jeffepp

Awesome. Going to update that in the post - Thanks Shpigford!

Wufoo (Acquired by SurveyMonkey) and Olark have both survived without raising additional funding.

I assume that is what you mean?

Four Steps to the Epiphany, Rework, Entrepreneurs Guide to Cust Dev, The Lean Startup

When you 'forge' your own path with fellow entrepreneurs who are learning -- will you grant more weight to those who have proven to succeed?

How about those who built more successful (at least from a financial perspective) than 99.99999% of the world and have the power and resources to enact real change?

Haven't you heard, a recent article [1] gives 13 reasons there is a comeback, and it has some interesting nuggets:

- unemployment is 11.3% (not 50%) - high tech jobs growing over 100% yoy - ranked 46/150 for growth (opposed to 146 previously)

[1] http://www.businessinsider.com/detroit-comeback-2011-3

Rents, land, & costs of living are super low -- these are all significant advantages in any competitive business landscape.

It's pretty clear you don't know "all about" Detroit, it's nice that you quote a few articles though (especially one from 2009).

The opportunity that I mentioned is not in residential (yet) although I would be a buyer of raw land near downtown.

There are some truly awful areas, but there are also some really great areas of Detroit -- especially Midtown -- where there are very low vacancy rates and an influx of college grads who want to live in a vibrant urban environment.

Billionaires are buying (with both hands) commercial buildings for pennies on the dollar. I'm going to bet they know a bit more about "opportunity" than the authors of your articles.

There is a TON of opportunity in Detroit. A lot of smart money has already started pouring into the city.

May want to add Detroit in there too :)

I would differentiate the feedback forums (Uservoice, GetSatisfaction) from Olark & SnapEngage which help with converting customers via real-time chats.

Real time chat is much more important for a startup. You can learn from potential customers + convert them on the spot...

zferral.com (http://zferral.com) custom referral programs for your website.

As consumers get more 'savvy' (aware that ads are displaying first) they will be less likely to click these ads.

One reason why I believe consumption is more and more likely to be based on our social graph (recommendations + referrals) rather than search.

Agree this makes the most sense. However, I would argue there is some social value for each company each time a person says they are interesting in spending XX at a certain company.

Ultimately, they should place some value on that (perhaps, not a 25% discount though)

Seems like a cool app. For such a nice looking UI the company logos on the bottom look awful.

Love the UI - well done!

Okay, talk to me after getting feedback for a few months :)

Sounds like your mind is made up.

Free to acquire users down the line is very different that free to gather feedback.

People who will pay you are typically very different than those who will use your product for free.

Feedback from people who won't pay is feedback you want to weed out.

I am typically against free web apps. It lowers the bar for everyone.

People get what they pay for, I would be worried you are not in business to make money...

Must be another strategy behind this.

You should all come out to Funded By Night as well. http://fundedbynight.com -- tickets are just $10 for students and if you aren't a student just use the code "HN" and I'll get you the student discount.

Micah Baldwin (Graphicly) & Noah Kagan (AppSumo) will be speaking there...

Awesome. Be sure to checkout http://startupdigest.com, Michigan edition. I am a curator.

BTW, I am in Bham too.

http://lessaccounting.com - you can get bookkeeping and accounting software

In Michigan you can form a LLC for $50. It's super simple.

EDIT: I am also an attorney, but have never practiced. In most cases a LLC is the best way to incorporate your startup. (Unless, you know you are getting funding ASAP)

http://postmarkapp.com - we love it.

This was (and still is) common practice for online poker pros. I have some friends who play for a living and I did while in school...

Keeping money online or in a "Neteller" account was a good way to keep a bankroll outside your regular "spending money."

Most professional (or serious) players keep a bankroll as a running tally of gains/losses and for tax purposes (yes, it's true).

The best learning you can do at a University is learning about yourself and being on your own (for most people this is the first time they have freedom from their parents).

It's also a chance to meet people different from your high school, which in many areas, are rather homogeneous.

All of these things can be learned after college, however, the learning curve is much steeper...

Finally, I don't know many people who say "I wish I dropped out of college and started a business" although I know I would give my left arm to live as an undergrad for another semester

Definitely do it yourself. You want to know about the person or company who wants to purchase the domain. It makes a world of difference (re: how to negotiate).

Well done Lachy! Good start, and a great MVP. Looking forward to watching it develop..

Chargify: http://chargify.com

Project Bubble http://projectbubble.com

Clickable: http://splinch.it

Startups get approached all the time (ones with traction & articles written about them) so simply tell the founder you love the company and would like to invest.

If he has raised money he will not be turned off by your approach.

Your best bet is to join in a round (if it is open) otherwise, it may not be feasible given the other investors and legal issues involved.

Excellent, thanks for the feedback - appreciate it.