$10,000 just showed up in my square account. No idea how it got there. It wasn’t received as a payment. Customer support told me to refund it. I told the person that they should be fired immediately since they don’t recognize a common scam and gave me horrible advice. I was transferred to someone with a brain who understood the problem and said a ticket was created and it would be looked into on Monday. Can anyone who’s had this problem tell me what will happen? Will they easily reverse it for me or is this a long fight? Will they close my account?

This morning I saw a headline about sobremesa, the Spanish word for the time after a meal when nobody gets up from the table and the conversation keeps going. It got me wondering how many big ideas came out of long conversations at a table.

One answer is Birmingham, England, in the 1760s. A group of friends started meeting for dinner once a month, on the Monday closest to the full moon, so they'd have moonlight to ride home by. They called themselves the Lunar Society, and joked that they were lunatics.

Who was at the table:

- Matthew Boulton, who ran one of the biggest factories in England

- James Watt, who was trying to make the steam engine work

- Josiah Wedgwood, who turned pottery into an industry

- Joseph Priestley, the chemist who isolated oxygen

- Erasmus Darwin, doctor, inventor, and Charles Darwin's grandfather

Boulton and Watt became partners. Watt had the engine and no money. Boulton had the money and a factory. Their engines went on to power the factories that came after.

What stuck with me is that none of them had the full picture alone. A factory owner, an engineer, a chemist, and a doctor at the same table, every month, for years.

Compare that to how most of us look for the next idea: same team, same meeting room, a 30-minute slot with a hard stop.

So I'm curious:

- Does anyone here have a version of this, a regular dinner or group with people outside your field?

- Has a conversation like that ever changed what you built?

I’m based in Australia, with a background in construction project delivery and enterprise software implementation. I’ve built a working product around organisational governance and learning, and I’m preparing to approach initial customers.

The problem comes from seeing companies deal with an issue on one project, agree what needs changing, then have another project run into much the same thing.

The product connects what happened, why it happened and what the team did about it with the decisions and changes that follow. That might mean changing a procedure, reviewing a risk or getting information to other projects before they hit the same problem. My view is that a lesson hasn’t been learnt unless something changes.

The commercial bit I’m trying to work through is proving that value early.

If you save someone five hours a week, you can measure it. If you help prevent a repeat mistake on a future project, it’s harder to demonstrate within a short pilot. The project team contributing the information may also be different from the team that benefits and the person approving the spend.

For founders who’ve sold governance, risk, quality or similar B2B software: how did you structure your first paid pilot?
What did you and the buyer agree to measure, and did achieving it actually lead to a contract?

I’m considering starting with one recurring problem across a small number of projects. I’d like to hear what worked in practice, including pilots where usage looked good but the customer still didn’t buy.

Thanks in advance

Haven: Better Instagram & YouTube, to Stop AI & Surveillance by William Lavelle » Haven: Better Instagram & YouTube, to Stop AI & Surveillance by William Lavelle — Kickstarter

Hey founders, doing a little research on the design, engineering, and branding aspects of getting a physical product from idea to out the door. I've gotten to chat with people in my area, but trying to get as many perspectives as I can to start! This is super open ended, so share whatever seems relevant. Thanks!

I have found his business online! Garro Law Group in kananta/Ottawa Ontario

I’m posting this because I honestly don’t know what else to do.

This past Sunday, a client urgently asked me to put other jobs on pause to repair his pool cracks. My team and I spent 12 hours working, only to discover the job involved foundation repairs.

We invested approximately $3,000 in materials, plus labour, and sacrificed our only day off to get the work done. I even missed valuable time with my kids to help this client.

He asked for one week to pay, and I trusted his word. Now, he’s completely disappeared. No answers to calls or messages.

We work hard to support our families and run an honest business. All we ask is to be paid for the work we do.

It’s disappointing to give someone your time, effort, and trust, only to be left chasing payment for work already completed.

If anyone has advice on how to handle this situation, I’d appreciate it. And if the client sees this, please reach out so we can resolve this professionally.

Noticed I wasnt getting updates for a project I backed, and when checking KS they said emails have been bouncing back and to update it.

When I go to update I have to use a verification code that is emailed to me, and I get that in just fine. Is there anything I can do here or is it just my email provider being a pain? I cant 'update' it to the same email as it says its already being used.

Anyone who's tried building a physical product knows how frustrating it can be to find the right components and suppliers.

