Comment by tr1ll10nb1ll | Hacker News Reader

Comment by tr1ll10nb1ll | Hacker News Reader

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I gotta be really honest with you, the title is very catchy but when I open the website, I don't find any detail regarding how this would work, what exactly is this. All I know is it's got some algo trading modules but what next?

Like, what is this thing? Is this legal? Is this just more like a compilation of strategies that tell the user what to invest in or is this like a bot like it says it is in which case, the users would need to trust this thing to invest using an algo-trader bot deployed by a venture no one's really heard of.

If this is a project, then great, the concept sounds pretty cool but if this is more like an actual startup, then the path is gnarly, since there are well-trusted platforms already out there including:

- https://www.algotrader.com - https://www.quantconnect.com, etc.

And if you're referring to "no-code" platforms :

- https://www.algogen.io

- https://www.quantreex.com

- https://streak.world

I'm not trying to say your platform is not good per se or anything but if it's meant to be a startup, then it's not doing a particularly great job at it as of now.

It'd be great if you could answer this for me ( if this is a startup and not a project for fun ) :

Are you aware that in order for your platform to be trusted, it doesn't need to be slightly better than the competition but better on a large magnitude? If you know so, then what makes your platform way better than other platforms out there?

Thanks!

This is just wrong, none of those have anything to do with this website from the looks of it. Also, how can you judge a startups health with a cursory look at the site?

Well I read whatever was on the outlet of that startup and asked my questions and presented my observations on that, I didn't claim them to be right, the questions were to clarify those claims, that's the whole point of discussions.

Hey!

I appreciate the feedback (rereading the site I can see the confusion), but I think concluding this is “doing poorly as a startup” is a little premature and something you can’t accurately judge, especially since from your submission history it looks like you have little in the way of a successful startup background when this field is very much a learn by doing one.

This is closer to a roboadvisor than those niche hobby brokerages. The massive difference is those all have incredible barriers to entry - knowing how to code, or at least knowing how to build a profitable automated investment strategy. These are all turnkey, transparent, and no code customizable. Regular investors can use these, only a few can properly take advantage of those you listed. Most of my users came from Fidelity, Schwab, Betterment, and so on. Not Quantconnect (though plenty have come from there and others).

Compared to roboadvisors: these models are more far more innovative and diverse. Use crypto or quantitative strategies made by professionals or curated from other users instead of standard stock bond allocations. Even innovative roboadvisors like m1finance only go as far as hedge fund followers. The difference is huge - the goal here is to be your platform for higher risk and higher return investing, for the 15-20% of your portfolio you want to go further at the risk of larger drawdowns.

I was where you were on my entrepreneurial journey recently, so my best advice is just to do. “10x improvements” and other academics they teach you in SUS is super useful (and often true), but until actually applying the learning, finding what works for you in the current market, you’re just repeating catchphrases without understanding them. You likely won’t even understand the magnitude of an improvement until you do your research and try things out, so best to focus on that when your idea has been validated first.

For your reference: this scrappy site with no optimizations, no contact, no how it works, no fluff, has already garnered several millions of $ in pledged user investment, has profitable and repeatable acquisition channels with an on page organic conversion rate of a large fraction of visitors, has collected thousands of data points, surveys, and interviews towards product market fit and all aspects of the model from target customers to revenue streams, and all this only a few weeks (late December) into prelaunch. I added only what was important to my preexisting library and put it out there. All my research and customer feedback so far suggests that this is a magnitude of improvement, and many are desperate for a platform like this.

Hope that clears it up and thanks again for the feedback!

Hey, thanks for replying and clearing the air.

However, I would like to point a few things out :

- Based on my submission history, it can be deduced that I don't have a successful startup history and that's absolutely true but the questions I asked you were from my understanding of YC SUS and how successful startups usually work, I'm not saying my understanding is 100% correct but it is, to some extent and it has little to do with anyone's startup background. I don't mean this as an excuse in any way but I'm 17 right now and I believe that starting up defensively by throwing that I don't have a successful startup isn't the most respectful thing when you could've just politely answered my questions ( or not ).

- I never claimed that your startup is doing poorly, I merely pointed it's not doing a "great job" *as of now* from what I could tell by evaluating the points from your competition and your offering. But, I wasn't totally sure of that either, hence wanted you to answer those questions for me ( if this was actually an startup, which as it turns out, it is ). And, thanks for answering those questions.

Again, I mean no disrespect to you or your startup. I, as a user of your website, felt that there was stuff left unclear or missing. If you're still gaining massive user growth, honestly, good for you! Although, if I'm your potential user, I think you should work on the feedback I gave, be more lucid and transparent with your product. Otherwise, you should happily discard what I have to say, since that'd legitimately not be the best use of your time.

Also, good luck with your startup, hope it gets even more traction and becomes usable, transparent, and clear enough for a user like me :))

P.S As for the questions about your startup, I think I got my answers. If you were a little less defensive with the initial part, it would've been nice too :)

I began my comment by pointing out how your comment was disrespectful, and was blunt it making that point, but I digress.

My main point is that you misapplied those otherwise true principles from YC SUS because you haven't had enough practice with them. Quantconnect and Streak have totally different customers and value proposition - they aren't comparable to Quantbase, and so your entire analysis is incorrect at the start from faulty assumptions (in part perhaps because I need to further clarify the value prop - a marginal improvement).

A 10x improvement is a great rule of thumb because the costs of switching and trust is high - which means that magnitude improvement is relative to the alternatives, and is in the direction of an actual value proposition. People don't use Quantconnect because they have a great How It Works explanation, they use it for the community and trading API. Likewise, missing a How It Works section on my site - while a great suggestion and one I'll eventually add - is likely just a marginal improvement (because it isn't a core value prop) and certainly would be a waste of time for validation (unless my site was too confusing to understand in the first place for most people so my value prop isn't being communicated). Because Quantconnect and Quantbase aren’t alternatives, and How It Works sections aren’t in the direction of a value proposition for either, mentioning the need for a 10x magnitude improvement from a non competitor suggesting a non value prop is just non sensical.

Again, I appreciate your feedback, you just came across as disrespectful by jumping to conclusions on incorrect applications of principles and that's what I took issue with. YC SUS is an awesome resource, but make sure you understand their teachings (by testing them yourself and building your own startups), otherwise you may misapply them.

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