7 ms·

Optimizely (YC W10) Makes It Remarkably Easy to A/B Test

80 points by cominatchu 16y ago

adityakothadiya 16y ago
Having Optimizely featured on TechCrunch reminds me founder of another A/B testing startup visualwebsiteoptimizer.com asking advice on HN about why his startup is not getting featured on TechCrunch. VWO is definitely compelling and valuable product, but it didn't get covered after multiple tries. Many folks on HN gave advice that - "have a compelling story." The compelling story in Optimizely's case is - "A YC funded company". I'm not against of Optimizely in any way, but this just shows the power of being YC network.
- aresant 16y ago
  And that the founder handled analytics / testing for Obama - resulting in additional donations of $60m - that's a great story / connections in and of itself that's helping . . .
  - jkincaid 16y ago
    Yeah, even without the YC connection that alone would have probably made this enough to pursue.
  - dsiroker 16y ago
    Thanks :)
- johnrob 16y ago
  Web 2.0, techcrunch, ycombinator - these used to be the path of the outsiders. Little by little, the community has recreated exactly the kind of pedigree/ladder system that folks there were trying to avoid. If you're someone who followed techcrunch in the early days, it's crazy to think that having the right funding and pedigree is what gets you featured. We've come full circle. Any scarce resource ultimately ends up in the possession of the most worthy, and over time possessing it can have more symbolic value than utilitarian. Well, I have a feeling ycombinator does a pretty good job of combating this considering they regularly take very young founders. EDIT: On the flip side, it's reassuring to know that if you believe in yourself and are persistent, you'll eventually get access to these scarce resources.
  - bkrausz 16y ago
    That's unfair: YC doesn't bias against "outsiders". The point of YC is to find smart people with good ideas from anywhere. For example: you hear stories about people flying around the world to interview. One of their main benefits is the connections they give you: connections they've cultivated with their "insider" clout. I would consider them a bridge between the insiders and outsiders: they take outsiders, find the best ones, and bring them in. However, even that's overstating the amount of insiderness that exists. It's amazing how easy it is to network your way into the valley fold. Sure, that requires you to actually be out here, but that's a byproduct of the benefits of in-person networking, not some kind of elite mentality. People have said it here several times already: TechCrunch caters to an audience. This audience likes to follow YCombinator, and Ron Conway, and a bunch of other well-known programs and people. It's business plain and simple, fairness doesn't come into play.
  - lkozma 16y ago
    I made a similar comment about a year ago when in one write-up, PG was saying that in a certain domain former Google employees would be suitable applicants to YC. I said that this creates the same credentials based mentality that they were talking against in the beginning.
- mahmud 16y ago
  The founder and lead-dev of VisualWebsiteOptimize is Paras Chopra, a man whose hard work and drive I will emphatically vouch for. http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=paraschopra http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=paraschopra That guy has the focus of a laser and the patience of Atlas. A young man who has a very bright future ahead of him.
- jkincaid 16y ago
  I'll bite (I wrote this post). I actually mentioned VisualWebsiteOptimizer at the bottom of the Optimizely post, but no, I haven't done a full profile on it. If the founder happens to read this, I'd be happy to check out the site — make sure to emphasize how you're different/better than the competition. I'd also recommend waiting a week or two to reach out, otherwise the post will be a little bit "me too". As for why they may have been passed over in the first place, I don't have a definitive answer, but a few things come to mind. First, the name sounds off alarm bells in my head (or at least, makes it sound mediocre). Given the dearth of good, brief domain names I know this isn't fair, but most sites we see that are 3+ words strung together in a non-clever way are terrible. Also, I notice that the latest email I have from the founder was sent at 3:40AM on a Sunday (he's out in India, so that would probably explain it). If you're going to send a pitch, try doing it on a Wed-Fri, around noon or afternoon. The news cycle tends to slow down then (and I'm still at my desk), though there's no set rule.
