Ask HN: OpenLoopz: location-aware task management - advice needed
http://www.openloopz.com
I would appreciate it if the HN community could give me some feedback on the app and a little advice on what to do next!
The first version of OpenLoopz was conceptualised way back in 2008 when I purchased my first Android device (the lovable G1) at around the same time I was reading Getting Things Done by David Allen. OpenLoopz was born. While the initial release received a decent amount of interest (14K+ downloads overall) and maintained a 4.5 rating on the Android Market, the project was always a learning experience for me and it showed in the quality of the final app. I received a great deal of positive feedback for the underlying concept, but understandably, the majority of users would not consider committing to OpenLoopz fully without support for some kind of server-side sync feature.
I always envisaged expanding OpenLoopz into a full service complete with a web-app, sync and support for other mobile platforms such as iOS, but in the early days it was always a bit of a pipe-dream to be honest. I had to maintain a full-time job and for a good while I was only able to work on OpenLoopz now and then when I had some free time.
At one point around a year ago, I decided it was time to get serious. My brother became involved and we half-heartedly went down the investment path for a while without any success. Despite setback after setback I decided to commit to the project and took several months out from my day job to work full-time on OpenLoopz, living on my savings. Unfortunately, it all ended in disaster (http://goo.gl/LIlhe), but it was a great learning experience and I have come back much stronger this year (and hopefully a little wiser!).
Now that the Android app is finally released, I am looking for advice on ways to generate funds so I can potentially work full-time on development of the web-app/sync feature. As crowdfunding seem to be all the rage at the moment I have been researching the various services. Unfortunately, I cannot use KickStarter as I live outside the US (I am based in County Durham in the UK). Out of the alternatives that support the UK, Indiegogo looks like the best to me so I am in the process of putting together a campaign on there - I figure it’s worth a try! I would be very interested to hear from others regarding any experiences using alternative crowdfunding services and/or advice regarding other approaches to generating funds.
I am looking forward to any advice I can get from the HN community whether it’s constructive criticism/feedback regarding the app or advice on crowdfunding (or both!).
Thank you, Paul Drummond