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> I think the right initial metric is “do any users love our product so much they spontaneously tell other people to use it?” Until that’s a “yes”, founders ar

by magicmu 11y ago

> I think the right initial metric is “do any users love our product so much they spontaneously tell other people to use it?” Until that’s a “yes”, founders are generally better off focusing on this instead of a growth target. It all comes back to this. I was listening Aaron Harris' interview with Digital Ocean's Mitch Wainer on Startup School Radio the other day (phenomenal podcast). Wainer mentioned how people actually love Digital Ocean, and how rare it is for that word in particular to be paired with the name of a company. I think it's said so often that it can easily be glossed over, but that word is not chosen lightly. Having a product users actually love is extremely difficult, and extremely rewarding.

blizkreeg 11y ago
I've wondered what about Digital Ocean users love so much (I'm a customer)? They are not the first to offer cloud housting at cheap prices (I've used slicehost, EY before they became pricey in the past). Is it price? Is it ease of setup? Something else?
- rgbrgb 11y ago
  What appealed to me initially was that they were charging the same as the shady ultra cheap VPS providers but had an actual brand I could trust and were actively developing software to make managing their boxes easier. When I first saw them I was in college, so very price sensitive. They also have had a really effective content strategy from the start [0]. The tutorials are mostly on open source stuff you can do on any infrastructure provider, but the quality is pretty good and reinforces the trustworthiness of the brand. [0]: https://www.digitalocean.com/community/get-paid-to-write https://www.digitalocean.com/community/get-paid-to-write
- magicmu 11y ago
  For me, it's the wealth of tutorials and set-up information, as well as the straight-forward nature of their interface (both at a web and shell level). The pricing model is also fantastic.

by magicmu 11y ago

blizkreeg 11y ago

I've wondered what about Digital Ocean users love so much (I'm a customer)? They are not the first to offer cloud housting at cheap prices (I've used slicehost, EY before they became pricey in the past). Is it price? Is it ease of setup? Something else?

rgbrgb 11y ago
What appealed to me initially was that they were charging the same as the shady ultra cheap VPS providers but had an actual brand I could trust and were actively developing software to make managing their boxes easier. When I first saw them I was in college, so very price sensitive. They also have had a really effective content strategy from the start [0]. The tutorials are mostly on open source stuff you can do on any infrastructure provider, but the quality is pretty good and reinforces the trustworthiness of the brand. [0]: https://www.digitalocean.com/community/get-paid-to-write https://www.digitalocean.com/community/get-paid-to-write
magicmu 11y ago
For me, it's the wealth of tutorials and set-up information, as well as the straight-forward nature of their interface (both at a web and shell level). The pricing model is also fantastic.