How I got funded by future customers | Hacker News Reader

How I got funded by future customers

30 pointsLucadg23 comments

When I started looking for money for my project, I had no idea how to find funders. I don't live in the US, I'm from Italy and spend too much living in different countries to be able to build the right relationships with funders. So I decided to ask future potential customers.

The system I am building allows people to create their own online business. In Italy I am known as "the guy who lives traveling" and everybody asks me all the time how I do it (I have a small online business...not a very big deal) and I kind of "sold the dream": in short I said "I have been working online and traveling for 10 years. Now I am going to build a platform so that also you can do this. I need money, would you pay in advance 1000 euro to be part of it?". It worked and I collected 25.000..not much but enough to start. If they decide to leave I have to give the money back (not immediately), while if they stay I made the sale before even writing a single line of code. There's really a lot to say (it's going quite well), it deserves a few blog posts. The best thing is not only that I got the money to go ahead but the community we built together. Amazing people, with a common dream: work online and quit the day job to travel or simply have more control on one's life. Nobody wants to be a millionaire.

I just wanted to share this with you as some may be interested about it. Feel free to ask any questions of course and thank you for HN, it's my first read in the morning! Greetings from Bali.

I'd be interested in seeing what you're thinking about, because I might know some people who would also be "future customers."

You ought to write up your plans, blog about your progress, and give as a link.

Please?

Here it is :) http://www.adormo.com/blog/marketing/how-adormo-was-funded-b...

WOWOW!!! How have we missed each other? hehe.

I founded Project Getaway last year (an event in Bali for people with online businesses/location independence), and we had an absolute blast. I now live here in Bali (just north of Sanur), because I love it so much, and really enjoy life. Where in Bali are you situated?

I'm working on building up an office for online entrepreneurs here in Bali too. Have you considered doing that too?

Finally, I just announced our 2011 event, which has some cool videos from last year which you can see here: http://www.projectgetaway.com/blog/bali-2011-adventurous-ent...

eh, me too. I'm in Jakarta for 2 months (ok, not very glamorous), planning to go to Maluku for some time after that, building an online business. Maybe there should be a directory of expat entrepreneurs in indonesia :-)

Let me know if you come to Bali and need a place to stay. I am very interested in such an expat entrepreneurs in Indonesia list.

I'm attending IMULAI in Jakarta on April 8th as an investor (Indonesia's version of Y-combinator) and will be in Jakarta for a few days. Would be fun to meet up there if you're in town.

I should be in jakarta at that time. My email toumhi at yahoo dot fr

what a coincidence :) I'll be in Ubud for 3 more weeks and then I'll go to Sri Lanka. We should really meet. I'll be happy to come and see you or if you wish come and see me. I like your idea btw!

Sounds great! Let's find a time that fits and I'll come visit you in Ubud (love Bali Buddha cafe, if you haven't tried it yet).

I have some new developers starting this week which we need to train up, so I'm thinking next week would be great. Drop me a mail at michael(at)bodekaer.dk and I'll get back to you.

I've been at Bali Buddha two days ago :) ok, I'll send you an email.

Love the idea. Kind of an airbnb builder. I just have a comment though on this page "http://www.adormo.com/project/ownersite/en/features.htm. I would replace "cheapest" by "least expensive", or "cost effective". Cheapest well sounds cheap most of the times. Just a personal preference. That being said, i would love to hear more about your plans.

done! Thanks for the tip!

Thanks for the feedback, I will write a blog post then. Just a few quick comments for now:

link: http://www.adormo.com/ we have a blog too, but I haven't linked it yet from the home page as it has only 4 posts: http://www.adormo.com/blog

> Kind of an airbnb builder yes, eventually you may build something like airbnb. Of course by the time we get there airbnb will be on the moon :) The idea did not come from there though, I have been working with online apartments since 2001 and needed a way to build my own websites. Then it struck me...I can do something for others too!

> Did you solicit your future customers online? yes

> Did you know them from before? no, but many knew my travel blog or were part of my travel forum.

> Are you an affiliate marketer? I'm not

Your attitude is an inspiration to us all.

1. Did you solicit your future customers online? 2. Did you know them from before? 3. Link to your website

from the user's profile, he built this site: http://www.adormo.com/ which brings airbnb to mind.

Sounds like he helps owners of entire apartments to build a reservation website. Different to airbnb. I think this is a grammatical error: "You rent apartments." -> "You lease apartments."

It depends on where you are from. I think in America "lease" is more correct, but in many other English speaking countries, "lease" is the name of the legal contract, and "you rent apartments" is perfectly OK.

> I think in America "lease" is more correct, but in many other English speaking countries, "lease" is the name of the legal contract, and "you rent apartments" is perfectly OK.

In America, there are both rental agreements and lease agreements. Rental agreements are open-ended while lease agreements are for a fixed period of time.

One of the most common forms is actually a hybrid - it's a one year lease that then becomes a month-to-month rental agreement.

FWIW, many "apartment/house for rent" advertisements are actually solicitations for the hybrid agreement.

I have drafted a product that might fit your customers perfectly, and compliment what you are doing. Maybe we should talk. It would be great if you gave some detail, like in a blog post.

please contact me info at adormo com

Impressive approach. Keep up the good work!

Not much to add, but congratulations!

Are you an affiliate marketer?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com