7 ms·

There is a bit of detail missing that I would like to understand. How to just 'talk' and give help? Do you approach people/businesses and ask if they are having

There is a bit of detail missing that I would like to understand. How to just 'talk' and give help? Do you approach people/businesses and ask if they are having any problems? Or, your aim is to just get the conversation ball rolling, hoping that it leads to the problem part without deliberation?

chii 9y ago
i have a friend who is a construction contractor, and one of the tasks they needed to do is inspection of a property, and take pictures of problematic areas with notes. Currently, this is a manual process, paper driven with digital photos, and after wards, somebody back in the office would transcribe the hand written notes into an excel spreadsheet along with pics. This process could be made easier with an automated app on the phone. I had thought about making such an app, but haven't yet. I guess when you talk to someone, you naturally gravitate towards issues they have.
- floogtheunfound 9y ago
  It exists; was at a Founders pitch day for new Seattle startups recently and the winner was a company using drones and sensors along with chat features. I’m pretty sure it was called something like “Unearthed” or something. I’m not sure if they got inspired by a similar interaction with acquaintances or not but it seems reasonable
- tacostakohashi 9y ago
  That app is called Evernote / OneNote / Google Keep - incrementally improving their process using off the shelf software is likely to be more practical than a custom app. Where is your contractor friend based? I am looking for a contractor, or some contacts, for a job now.
  - Silhouette 9y ago
    improving their process using off the shelf software is likely to be more practical than a custom app That really depends on context. Very often something starts out sounding like "document with text and pictures" or "database with some tables in it and some forms for UI", making it an easy job with generic business software. However, often when you look at the details the actual requirements are more complicated and require some level of domain-specific functionality. There are many applications that are aimed at a certain industry and provide some core function that seems quite generic but then some other more industry-specific functions on top. That certainly includes tracking, displaying and annotating specifications and inspection results in the construction industry, where there are multiple players in the market already.
- rompic 9y ago
  you might like https://www.planradar.com/ https://www.planradar.com/ disclaimer: I met the founder once at a party.
  - tootie 9y ago
    You shouldn't let the existence of a competitor stop you. The business model of Lyft/Gett/Juno is basically to carbon copy Uber and get piece of their pie. Just being a deliberate copycat isn't a terrible strategy. Trying to one-up something that already exists is also plausible, if not easier because their is already a trailblazer that has made the market and you can just piggyback. Facebook succeeded because of MySpace, not in spite of it.
    - rlayton2 9y ago
      You could argue Uber copied Lyft (although it might be more convergence than anything), which I suppose just highlights your point even further.
- rozenmd 9y ago
  There are several apps that do this - Infrasis (if it's still around), iAuditor, etc
- agentultra 9y ago
  This is pretty much our bread and butter where I work. Our system lets you design the forms using rich widgets that let you take photos, sketch on them, record tolerance measurements, etc and we generate rich data dashboards and reports from it. The clients all work on mobile devices over poor, intermittent connections. Our users love it. We work with a lot of clients in manufacturing and construction. Our system has a way to build and schedule regular inspections, notifications, etc. We're working on business process management and moving into regulated industries. A friend of mine works in sewers for a big construction contractor. I want this company using our stuff so that his job is more safe. Right now they take readings from his sniffer and write them out onto a sheet in a log book and throw that data in the back of the van. It might be three months or so before someone enters that data into a spreadsheet. If there was an incident and my friend happens to not make it out of the hole that day -- he's just another statistic. I hope that by taking a reading with our software we can at least anticipate the environment he's diving into. His co-workers won't be able to scribble some non-sense on paper and throw it in the back of the van before he dives in -- they'll be accountable and people will be notified if they don't. It's amazing how much our customers still use paper and spreadsheets despite having SAP, Oracle, SAS etc servicing them with solutions for that last couple of decades. Turns out having a small team that can move fast and listen to users on the ground floor is still a good strategy.
thomk 9y ago
Strike up a conversation with anyone, casually mention you work with computers and they will tell you every problem they have from their horrible cellphone reception to the idiot IT guy at work to issues with Excel. Whatever the current 'computer' problem is, your'e about to hear it. That's step 1. Step 2 is give them some solid advice in the form of a few things to try. Say "Well here's what I would do" and tell them what you'd do. If they keep asking questions, tell them something along the lines of "I did something like that for another guy and charged him $X/hour, you want me to stop by?" Mentioning an hourly rate lets them know that even though this might be a hobby for them, its not a hobby for you. It also weeds out the tire kickers.
- personjerry 9y ago
  Not if you live in the bay area
  - EGreg 9y ago
    Why not? Can you elaborate
    - personjerry 9y ago
      In the Bay area everyone is assumed to be in tech unless otherwise noted, so this sort of uninformed response to "I'm a computer guy" is generally not seen
      - EGreg 9y ago
        I am in SF right now for a couple days and the vast majority of people I run across are NOT in tech. Where are the tech people? Where can I run into potential investors in SF? When people say Bay Area I think they really mean Palo Alto!
        personjerry 9y ago
        Interesting. In my experience, at any given function, at bars, in parks, or anywhere really in the bay area, talking to anyone has around 50% chance to be someone working at some sort of tech company. Not necessarily an engineer, but certainly close enough to probably know computers to a reasonable level.
300bps 9y ago
I met my largest side client while at a baseball clinic my son was attending. I was reading a very thick book studying for a certification when a local business owner approached me and said, "Are you in IT?" Four years later of 15-20 hours per week side work and that chance encounter had an amazing impact on my life.
- vidar 9y ago
  Just curious: What do you charge them?
  - 300bps 9y ago
    $150 per hour.
jahbrewski 9y ago
While I can't speak for OP, I've taken a similar approach with my own business. For me, the most important thing was to simply change my mindset from thinking "how can this person I just met help me (give me leads/business/etc)?" to: "how can I help this person I just met?" And that's going to be completely dependent on context. Maybe they need some help with a meetup, maybe they need some help with their iPhone, maybe they need some help with something completely non-tech related, and maybe they don't need help with anything at the moment. The point is: people like to help people who have helped them in the past. No one likes someone who appears selfish. Basically, just be a good friend to the people you meet.
- nickthemagicman 9y ago
  I don't think it's a problem with mindset..it's the actual logistics of making it happen. They also need to ENVISION their goal, and then WORK HARD, and OVERCOME ADVERSITY. Also TEAMWORK AND GRATITUDE!
stephenboyd 9y ago
She and her cofounder were already in an an industry niche before then as graphics and compression experts, so I'd assume they already had a lot of contacts from former co-workers, meetups, conferences, etc. If you're an expert in something and you meet someone in a related corner of the industry to yours, they'll usually be eager to talk about what they're working on and recommend you to their contacts.

