No, he's not offering content at all (except a sporadic blog post). Our -new- product, the one that's going to bring us the growth we direly need, is the one that's being evolved on our two sites, in parallel.
90 karma · joined October 16, 2010
Query run times, above all, is where my inexperience shows the most and is by far the most hamstringing part of this process.
"How do you know he's progressing faster?" > I watch his site develop as I develop mine, and he's got better versions of everything in place. My charts are static, his are dynamic. My page load times suck, his are fluid. And so on. We COULD iterate faster but we do not have the money to hire. We're making enough money to pay our editors and writers, and the founders are taking a paltry salary (I still do a bit of freelance writing to keep my bills paid), but not enough to pay for developers. This is why I have taken the helm and learned to hack!
My partner is also a lawyer, and handles everything related to tax, marketing, legal and bookkeeping. The competitor's revenue model is basically "run ads". I dont think he's even considering it as a real business. He's only a problem as long as his service is free, mind you. Once he starts charging, we have the advantage.
We don't "claim" to have a working paywall model; it's there. We are pulling down 5 figures of yearly revenue from subscriber fees (most of which goes towards overhead right now). We are indeed a very niche site, and our new product is targeted directly at both business and end-user customers within this niche. It's a product they're BEGGING for!
I'm about to give my business beta testers their first shot at the software, as soon as I can figure out why the whole thing is running so damned slow. From there I will have a tremendous advantage over the Other Guy. I'm learning as fast as I can, but I still -fear- that its not fast enough.
"The fact that you said that the "[...] products will be functionally identical once both are deployed and out of beta" is a red-flag" >> Hmm. I guess that's a bit short sighted of me. The concepts are the same, so I'm hoping my execution beats his.
I don't care if he copies my existing work; I care if he beats me to market and gets the publicity he needs to give away what I intend to charge for.
There is a lot of fear in my post because that's exactly what I'm feeling; its a new feeling for me. My site blazed a new trail in my industry; no one had dedicated an entire platform to our area before, and we haven't really experienced competition.
The competition only underscores just how good this idea is, and how important it is to get it to market ASAP.
I think I have to ensure our execution is better, our CORE feature set is comparable (not talking bells and whistles, i mean The One Thing that makes the product what it is), and we have the platform he lacks. Thanks again for taking the time to address this. Entrepreneurship is sometimes emotionally draining and it's great to have a community that understands the feelings that can sometimes crop up.
I guess its back to coding, then!
I know it's all about A/B testing and iterating and minimum viable product, but a sexy signup form that clearly required no time investment of your own does not make me think you're going to build a good product. It says "I'm a 'serial entrepreneur' cranking out crap to hope for a big pay day. If my product sucks and I get bored, I don't care."
It makes good business sense for the most part, but on a personal level I don't much care for it. It's the user's choice to opt in, and if the product genuinely seems useful there is a chance for mutual benefit. If not, just don't sign up.
On a separate note, what's to stop me from making up a bullshit project, putting up a fancy web 3.1 Hot New Product launch page, and just selling your emails to spammer lists? I can just put an empty and "personable" promise on my signup page and lie. "We won't spam you. Promise."
The whole thing makes me jaded about web entrepreneurship. I've been grinding it out on one company for 30+ months, so when some 'serial entrepreneur' just craps out mediocre work and gets paid to do it, a piece of me dies on the inside. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned.
Don't most new companies aim for product names that are easily verb'ed? "Google it", "Xerox it", "Reddit", etc.
"The image was enhanced using Adobe® Photoshop® software." "This writer has a stick up his butt".
The trademark owner should be identified whenever possible.
Because so many people are using Apple's Photoshop, Google Photoshop and NeXT's Photoshop. Shouldn't they be glad that their product name is SO ubiquitous that they don't NEED stuff like this?
Oh lawyers. You so crazy.
This happens to me every few months. Go do something totally non-technical, simple, and enjoyable. Last week I drove from Chicago up to Wisconsin to enjoy crisp country air, an array of cheeses[] (ack. no technical stuff...) and I got to yell at some sheep. I didn't check my email, text anyone, and I tried desperately not to think about my projects that had me on the verge of a melt-down.
Trust yourself to know; working more/harder is rarely a good choice. If you take a day off and you're still tired and don't want to work, take another day. And another. If, after 2 or 3 days, you're still right where you started, you're probably working on stuff you hate.
If you're just burnt out on working on what you enjoy, a couple days (or even a week) off will make all the difference
Any plans for social features? I want to share my goals with the universe!
that ruined it for me. but I'm glad he reassured me it wouldn't be a site that meant to scare the shit out of me!
This, and more on News at 11.
seriously, did anyone expect this to be a "new paradigm"? it was a fun toy for financially-minded engineers and traders, but I can't say I'm surprised to hear that it's in free-fall.
i wonder where the bottom is? Once it drops well below USD1.00, I think I'll buy a bunch on a cheap bet :)
It's really easy to turn a refund request into a repeat customer. If you're getting people "gaming" the system, change your policy.
the "sacrifice" now will be worth the effort, so just get the best-paying lazy boy job you can find.
They actually hauled an antique spinning wheel across the country for her, made us some italian chicken, and regaled us with tales of revolutionary war re-enactment over dinner. utterly fascinating folk, generous and warm and welcoming. my girlfriend is now building a business around yarn, knitting and spinning, and ravelry is, and will be, instrumental to her growth.
it's one of the most impressive community/social network projects i've EVER seen.
Ethically, as long as all the participants know the rules of the game, there's no trouble. Some people like games where there's an element of total catastrophe.
Honestly ask yourself if your product is worth what you're charging. I know my customers get more than their cost from my product, because I've asked them. Just be sure you're not drinking your own kool aid.
I don't know if it's even on the table, but I agree with the article; there should be bids out for this company. I'm hoping that Dorsey et al do not sell it. I could see Visa buying them and doing something destructive - intentionally or not.