You start with one search, end up opening dozens of websites, comparing specifications, and trying to put together a BOM.

I'm building GrabRaw to make this process easier by breaking products into components and helping people discover suppliers.

Still improving it, but I'm curious how other founders and hardware builders handle this today.

What's the most frustrating part of sourcing components for you?

Hi everyone,

We’re currently building a demo for a hardware product, and I’m curious how other teams usually handle this process.

We don’t have a highly experienced hardware engineer on our core team. Our usual approach is to discuss the product direction, concept, and main features internally, then pay external hardware and software engineers to build it.

The process has involved much more back-and-forth than we expected. There are always details to clarify, decisions to revisit, and requirements to explain again. We spend a lot of time in meetings and following up, and it sometimes feels like the communication itself is slowing the project down.

What’s more frustrating is that, even after all that discussion, the result still doesn’t always match what we had in mind.

We’ve thought about hiring an experienced hardware engineer full-time, but that’s probably too expensive for us at this stage.

So I’d love to hear how other teams deal with this:

• How often do you talk to your hardware engineers while building a demo or prototype?
• Do your hardware, firmware, and software engineers need to sync frequently?
• Do you define everything before development starts, or do you figure things out as you go?
• If you outsource the work, who turns the product idea into clear engineering requirements?
• What has helped you reduce misunderstandings, unnecessary meetings, and rework?
• For an early-stage team that can’t afford a senior full-time hardware engineer, would a part-time advisor or fractional hardware lead work better than outsourcing everything?

We’re trying to understand whether this much communication is just a normal part of early hardware development, or whether it means we need to improve the way we define requirements and work with outside engineers.

I’d really appreciate hearing how others approach this, especially if you’ve dealt with something similar. Thanks!

I've built a startup here in New Zealand, where we organise dinner for strangers and send them on a side quest, kind of like timeleft but a bit more structured and participation involved. Have sent more than 400 people to these dinners.
We've successfully ran dinners every week since May. Although now I'm running out of cash. My full-time job isn't paying me great hence i'm almost out of cash to run meta ads which i've been relying on. I do not get to focus fully on my start up because of working 60hrs at a full time job leaves me with a limited time. I've worked on an app to make operations easier. Although now i feel the importance of funding to keep the business running. Especially for marketing related content etc
Should i take a pause and wait till i get funding sorted along with all the resources needed OR do i keep going? If i do pause will it takeaway the traction? Im just so confused!

On the small business community, seeing a lot of confusion about this from the filing side, so a short summary of what actually changed.

For payments made after December 31, 2025, the general reporting threshold for 1099-NEC (nonemployee compensation) and 1099-MISC (rents, other income) went from $600 to $2,000. So a contractor you paid $1,850 in 2026 does not get a 1099-NEC.

Things that did NOT change, which is where people get caught:

- Royalties still trigger a 1099-MISC at $10.

- Direct sales of $5,000 or more are still reported.

- Backup withholding has no threshold. If you withheld federal tax on a payee at all, you report it at any amount.

- The $2,000 figure is indexed for inflation after 2026, so it will be a different number for tax year 2027. Don't hard-code it.

Also worth knowing: this doesn't change the W-9 question. You still want a W-9 on file before the first payment regardless of amount, because you don't know in March whether the year's total will cross $2,000.

Disclosure: We are a 1099 e-file platform. Happy to answer questions in the comments, not here to pitch.

Four siblings. Four divine powers. One mission.

Line art ✏️ by me @Rico_J_art
With 🔥 Colors 🎨 by @willsoaresart
Lettering by Lidiane salves

The official Kickstarter launch 🚀 for my graphic novel W.A.R. (Weapons Against Righteousness) is right around the corner‼️

⚔️** 10.19.26 — THE WAR BEGINS**. ⚔️

Hit the link and make sure to click “Notify Me” so you’re there when we go LIVE‼️

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/war-comic/war-weapons-against-righteousness

Hi everyone! I’m an artist launching my first Kickstarter, and I wanted to share my project with you!

The collection is called Mini Garden. The idea is that my original characters wandered into a strange little garden and magically transformed into tiny garden creatures! Now they’re scattered and hiding throughout the garden, and the goal is to find and unlock all 8 friends through the campaign’s funding goals🌷🐝

They’re collectible plush keychains, and the campaign also has matching enamel pins and stickers!

