Dropbox Startup Lessons Learned | Hacker News Reader

Dropbox Startup Lessons Learned

slideshare.net

89 pointspaulsb13 comments

Before becoming a Dropbox user I was aware there were other cloud-storage services available, but it was the good word-of-mouth that prompted me to try Dropbox. They're a great example of how to win in a crowded market through sheer awesomeness.

Good timing probably also played a role, though. I went with Dropbox because sync'ing files between my desktop, laptop, and iPhone had become a huge hassle. They wouldn't be worth it to me as a USB key replacement, but as a way to manage today's proliferation of devices Dropbox is golden.

I was actually a zumodrive user before I was a dropbox user.

I had taken a look at dropbox but the fact that zumodrive installed as a separate drive on my computer felt better/cleaner than it being a magic folder (with a space in it's name)

But eventually, when I had problems, Zumodrive's support completely failed me and it seemed like a sinking ship, so I gave up and turned to dropbox and haven't regretted a single moment.

I'm wondering if anyone uses/has used Syncplicity? IMO, it's better than Dropbox.

Syncplicity is so hard to say. When it comes to recommending stuff, a simple name like Dropbox helps.

Better in what way? I haven't yet thought "I wish Dropbox did this-or-that". What am I missing out on?

A great presentation.

I found it interesting that they only came upon the virality of the product after the fact, and that their initial thoughts for marketing tended toward AdWords. In hindsight, the double-sided incentive for sharing DropBox with a friend seems obvious-- but that doesn't make it obvious at the beginning...

This is a bit old, wasnt this posted here before?

BTW, they need a new Adwords consultant. Box.net doesnt spend anything near that much per conversion and we probably advertised on the same keywords they tested.

It's 3 months old. Here's the original discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1290303

This is the reality all technical founders I've met want to be true: If you build a good enough product, competition or not, existing market or not, people will come to you.

I also know plenty of people who are cynical about that reality. So, what's going on? Is it just a matter of how good the product is? It can't just be great, it needs to be amazing?

Fantastic presentation. I'll probably end up reading it a few times, and I got one benefit already: I just took page 12 of the presentation, and actually applied it to a web-site I'm building. Not live yet, just a landing site.

http://viewpst.com/

Of course, one of DropBox' biggest advantage is the name! It's clear, concise and accurate.

Can we please stop calling things that aren't products "minimum viable products"? (Re: Slide 11)

You know what I'd like to see them do? Have a "growing storage" like gmail, as an incentive to sign up right now (so your dropbox storage starts growing right away), and as a conversation piece to improve the viral nature (one more hook to tell people: "so it syncs all your files, and the amount of storage you have is always growing like Gmail).

I can't seem to think of a good 2-sided incentive way of driving traffic to an entertainment website.

"If you get 5 people to click on your link to our site, we'll give you a tshirt."????would something like that work? stickers are 50 cents apiece, or less.

thoughts?

edit: its a free site, nothing to buy (thathigh.com)

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