Pick one and own it | Hacker News Reader

Pick one and own it

blog.asmartbear.com

56 pointsterrellm24 comments

Made me think of Google. They used to make a big deal out of having the largest index. They don't do that anymore. Maybe it's a good idea to transition from pushing One Thing at some point, lest you leave the opportunity for someone to outshine you on that One Thing.

That point only applies if you think of Google as a 'search' company. I would argue that Google is an internet services company (that is funded by advertising rather than subscriptions) that 'owns' search. Arguments can be made on whose office suites are better, whose maps systems are better, whose social networks are better and whose phone OS is better, but Google has picked search and, boy! Do they own it.

Google Search is a distinct product of Google's. It's still comparable to the competition. And they still think Google Search is better, they just don't use index size as One Thing anymore.

well that answers a lot of questions for me as a budding entrepreneur. But the one question that I've never found answers to is how you get customers? How do you go out and find people who want to buy what you build?

Just develop an eye for observation. It's very difficult for me to go through an entire day without noticing a new opportunity for a start-up. There are some very obvious behaviours you can look for to identify opportunity.

Any time you see someone swearing at a product, make note. That product sucks, whoever is using it wishes they could switch to an alternative. There's an idea. Sometimes it won't be as obvious as swearing. Sometimes it is just "it's so annoying that I have to submit all my material to colleges. There should just be an API for college admissions."

People talk about what they want constantly, you just have to tune in to hear it.

Pick up the phone and call potential customers or even better you could meet with them in person.

Cold calling / meeting is tough in the beginning if you are introverted like I once was, but in my case the motivation to pick up the phone was knowing I would be able to put food on the table and pay the rent.

Just call them up and see if they're interested? What do you say? In my case I don't have an actual product, just the skills and time in the evenings to do something. So maybe I should just call up some non-techy friends and see if they're having problems at work that might be solvable with computers...

Exactly... it all starts with finding a problem that needs solving. If you can find friends, family members, or local businesses where you have a connection then it may be easier to get started.

My first business was started when I had an idea for a software program and talked to a college professor. He put me in contact with another professor who just happened to know of someone in need of a software like what I envisioned. I agreed to write the software just how the customer wanted and they agreed to test. After the software was done, I began marketing it commercially and have since sold it in 56 countries.

My way of doing it was to actually start a business in the domain. Grasshopper invited me to write a little about my story. I hope you find it somewhat helpful: http://bit.ly/bM4mp4

Let me know if you need help with anything.

Awesome story! Extremely motivated now.

What's your industry?

... edit, snarky remarks removed, unnecessary ...

Here are a few ideas:

You have to talk to people

Network

Go out in the world and leave your computer to actually generate interest by talking up your product

Join the chamber of commerce, go to the events, get local interest.

Do some broad marketing with twitter, the radio, tv, local ads, signs, flyers, send out direct mail.

Narrow marketing, cold calling, PPC ads, setup meetings with people you "think" might have interest.

Pick up the phone, call a company you "think" might want your product - if they don't they may even tell you who does.

Call all your friends, their friends, their parents, their cousins and neighbors.

Think outside the box. Go viral with a video, a strange campaign, a giveaway, advertise on podcasts, or on blogs.

Email bloggers to review your product.

Ask your tweet followers to help you spread the word with a hash tag.

Create a page in Facebook, blab about it a little and have your friends help spread the word.

Go to info-sites in your niche and pay them to advertise.

Join some forums, be a voice, make some friends, and try hard to be a part of the conversation - not a spammer.

Post a beta/try me link to HN, Reddit, BoS, KillerStartups

----------

Or, you could put up a website and cross your fingers. (I'd cross your toes too if you're going this route)

> There's a myth that "more features are always more complex," but that's just bad user interface design.

It's true that you can have a bad user experience with less features, but it's much more difficult to create a good user experience with a complex piece of software. I like what he says about hiding features that aren't in use, but in reality, every feature that you add to the product increases its complexity and cost, and makes it that much harder to create a satisfying user experience.

Its a good drill to go thru - even if you have more than one advantage, practice pitching each one in isolation.

This is a kickass article. I see things more clearly now.

> Open-source is free like puppies are free. You don't write a check to get it, but you have to support it for life. Your employee's time is not free. Working around bugs is not free. Having nothing but the Web of Lies Internet to rely on for tech support is not free.

Nice piece of FUD.

Depends on the open-source project. For e.g. Apache, Linux, MySQL, you're right it's unfair. For things like RoR, it's pretty accurate. For small projects, it's definitely true, but then again most companies don't depend on relatively unknown OSS projects.

I'm not seeing how RoR is any different than other OSS. Could you elaborate?

When you use RoR and, say, 10-20 gems, you spend a lot of time discovering bugs in those things, fixing them, contributing them back, and hoping the contri's are taken. None of that is free, of course.

Whereas I've used Apache (both the C-based web server and Tomcat), Linux, and MySQL for years, and never once did I have to patch something myself. The quality of the software and updates were sufficient; certainly just as good as any commercial product.

This is what I mean about it being different.

Of course commercial software has bugs etc as well! The difference is there's a place to complain and other developers are responsible for making the fixes. Of course some companies are good about this and others aren't, and the same can be said for OSS projects.

In the end, to SOME extent this is FUD, but specifically in the context within this post, it's not FUD, because the argument is specifically for a company who is CLAIMING awesome support for bug-fixes.

You can't just take my quote out of context and then argue against it!

I wasn't trying take anything out of context - I was just trying to gain a better understanding of why RoR was mentioned.

Thanks for the clarification and I agree it can be a challenge keeping up with any software that is modular and utilizes code developed by volunteers and hobbyists. Whether it by Python or even .NET using 3rd party components.

My and I am sure a lot of others' experience with RoR and gems/plugins is completely opposite.

Are you serious? He's role-playing the sales-pitch you would give if your positioning was 'most expensive'. It's supposed to be FUD - it's an illustrative pretend marketing campaign!

I'm aware of that. I don't claim that author is stupid or mischievous.

I just say it's a nice piece of FUD.

I didn't expect to be downvoted so heavily about it.

It's only FUD when comparing with a similar non-open-source piece of software - i.e. Postgres vs. MSSQL, Apache vs. IIS, OpenOffice vs. MS Office.

A standard shrink-wrapped version of the for-money options doesn't come with any kind of support that the open source versions don't have.

But when comparing e.g. GitHub with Git+Linux+SSH+Nginx+Python+Trac+.... it's completely fair. And that's one of the easy setups.

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