  - nreece 16y ago
    the name sounds off alarm bells in my head (or at least, makes it sound mediocre) I know where you are coming from, but startup names can be deceptive. Lot's of great products have bad names, and vice versa. Would you have reviewed the product if it was named Visual Studio - http://www.visualstudio.com http://www.visualstudio.com, which in my opinion is an ambiguous and mediocre name for a developer product.
  - il 16y ago
    I can't believe that a Techcrunch writer, who I assume considers himself a serious journalist, would actually come out and say that he didn't cover a startup because the name doesn't have a Web 2.0 flourish like "ly" or "ckr". Visual Website Optimizer is a fantastic name- it tells you exactly what the app does, and how you can derive a benefit from it- it lets you optimize a website visually. I can't think of a much better name, and tacking a "ly" on does not magically create legitimacy. I'm kind of pissed that the Web 2.0 culture has somehow made a less memorable, less descriptive name superior. It completely flies in the face of traditional, accepted marketing and branding theory and, frankly, gives the appearance of lazy incestuous journalism.
OmarIsmail 16y ago
This is pretty cool. Interstingly enough we developed a similar system internally. Without more details I don't know how their analytics work but I'd recommend that they patch into Google Analytics in some way. If they had a system that automatically created the custom segments and let me analyze the data I want in GA that would be incredibly powerful.
vaksel 16y ago
what's the pricing going to be like when this goes live? i.e. VisualWebsiteOptimizer is $49 a month, how much will this be? $39? $29? $19? $9?
- patio11 16y ago
  It is not obvious to me that A/B testing is overpriced at $50 a month or that there is business value in attempting to compete on price when the product that practically defines the category is already free. I really can't beat this drum enough guys: do A/B testing. If you do it right, it has the potential to really move the needle. It is an exceptionally bad place to go pinching pennies: if you have ~100 visitors a day already, the business value you will get just in a few goes at plucking the low-hanging fruit will dwarf any of the above numbers. (If you don't have 100 visitors a day already, I commend you for your dedication to A/B testing and respectfully recommend you focus more on SEO for the next month and come back later.)
  - vaksel 16y ago
    not saying it's overpriced...just saying that there is competition and wondering what their price is in comparison.
joshu 16y ago
Yay! (disclaimer: I invested)
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
neryaudry 16y ago
Good information here. I really enjoy reading them every day. I've learned a lot from them.Thanks so much for sharing this information. Greatly help me being a newbie. http://www.baiyokefactory.com http://www.baiyokefactory.com
spitfire 16y ago
Can we please stop naming companies -ly, -ify and -erous? Pretty please with sugar on top. Sincerely, the world outside silicon valley.
- pinksoda 16y ago
  All the good domains are taken by squatters and bootstrapped start-ups can't afford the good ones, so we get creative.
  - endlessvoid94 16y ago
    ...but creative in the same way every other startup tries to be creative. That's not creativity.
- axod 16y ago
  5 years time, they'll seem VERY dated. Like all the e- domains of yesteryear - eToys.com eThis.com eThat.com
  - xiaoma 16y ago
    ...Etrade and eBay.
- davidw 16y ago
  I wonder if there's a name for this phenomenon. You can often guess at some things' decade of origin from the suffix. "o-tron" "o-matic" for instance were 40ies and 50ies.
  - Goosey 16y ago
    There are many names for this. Fad/Fashion/Trend. And I don't think the phenomenon is a negative one. Just as clothing fashion changes so does naming fashion. For some reason we feel that names should have a timelessness to them, but clothing should not? Both exist to engage humans on an emotional level and human engagement will change over time due to exposure to the current trend. IMHO Rebranding long lived companies > Stressing out about finding a 'timeless' brand. Optimizing your brand must take temporal concerns into account.
jedc 16y ago
By my reckoning, this is the last YC W10 company to launch. https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkkhSN3vaY4jdF90b1l1Vnl5NmZjaTBNQWlJYVozMEE&hl=en https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkkhSN3vaY4jdF90b1l...

