The pain point is one I’ve talked to a number of founders/writers about. They create stuff they’re happy with, and then struggle to get the word out.
For example, one of these folks has a pretty decent following (you’ve likely read his stuff), solid list, and a number of books published. Last summer, he and I had a long email discussion about this. He noted that this (reaching new readers/buyers) was the one problem he just couldn’t solve. He found sites like HN increasingly difficult to crack, posting through other major media sources (e.g. Lifehacker, Huffington Post, Newsweek) low-yield, and social media less and less effective.
So, all of this is part of a larger plan. Our core service has been in place for ~2 years. Through it, folks talk one-on-one, and get feedback, advice, ideas. We don’t have a ton of users, but it generally seems to work pretty well. In fact, someone yesterday noted that their 10 minute OH session led to an hour-long Skype call, and then an in person meeting.
The problem with the initial product, and the one I think competing services also run into, is that there’s limited reason to come back to such a service—and make a habit of it. That is, you don’t check an advisor site on a regular basis, because you typically only need help from time to time. My hunch is that a lot of people heard about the service, thought it was viable, and then promptly forgot about it.
The reason for adding Streams (the feed) is to give folks more of a reason to check back in—and to create starting points for discussions. For example, one might read an article, find the content interesting, and then want to ask further questions one-on-one. We also see this tying into questions, as folks will be able to post a question, and then have an advisor either respond to it in a comment, or offer a one-on-one. All of it relates to helping folks build connections, share their stuff, and find new ways to collaborate.
I should probably also clarify something. I’m not so much fearful that this won’t gain traction. (It’s only been live for three days, and traffic is up 5x for each of those days.) That said, I know the process of building out such a thing is substantial. I refer to it as “the empty dance floor.” No one wants to dance, until someone is—and after a few more do, everyone leaps in. We experienced the same with our initial product. It took us weeks to get the advisor base (https://officehours.io/advisors) past a dozen people—then it started growing on its own.
So, my question isn’t so much one of: “why doesn’t this work?” because I think it can. It’s more of an: “is there a smarter way to reach out to new startup founders, and get them involved?”