chii 9y ago

i have a friend who is a construction contractor, and one of the tasks they needed to do is inspection of a property, and take pictures of problematic areas with notes. Currently, this is a manual process, paper driven with digital photos, and after wards, somebody back in the office would transcribe the hand written notes into an excel spreadsheet along with pics. This process could be made easier with an automated app on the phone. I had thought about making such an app, but haven't yet. I guess when you talk to someone, you naturally gravitate towards issues they have.

floogtheunfound 9y ago
It exists; was at a Founders pitch day for new Seattle startups recently and the winner was a company using drones and sensors along with chat features. I’m pretty sure it was called something like “Unearthed” or something. I’m not sure if they got inspired by a similar interaction with acquaintances or not but it seems reasonable
tacostakohashi 9y ago
That app is called Evernote / OneNote / Google Keep - incrementally improving their process using off the shelf software is likely to be more practical than a custom app. Where is your contractor friend based? I am looking for a contractor, or some contacts, for a job now.
- Silhouette 9y ago
  improving their process using off the shelf software is likely to be more practical than a custom app That really depends on context. Very often something starts out sounding like "document with text and pictures" or "database with some tables in it and some forms for UI", making it an easy job with generic business software. However, often when you look at the details the actual requirements are more complicated and require some level of domain-specific functionality. There are many applications that are aimed at a certain industry and provide some core function that seems quite generic but then some other more industry-specific functions on top. That certainly includes tracking, displaying and annotating specifications and inspection results in the construction industry, where there are multiple players in the market already.
rompic 9y ago
you might like https://www.planradar.com/ https://www.planradar.com/ disclaimer: I met the founder once at a party.
- tootie 9y ago
  You shouldn't let the existence of a competitor stop you. The business model of Lyft/Gett/Juno is basically to carbon copy Uber and get piece of their pie. Just being a deliberate copycat isn't a terrible strategy. Trying to one-up something that already exists is also plausible, if not easier because their is already a trailblazer that has made the market and you can just piggyback. Facebook succeeded because of MySpace, not in spite of it.
  - rlayton2 9y ago
    You could argue Uber copied Lyft (although it might be more convergence than anything), which I suppose just highlights your point even further.
rozenmd 9y ago
There are several apps that do this - Infrasis (if it's still around), iAuditor, etc
agentultra 9y ago
This is pretty much our bread and butter where I work. Our system lets you design the forms using rich widgets that let you take photos, sketch on them, record tolerance measurements, etc and we generate rich data dashboards and reports from it. The clients all work on mobile devices over poor, intermittent connections. Our users love it. We work with a lot of clients in manufacturing and construction. Our system has a way to build and schedule regular inspections, notifications, etc. We're working on business process management and moving into regulated industries. A friend of mine works in sewers for a big construction contractor. I want this company using our stuff so that his job is more safe. Right now they take readings from his sniffer and write them out onto a sheet in a log book and throw that data in the back of the van. It might be three months or so before someone enters that data into a spreadsheet. If there was an incident and my friend happens to not make it out of the hole that day -- he's just another statistic. I hope that by taking a reading with our software we can at least anticipate the environment he's diving into. His co-workers won't be able to scribble some non-sense on paper and throw it in the back of the van before he dives in -- they'll be accountable and people will be notified if they don't. It's amazing how much our customers still use paper and spreadsheets despite having SAP, Oracle, SAS etc servicing them with solutions for that last couple of decades. Turns out having a small team that can move fast and listen to users on the ground floor is still a good strategy.