80 points by cominatchu 16y ago

Having Optimizely featured on TechCrunch reminds me founder of another A/B testing startup visualwebsiteoptimizer.com asking advice on HN about why his startup is not getting featured on TechCrunch. VWO is definitely compelling and valuable product, but it didn't get covered after multiple tries. Many folks on HN gave advice that - "have a compelling story." The compelling story in Optimizely's case is - "A YC funded company". I'm not against of Optimizely in any way, but this just shows the power of being YC network.

aresant 16y ago
And that the founder handled analytics / testing for Obama - resulting in additional donations of $60m - that's a great story / connections in and of itself that's helping . . .
- jkincaid 16y ago
  Yeah, even without the YC connection that alone would have probably made this enough to pursue.
- dsiroker 16y ago
  Thanks :)
johnrob 16y ago
Web 2.0, techcrunch, ycombinator - these used to be the path of the outsiders. Little by little, the community has recreated exactly the kind of pedigree/ladder system that folks there were trying to avoid. If you're someone who followed techcrunch in the early days, it's crazy to think that having the right funding and pedigree is what gets you featured. We've come full circle. Any scarce resource ultimately ends up in the possession of the most worthy, and over time possessing it can have more symbolic value than utilitarian. Well, I have a feeling ycombinator does a pretty good job of combating this considering they regularly take very young founders. EDIT: On the flip side, it's reassuring to know that if you believe in yourself and are persistent, you'll eventually get access to these scarce resources.
- bkrausz 16y ago
  That's unfair: YC doesn't bias against "outsiders". The point of YC is to find smart people with good ideas from anywhere. For example: you hear stories about people flying around the world to interview. One of their main benefits is the connections they give you: connections they've cultivated with their "insider" clout. I would consider them a bridge between the insiders and outsiders: they take outsiders, find the best ones, and bring them in. However, even that's overstating the amount of insiderness that exists. It's amazing how easy it is to network your way into the valley fold. Sure, that requires you to actually be out here, but that's a byproduct of the benefits of in-person networking, not some kind of elite mentality. People have said it here several times already: TechCrunch caters to an audience. This audience likes to follow YCombinator, and Ron Conway, and a bunch of other well-known programs and people. It's business plain and simple, fairness doesn't come into play.
- lkozma 16y ago
  I made a similar comment about a year ago when in one write-up, PG was saying that in a certain domain former Google employees would be suitable applicants to YC. I said that this creates the same credentials based mentality that they were talking against in the beginning.
mahmud 16y ago
The founder and lead-dev of VisualWebsiteOptimize is Paras Chopra, a man whose hard work and drive I will emphatically vouch for. http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=paraschopra http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=paraschopra That guy has the focus of a laser and the patience of Atlas. A young man who has a very bright future ahead of him.
jkincaid 16y ago
I'll bite (I wrote this post). I actually mentioned VisualWebsiteOptimizer at the bottom of the Optimizely post, but no, I haven't done a full profile on it. If the founder happens to read this, I'd be happy to check out the site — make sure to emphasize how you're different/better than the competition. I'd also recommend waiting a week or two to reach out, otherwise the post will be a little bit "me too". As for why they may have been passed over in the first place, I don't have a definitive answer, but a few things come to mind. First, the name sounds off alarm bells in my head (or at least, makes it sound mediocre). Given the dearth of good, brief domain names I know this isn't fair, but most sites we see that are 3+ words strung together in a non-clever way are terrible. Also, I notice that the latest email I have from the founder was sent at 3:40AM on a Sunday (he's out in India, so that would probably explain it). If you're going to send a pitch, try doing it on a Wed-Fri, around noon or afternoon. The news cycle tends to slow down then (and I'm still at my desk), though there's no set rule.
- nreece 16y ago
  the name sounds off alarm bells in my head (or at least, makes it sound mediocre) I know where you are coming from, but startup names can be deceptive. Lot's of great products have bad names, and vice versa. Would you have reviewed the product if it was named Visual Studio - http://www.visualstudio.com http://www.visualstudio.com, which in my opinion is an ambiguous and mediocre name for a developer product.
- il 16y ago
  I can't believe that a Techcrunch writer, who I assume considers himself a serious journalist, would actually come out and say that he didn't cover a startup because the name doesn't have a Web 2.0 flourish like "ly" or "ckr". Visual Website Optimizer is a fantastic name- it tells you exactly what the app does, and how you can derive a benefit from it- it lets you optimize a website visually. I can't think of a much better name, and tacking a "ly" on does not magically create legitimacy. I'm kind of pissed that the Web 2.0 culture has somehow made a less memorable, less descriptive name superior. It completely flies in the face of traditional, accepted marketing and branding theory and, frankly, gives the appearance of lazy incestuous journalism.

