My general rule of thumb, don't do it. Not worth the potential problems. Instead, get a basic letter of intent from them showing proof a few of them are willing to invest and approach others who are accredited to invest.
I guess the first question off the top of my head is how is different than current competitors (i.e. indinero, etc)? Would love to suggest but would also make it a lot easier to know what you already have.
Thanks for the comment, I appreciate it. I was really hoping to get more feedback, oh well.
The big difference between inDinero is the philosophy behind how bookkeeping should be done. I think there are 2 big segments right now: Mint.com for small business (includes inDinero) and QuickBooks replacements (Xero, sassu). The latter is what we are going after, and the big difference is that all transactions originate from the user, and not the bank (you can't trust the bank, in theory). So accounting is a manual entry process, with those transactions reconciled against a bank account.
One thing we are working on is a mobile app for users to take a photo of a receipt and a corresponding transaction will be created based off of the information. This also digitizes all your receipts, and makes them searchable.
We're still validating this idea, and are getting mixed feedback. Some people love this idea, some don't see any value because they just use inDinero and trust the bank transactions. Some people save all their receipts and its a huge pain, some people don't care at all.
I hope this makes more sense, I'd love to know more of your thoughts. Feel free to email me at sean [at] orangeslyce.com too.
It's an extremely tough spot to be in if your significant other isn't the type who understands or is willing to put up with startup life (mostly the lack of time for each other). While it can work, often it doesn't.
I've been down this road quite a few times. To me, it really is more of a matter of asking is this person right for me if our lifestyle choices conflict. So in essense, the startup almost always win.
Working at home may not solve all your problems or be beneficial. It can become a tremendous distraction. And with your financial picture in critical status, I would not recommend risking it to start a new company. Rather I would recommend finding a better paying job if your skills really do justify it (lots of places are hiring devs) and work on stuff on the side from home to see if you can gain traction.
Like many others have said here, majority of the best designers I've personally had the pleasure of working with or encountering were all self-taught and had little to no formal design education. The few people I've known that did go to design school, weren't very good. Of course that's not to say that people who go to design school can't be extremely good. That's just personal observation from those I've work with (which isn't representative of designers everywhere).
Having said that, I've always been impressed with the Design School each time I've been there (don't actually know if its related to what you're looking for): http://dschool.stanford.edu/
Disclaimer: I am not a design major, my design skills are self-taught, and I'm a former Stanford student.
