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

By: joe M

joe M — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 04:25:46 +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.

By: Startups.in/India

Startups.in/India — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 16:30:21 +0000

@Mike – “…talented folks donâ€™t come cheap nowadays.”

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

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:10:05 +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!

By: Jonny Diode

Jonny Diode — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 04:31:40 +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.

By: Marshall Kirkpatrick

Marshall Kirkpatrick — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 20:29:57 +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.

By: Anil

Anil — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 08:28:03 +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.

By: Is Less Worth More in Early Stage Startup Funding? « BZ Notes!

Is Less Worth More in Early Stage Startup Funding? « BZ Notes! — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 17:27:18 +0000

[...] However, what triggered my post here is a recent item from VentureBeat: Angel investor Paul Graham, who runs the Y-Combinator incubator gives a notable quote in a New York Times story about the how cheaply a new Internet company can get started — and how angels like him have a much easier time with this than elephantine venture capital firms. [...]

By: Krish

Krish — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 14:41:39 +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…!

By: A Conversation With Ram Shriram « Yoick - Hightechwire

A Conversation With Ram Shriram « Yoick - Hightechwire — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 04:29:38 +0000

[...] UPDATE: Matt Marshall over at VentureBeat has some further coverage of Ram’s comments. [...]

By: Startups.in/India

Startups.in/India — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 01:31:15 +0000

Did Sherpa Ram really endorse “Ram”en noodles or did he just say noodles?

By: Todd Allen

Todd Allen — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 01:09:28 +0000

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

By: somaking

somaking — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 21:48:24 +0000

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

By: NateW

NateW — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 21:00:27 +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….

By: aishwarya

aishwarya — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 20:48:24 +0000

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

By: Live On Ramen and $2000 a Month! « InterMedia Blogging Network

Live On Ramen and $2000 a Month! « InterMedia Blogging Network — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 19:22:15 +0000

[...] Ram Shriram, the founding investor in Google who backed Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were still at Stanford, remembers those frugal days. Page and Brin insisted on taking public transportation when they first visited Europe, refusing to fork out money for cabs. [...]