5 ms·

Any stories of fellow HNers with their startups doing this?

nextstar 9y ago
When I worked on an online platform for people to learn hands-on technology with experts in person such as woodworking or glassblowing, we went from door to door in Brooklyn, asking for their trust to give us a try.
rglover 9y ago
We do :) As customers sign up we ask if they want stickers and then send out a handwritten letter alongside a set (example: https://www.instagram.com/p/BWA5q95jADc/?taken-by=cleverbeagle https://www.instagram.com/p/BWA5q95jADc/?taken-by=cleverbeag...).
brianwawok 9y ago
For our first 100 customers we basically did all the setup work for them. Basically did a screenshare, clicked for them, told them what to do. Would sometimes leave the call, and spend 1-8 hours clicking for the customer. Learned how customers wanted the product to work, and gained initial customers. Lost money on the setup but who cares. Now setups are a 30 minute phone call where we teach customers how to click themselves.
- Scarbutt 9y ago
  Curious, what software did you use for screen sharing? were customers ok with this? Was your app so complex that you couldn't guide them through the phone or it was a deficiency in the UX/UI of the app?
  - brianwawok 9y ago
    > Curious, what software did you use for screen sharing Started off with Join.me. I then threw out my windows PC and installed Ubuntu, so it stopped working. I did appear.in a few times, but the quality stunk. Mostly moved to my setup team, that mostly still uses join.me. > were customers ok with this Oh they loved it. The competition is "Here is a youtube video and some docs, have at it". We actually took the time to get to know our customer and dive in, help them navigate the setup etc. > Was your app so complex that you couldn't guide them through the phone or it was a deficiency in the UX/UI of the app? Both! Necessary complexity is high, but so is accidental. Working on reducing accidental a little every day. Not willing to kill off too many features in the name of simplicity, but willing to at least make the common path a lot easier to use.

When I worked on an online platform for people to learn hands-on technology with experts in person such as woodworking or glassblowing, we went from door to door in Brooklyn, asking for their trust to give us a try.

rglover 9y ago

We do :) As customers sign up we ask if they want stickers and then send out a handwritten letter alongside a set (example: https://www.instagram.com/p/BWA5q95jADc/?taken-by=cleverbeagle https://www.instagram.com/p/BWA5q95jADc/?taken-by=cleverbeag...).

brianwawok 9y ago

For our first 100 customers we basically did all the setup work for them. Basically did a screenshare, clicked for them, told them what to do. Would sometimes leave the call, and spend 1-8 hours clicking for the customer. Learned how customers wanted the product to work, and gained initial customers. Lost money on the setup but who cares. Now setups are a 30 minute phone call where we teach customers how to click themselves.

Scarbutt 9y ago
Curious, what software did you use for screen sharing? were customers ok with this? Was your app so complex that you couldn't guide them through the phone or it was a deficiency in the UX/UI of the app?
- brianwawok 9y ago
  > Curious, what software did you use for screen sharing Started off with Join.me. I then threw out my windows PC and installed Ubuntu, so it stopped working. I did appear.in a few times, but the quality stunk. Mostly moved to my setup team, that mostly still uses join.me. > were customers ok with this Oh they loved it. The competition is "Here is a youtube video and some docs, have at it". We actually took the time to get to know our customer and dive in, help them navigate the setup etc. > Was your app so complex that you couldn't guide them through the phone or it was a deficiency in the UX/UI of the app? Both! Necessary complexity is high, but so is accidental. Working on reducing accidental a little every day. Not willing to kill off too many features in the name of simplicity, but willing to at least make the common path a lot easier to use.