I’m really happy that we managed to unlock 2 friends on the very first day! 🥹🍄🌿 We still have 6 more friends to go and I’m hoping we can bring the whole little garden to life.

If you’d like to check it out, here’s the campaign link!

Thanks for reading, and good luck to everyone else working on their creative projects! 💚

Day 7? Day 30? I keep softening my follow ups so I don’t damage the relationship, and I’m starting to think that’s why some clients pay me last. If you switched to blunt, what did you actually say, and did it cost you the client?

I’m based in Dehradun, India, and considering starting a small plant gifting business from home. My retired father enjoys gardening, so I thought we could build something around that.
The idea is to sell potted plants as gifts to individual customers for occasions like birthdays and housewarmings, as well as cater to businesses looking for corporate gifts or bulk orders.
My problem is that while I have ideas, I struggle with figuring out how to turn them into an actual business. I’ve explored business ideas before but never really understood how to get started, find my first customers, or validate demand without spending too much upfront.
For those who have started small businesses from scratch:
What would you do first if you were starting this business today?
How would you find your first 5–10 paying customers?
Would you focus on individual customers or corporate orders initially?
How do you test whether an idea is worth pursuing before investing in inventory, packaging, and marketing?
I’m not looking for a detailed business plan, just practical advice on how to go from an idea to the first few sales. I’d especially appreciate advice from people who started with limited experience and a small budget.

Like the title implies I realized we’ve been reordering office supplies (copy paper, deskware, break room stuff, janitorial, etc) from the same vendor for nearly 10 years and we’re paying like a >20% price difference over what some other vendors charge. Crazy.

We set up our vendor accounts years ago and don’t really think about it now. i feel like most small businesses do the same because who has time to check 5+ sites every time printer paper, packaging, or shop supplies run low?

How do you all manage this? Any tips or suggestions for a small business? Or easy way to keep vendor price in check without wasting hours shopping around every month?

Hi all,

I don't how much support came from reddit, but i just wanted to let you know we just funded the project in less than 24 h.
What an exciting week leading up to the launch! As soon as I pressed the button at 4:00 PM on Friday and Angelier went live on Kickstarter, I could finally sit back and enjoy the moment.

The response during the first 24 hours has been truly encouraging, and it would not have been possible without your support. For that, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

I would love to thank each and every one of you personally, but for now, please accept this message as a heartfelt thank you.

Alongside the many supporters from the Netherlands, I’m proud to see interest in Angelier coming from all over the world. It’s wonderful to see this independent watch brand reaching people across so many countries, and it gives me great confidence in what lies ahead.

Haven’t pledged yet? There’s still time to join us!

The special launch discounts are still available for a limited time, making this a great opportunity to get your Angelier Automatic BRG at an exclusive early-bird price while supporting the brand from the very beginning.

If you’ve been considering getting one, I’d love to welcome you on board and have you be part of Angelier’s journey.

Discover Angelier on Kickstarter and claim your launch discount

Thank you again for following, supporting, and believing in Angelier. Every pledge makes a real difference to an independent brand like mine.

Warm regards,

The Angelier Team

Hi! I'm Justin a student in the Bay Area and as a small side hustle, and as a way to give back to the community I'm offering to design free mockups for small businesses before they actually purchase one from me and my team. If you want to see some of my work click on the link to my website that I'll attach below. Complete the form on the website if your interested!!! tysm for your support. To be clear, I am NOT a bot and am a real human being, and to specify I'm not asking people for any type of payment. I will create mockups for you for free! no catch. HERES THE LINK:https://kova-mu-rouge.vercel.app/

I build AI voice agents. The biggest thing I’ve built is a phone system for a healthcare network in Italy. It books appointments across 6 regions and handles 1,500+ calls a day. I built it end to end: the voice pipeline, infrastructure, monitoring, analytics, and data encryption. It’s been live for months and has passed their security audit.

The problem is I don’t own the client. A vendor sits between me and them, holds the contract, and charges per minute. I get a flat monthly fee for doing all the work, and the client thinks the vendor built it.

I’m not trying to steal that client. I want my next deal to be direct.

For small businesses I’ve been cold calling and cold emailing, and it works but slowly. I know the real money is in companies with multiple locations and high call volume, and those people don’t respond to the same playbook.

For anyone who has sold to mid-size or enterprise companies:

• How did you get in front of the actual decision maker (owner, COO, head of ops) without going through an agency or reseller?
• Did LinkedIn, referrals, events, or something else actually work for you?
• If you were in my position, with a working system at scale but no brand and no network, what would you do first?

