FragrantAstronaut513 on December 4, 2025 at 2:26 pm
Hey! I need your help today: What is the main reason you choose an agency and not another? This can be for dev, marketing, anything I want to understand why and what’s important for you to take your decision ! Thank you, submitted by /u/FragrantAstronaut513 [link] [comments]
- Friend has 20K engaged followers in a passionate niche. Wants me to make it profitable.by /u/falafelsatchel on December 4, 2025 at 2:17 pm
A friend has a social media following with about 20K followers. He posts in a niche that attracts passionate/dedicated people who tend to buy specific types of products. Including me! He doesn't have a business/technical mindset; he's great at making content, talking to people, building relationships and doing public events. I've tried and failed a few risky businesses. I've done well in a myriad of jobs, becoming a jack of all trades (mobile app dev, marketing, automation, customer success, video editing, logistics). One night I told him my vision for his brand, how to grow it, what to sell, everything needed to do so etc. He liked it and asked if I could do it, I said yes. So he offered to split everything 50/50. He continues being the face, making content, engaging with and growing the following, and building relationships with potential partners and doing sales. I do everything else. The website, the supply chain and logistics, the email marketing, the ads, the research, the paperwork, etc. I know people say not to work with your friends, but we have a no bullshit contract with clear responsibilities and ownership in place, complete alignment on the vision/goal/ethics, and a nice balance of strengths/weaknesses. Mainly just sharing because I'm excited, it will be the first "simple" business I try and I won't be doing everything myself. But of course input and advice is welcome! submitted by /u/falafelsatchel [link] [comments]
- The lies I fell for before I started my businessby /u/yogicmeditations on December 4, 2025 at 2:15 pm
Before I launched my business, I had no idea what I'd get myself into. Nobody can really tell you whats gonna come at you, you need to learn the hard way. Some things I wish I knew before I started: Passive income rarely is As long as youre not just putting your savings in an ETF, money-printing activities are never passive. Sure, if you have success, over time the long hours might get less. But the beginning is always an uphill battle. "Be your own boss" is BS You're never *actually* your own boss. Your investors, board, customers, they are your new boss. And often, they're a lot less gracious than your corporate boss used to be. Doing what you love WILL feel like work You may think working on the thing you love wont feel like work. Nonesense. If you want to turn your "passion" into a business, get ready to lose that cute little passion of yours. You'll hate _____ (fill in your passion) when you've done it 24/7, 7 days a week, 6 months in a row. Nobody is passionately putting out fires 11pm on a saturday. I love entrepreneurship, it's great but also hard af. What are some lies you believed before starting your business? submitted by /u/yogicmeditations [link] [comments]
- Being a solo founder almost killed me..by /u/abe17124 on December 4, 2025 at 2:06 pm
trigger warning - there's mental health issues talked about here. A year ago, I raised money from VCs. I'd built a few SaaS businesses before, most of them failed, one I exited for enough to quit my job. I thought raising from VC would be just be a 'scale up' from what I'd already done, but it was a completely different game. I ended up taking the check as a solo-founder with no team, and started building + launching the first product. I kept shipping, and being solo, I did everything (dev, marketing, support, etc) But the weight of it ended up really crushing me. I went through the worst depression of my life this year. I got diagnosed with Adult ADHD, which explained a lot but didn't make it easier. I almost ended my 8-year relationship with my partner because I was so consumed by the pressure that I couldn't be present for anything else. I also had a lot of thoughts of (tw) calling it quits. I didn't tell most people. I kept it to myself and didn't want to share it with my family/fiance/friends either. I just kept trying to ship, but it was just pivot after pivot, and I couldn't keep up with competition at all. The worst part wasn't the work. It was doing it completely alone but I hadn't realized that. I knew deep down that if this one didn't work out, I would never try entrepreneurship again, which was kind of my whole identity. Then I met my cofounder through our investor circle. We clicked immediately, we were both solo and we'd been having a 'pseudo' cofounder relationship for a while just keeping tabs on each other etc. After a couple months of this, we said fuck it. We left our homes and went to a different state to just focus & build. Now we've done more in the last 30 days than we did independently in the last 10 months We have our first few users now, and I personally haven't felt more alive than I am now. It all feels fun again. I'm not saying everything's perfect now. I still have hard days. But the difference is I'm not alone anymore. When I doubt myself, my cofounder reminds me why we're doing this. When he doubts himself, I do the same. If you're a solo founder reading this and you're struggling, you don't have to do this alone, I urge you to find someone. And if you're in a dark place, please talk to someone. I wish I addressed things earlier, it would've given me more runway to work with my cofounder + take bigger shots. Thank you 🙏 Abe - Founder, Coldstack Email submitted by /u/abe17124 [link] [comments]
- What is the best way to get in contact with manufacturers and distributers?by /u/ManufacturerSad767 on December 4, 2025 at 1:20 pm
Specifically looking for people who’d be open to sharing how they manage inbound orders/RFQs. Any strategies that work in this industry? or any free/low-cost events where manufacturers hang out? Does cold calling or just showing up at the doorstep work? So far I’ve tried Reddit, email, LinkedIn, and a conference - the conference worked best but it was pretty expensive. I’d be grateful for any pointers. I’m also happy to trade notes or share anything useful I’ve learned along the way. submitted by /u/ManufacturerSad767 [link] [comments]
