Comment by Irregardless | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Irregardless | Hacker News Reader

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My questions as someone learning web development and always searching for new (quality) resources: Who are you? And why should I pay you $200?

> Previously I led the software design team at a local startup, but in the last year I have been working independently designing and developing my own apps.

After seeing the $200 price tag, I expected to read something along the lines of "My web apps have been used by over X million users", along with a few examples. Or maybe "I built the websites for these well known companies". Since that isn't the case, the next thing I looked for to establish your credibility was reviews. Hmm, also missing.

For the price of the book alone ($29), I could watch 100+ hours of tutorials on a site like Lynda or Tuts+ from a variety of developers with similar experience. I'm having a hard time verifying that the value of the resources matches the price tag.

Sorry if this seems overly critical, figured you might want the honest opinion of a hesitant customer who could potentially be converted. I may still buy one of the packages after I read through your blog some more.

The worst thing is to have people not buy, but have no idea what kept them from making the purchase. So thank you for the feedback!

I'm not someone super famous, but I have designed a lot of software applications used by companies ranging from Johnson & Johnson to Hobby Lobby. But they were clients of the company I used to work for (have since left), since I now work on my own I can't call them my clients.

You don't have to say those clients were yours, but you could say that you worked on "projects for" or some other creative verbiage around that.

> "The worst thing is to have people not buy, but have no idea what kept them from making the purchase"

That is very true.

My feedback: I visited your page and did not buy because I have zero revenue on my sites, and I have bought already so many things before (books, hosting, web templates, logo, etc) that I am in a "puzzled mood". I also did not feel the offer was for me. Right now my problem is figuring out how to make money out of my sites' visitors. To clarify I am one step behind where you are: I look at many options and wonder which way to go. Building a web app is one option, but it takes lots of time, and I would like to first get some confirmation that it is the right option to go for. Other option I consider is creating content (tutorials, forum).

He's not going to be able to change who he is, so if he's not well known then he's not well known.

If you think being famous is what makes someone qualified to create a product you want to buy, then you're not going to buy his product. That's just the beginning and end of that question, and he shouldn't worry about that one bit.

He's not going to sell as many books as DHH would, but hopefully the product stands on its merits and will provide more value to its readers/watchers/interacters than what they paid for it. My guess is that to many it will.

> If you think being famous is what makes someone qualified to create a product you want to buy, then you're not going to buy his product.

That's not what he said. He only asked for some evidence that the writer is really good at "Designing Web Applications", and knows what he's talking about.

How about evaluating the work itself -- through the sample, or buying the book and asking for money back if it's unsatisfactory?

I agree, $200 is way too much to pay for content from a person I've never heard of, and couldn't find any easy reference in the page. With that kind of money you can get a lot of good content in a lot of places.

I just don't see the differential that would make me spend that much money on this.

No known clients, no big companies in the past. It makes me hesitant to even consider buying this.

Disclaimer: I was interviewed for the book and just finished skimming through my copy.

First off, Nathan generously offers a full money back guarantee. If you don't find the book's value outweighs the cost, ask for a refund.

Second, yes, you can wade through hundreds of blog posts or whatever else to find a lot of what Nathan presents in the book. But I value my time, and the overhead of doing that filtration vs. having Nathan do it for me is worth a lot more than $200, especially if I build web apps for a living (which I do). There is relatively little new information under the sun — but I gladly pay people to package the best available information up and tie it all together nicely.

Well said bdunn!

No, a money back guarantee is standard business practice (esp. with a high sticker price) and a way of increasing conversion rates. It's CRO 101.

> For the price of the book alone ($29), I could watch 100+ hours of tutorials on a site like Lynda or Tuts+ from a variety of developers with similar experience. I'm having a hard time verifying that the value of the resources matches the price tag.

Dude. Do you realize that you are valuing your time at approximately 25 cents per hour? I suspect you have other, deeper reasons for not investing such a small amount of money in something that, by the way, comes with a full guarantee.

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