Open to any honest advices. Thanks

Hey Y'all,

I’m currently running a Kickstarter for my short horror film. I’m not linking it here because I saw the rule about self-promotion being limited to Fridays, but I could really use advice or tips from people who have successfully run campaigns before! This is my first kickstarter campaign, ever. I have raised money on other platforms.

My goal is $25,000, and we’ve raised $385 so far. We’re at day 37 as of 10/17/2026 of this 45-day campaign, so I know we’re significantly behind where we need to be.

The $25K budget reflects what we genuinely need to make the film at the level we’ve planned, but I’m starting to question whether Kickstarter was the right platform for a project at this budget level, especially without a large existing online following.

It seems like, one of our biggest issues has been reach. Instagram, Threads, and X are performing much worse for me than they used to, and posts that involve fundraising of any kind seem especially difficult to get in front of people. The algorithm punishes you for what seems like mutual-aid. I also don’t build my social media presence around rage bait, arguments, or constant engagement farming, so simply “posting more” hasn’t translated into locating backers.

I planned the organized email push for Monday, although in hindsight I definitely should have begun that before the Kickstarter launched. Now approaching the I’m trying to be proactive instead of just watching the campaign stall.

For people who have successfully funded projects I am asking...

Where did most of your backers actually come from outside your immediate friends/followers?

Are there good ways to find people who already back indie films?

I've owned a small, family-operated retail and installation business for over 20 years, and there's something about the credit card dispute process that I find incredibly troubling.

A customer can purchase thousands of dollars in materials, receive the products and services, and then initiate a chargeback. The merchant is suddenly put in a position of having to prove they deserve to keep money they already earned.

Meanwhile, the business has paid suppliers, employees, installers, overhead, and operating expenses. Those costs don't magically disappear when a cardholder disputes a transaction.

What frustrates me most is the apparent imbalance in the system. Credit card companies like American Express promote cardholder protection, but where is the equivalent protection for the businesses accepting their cards?

I'm not suggesting that legitimate consumer disputes shouldn't be protected. Of course they should.

But what happens when a merchant has contracts, invoices, payment records, documentation, and evidence that the transaction was legitimate, yet still loses the dispute?

Who holds the card companies accountable for how these decisions are made?

For a large corporation, a chargeback might be a rounding error. For a small business, it can mean thousands of dollars lost, legal expenses, and months of unnecessary stress.

At what point does protecting the consumer become unfairly shifting the financial risk onto the small business?

I'd genuinely like to hear from other business owners who have experienced this, particularly with American Express. Were you able to challenge the decision successfully, or were you simply left absorbing the loss?

everyone says never but i feel like most people do it anyway

I keep softening my follow ups so I don’t damage the relationship. Starting to wonder if that is why some clients pay me last. Has anyone got paid faster by dropping the padding?

I'm a self-taught developer who knows React and Next.js, and lately, I've been feeling pretty anxious about my career.

AI is moving so fast that I sometimes question where I should invest my time. It can build UIs, write backend code, connect APIs, and even help build entire applications. I'm worried that simply knowing how to build web applications won't be enough to get a good job in the coming years.

I'd love to hear from people who run businesses, build startups, or hire developers.

If you were hiring a developer for your startup today, what would you actually look for?

Would you want someone with strong React/Next.js and full-stack skills who can take a product from idea to launch? Or would you prioritize someone who also knows AI engineering, RAG, AI agents, LLM integrations, and automation?

I'm trying to figure out whether I should spend the next 6 months becoming a much stronger full-stack developer or divide my time between web development and AI engineering.

As a self-taught developer, I don't want to spend another year learning things that won't help me become more valuable in the job market. I want to build products that solve real problems and develop skills that a business would actually pay for.

If you were in my position, what would you focus on, and what would make you confident enough to hire someone like me?

I'd genuinely appreciate an honest perspective from a founder or business owner. I could really use some direction right now.

Smart locks are convenient until the battery needs attention at the worst possible time.

I’m building LockPower Infinity, a solar charging accessory for compatible fingerprint door locks. It includes a built-in 1500mAh battery and a retractable USB-C cable.

I’m interested in making this kind of maintenance less troublesome, particularly for rental properties and entrances that receive enough daylight.

Would you consider adding a solar accessory to your smart lock setup, or would you rather keep things simple with spare batteries?