HACKER Q&A
📣 dagge

As a one-man-show, how do you keep the server up if something happens


I'm a single founder running a Saas. If something happens to me, how can I make sure my AWS instance stays up? Are there companies I can hire that will step in if I'm hit by a bus?


  👤 bell-cot Accepted Answer ✓
Bills can usually be auto-paid. For a while.

Pretty-routine technical stuff...maybe you really trust someone who has a similar one-man show, and could have a "cover each other's backs" agreement. Though that can get d*mn tricky pretty quick - say, when there's a tax return due, or your clients are asking what's going on.

Really good friends and family could try to cover for you, within their skills. But they may be too busy already with visiting you in the hospital & making medical decisions & maintaining your house & etc. etc. etc.

Especially for SaaS-type stuff - where your clients can't just hire some other lawn service, and your family can't just sell off the mowers - you need to have a real "worst case" plan, so that nobody's left SoL.


👤 figassis
This is an odd question. The solution would be the opposite of a one man show. There are managed services providers and there are sysadmins you can hire for a specified number of maintenance/support hours.

👤 LewisVerstappen
By "something happens to me", are you talking about a temporary absence (due to an illness or a vacation or something) or are you talking about the bus number (you get hit by a bus)?

👤 appplication
Honestly? Let it go. It seems weird to me to worry about continued edge value to some random corps were you to meet an untimely demise.

I know that sounds dismissive, but really what is the point in continuing to drive marginal capitalistic value after you’re dead? If it’s to take care of family, the answer is a single member saas company is not a good vehicle for intergenerational investments/cash flow. In that case, work in exit/diversification plan and execute it while you’re still alive.