Word: start
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Here's why. At no other time in recent history has it been easier or cheaper to start a new kind of company. Possibly a very profitable company. Let's call these start-ups LILOs, for "a little in, a lot out." These are Web-based businesses that cost almost nothing to get off the ground yet can turn into great moneymakers (if you work hard and are patient, but we'll get to that part of the story...
Tayman went to work with nothing more than his PowerBook laptop. A hyperorganized fellow, he quickly discovered a trove of freebies online - instructional manuals and sites aimed at bootstrappers - that walk you through the process from start to finish...
...project he envisioned. He visited RentACoder.com and Elance.com sites where you can find software developers. He picked up the jargon he needed to describe his project so he could put it out for a bid, and he found his first programmer - in the Ukraine - who agreed to start building the digital scaffolding for the site. Within months, Tayman had a virtual staff of 20 employees working for him in five different countries. "In fact, I didn't even meet the guy who built most of the site until the launch party," he says...
...cost to Tayman? "Almost $9,800, all in," he said. As for revenue, he just sold his first display ad, for, well, the low three figures. But it's a start: "We've already reached ramen profitability." His math: he spends about $75 a month on server fees and other expenses...
Noodleconomics The term ramen profitable was coined by Paul Graham, a Silicon Valley start-up investor, essayist and muse to LILO entrepreneurs. It means that your start-up is self-sustaining and can eke out enough profit to keep you alive on instant noodles while your business gains traction...