thomk 9y ago

Strike up a conversation with anyone, casually mention you work with computers and they will tell you every problem they have from their horrible cellphone reception to the idiot IT guy at work to issues with Excel. Whatever the current 'computer' problem is, your'e about to hear it. That's step 1. Step 2 is give them some solid advice in the form of a few things to try. Say "Well here's what I would do" and tell them what you'd do. If they keep asking questions, tell them something along the lines of "I did something like that for another guy and charged him $X/hour, you want me to stop by?" Mentioning an hourly rate lets them know that even though this might be a hobby for them, its not a hobby for you. It also weeds out the tire kickers.

personjerry 9y ago
Not if you live in the bay area
- EGreg 9y ago
  Why not? Can you elaborate
  - personjerry 9y ago
    In the Bay area everyone is assumed to be in tech unless otherwise noted, so this sort of uninformed response to "I'm a computer guy" is generally not seen
    - EGreg 9y ago
      I am in SF right now for a couple days and the vast majority of people I run across are NOT in tech. Where are the tech people? Where can I run into potential investors in SF? When people say Bay Area I think they really mean Palo Alto!
      - personjerry 9y ago
        Interesting. In my experience, at any given function, at bars, in parks, or anywhere really in the bay area, talking to anyone has around 50% chance to be someone working at some sort of tech company. Not necessarily an engineer, but certainly close enough to probably know computers to a reasonable level.

300bps 9y ago

I met my largest side client while at a baseball clinic my son was attending. I was reading a very thick book studying for a certification when a local business owner approached me and said, "Are you in IT?" Four years later of 15-20 hours per week side work and that chance encounter had an amazing impact on my life.

vidar 9y ago
Just curious: What do you charge them?
- 300bps 9y ago
  $150 per hour.

jahbrewski 9y ago

While I can't speak for OP, I've taken a similar approach with my own business. For me, the most important thing was to simply change my mindset from thinking "how can this person I just met help me (give me leads/business/etc)?" to: "how can I help this person I just met?" And that's going to be completely dependent on context. Maybe they need some help with a meetup, maybe they need some help with their iPhone, maybe they need some help with something completely non-tech related, and maybe they don't need help with anything at the moment. The point is: people like to help people who have helped them in the past. No one likes someone who appears selfish. Basically, just be a good friend to the people you meet.

nickthemagicman 9y ago
I don't think it's a problem with mindset..it's the actual logistics of making it happen. They also need to ENVISION their goal, and then WORK HARD, and OVERCOME ADVERSITY. Also TEAMWORK AND GRATITUDE!

stephenboyd 9y ago

She and her cofounder were already in an an industry niche before then as graphics and compression experts, so I'd assume they already had a lot of contacts from former co-workers, meetups, conferences, etc. If you're an expert in something and you meet someone in a related corner of the industry to yours, they'll usually be eager to talk about what they're working on and recommend you to their contacts.