OmarIsmail 16y ago

This is pretty cool. Interstingly enough we developed a similar system internally. Without more details I don't know how their analytics work but I'd recommend that they patch into Google Analytics in some way. If they had a system that automatically created the custom segments and let me analyze the data I want in GA that would be incredibly powerful.

vaksel 16y ago

what's the pricing going to be like when this goes live? i.e. VisualWebsiteOptimizer is $49 a month, how much will this be? $39? $29? $19? $9?

patio11 16y ago
It is not obvious to me that A/B testing is overpriced at $50 a month or that there is business value in attempting to compete on price when the product that practically defines the category is already free. I really can't beat this drum enough guys: do A/B testing. If you do it right, it has the potential to really move the needle. It is an exceptionally bad place to go pinching pennies: if you have ~100 visitors a day already, the business value you will get just in a few goes at plucking the low-hanging fruit will dwarf any of the above numbers. (If you don't have 100 visitors a day already, I commend you for your dedication to A/B testing and respectfully recommend you focus more on SEO for the next month and come back later.)
- vaksel 16y ago
  not saying it's overpriced...just saying that there is competition and wondering what their price is in comparison.

joshu 16y ago

Yay! (disclaimer: I invested)

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

neryaudry 16y ago

Good information here. I really enjoy reading them every day. I've learned a lot from them.Thanks so much for sharing this information. Greatly help me being a newbie. http://www.baiyokefactory.com http://www.baiyokefactory.com

spitfire 16y ago

Can we please stop naming companies -ly, -ify and -erous? Pretty please with sugar on top. Sincerely, the world outside silicon valley.

pinksoda 16y ago
All the good domains are taken by squatters and bootstrapped start-ups can't afford the good ones, so we get creative.
- endlessvoid94 16y ago
  ...but creative in the same way every other startup tries to be creative. That's not creativity.
axod 16y ago
5 years time, they'll seem VERY dated. Like all the e- domains of yesteryear - eToys.com eThis.com eThat.com
- xiaoma 16y ago
  ...Etrade and eBay.
davidw 16y ago
I wonder if there's a name for this phenomenon. You can often guess at some things' decade of origin from the suffix. "o-tron" "o-matic" for instance were 40ies and 50ies.
- Goosey 16y ago
  There are many names for this. Fad/Fashion/Trend. And I don't think the phenomenon is a negative one. Just as clothing fashion changes so does naming fashion. For some reason we feel that names should have a timelessness to them, but clothing should not? Both exist to engage humans on an emotional level and human engagement will change over time due to exposure to the current trend. IMHO Rebranding long lived companies > Stressing out about finding a 'timeless' brand. Optimizing your brand must take temporal concerns into account.

jedc 16y ago

By my reckoning, this is the last YC W10 company to launch. https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkkhSN3vaY4jdF90b1l1Vnl5NmZjaTBNQWlJYVozMEE&hl=en https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkkhSN3vaY4jdF90b1l...