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Ask HN: Rate My Startup, Sprred
- rakkhi 16y agoThe good: [+] really like the minimalist interface, very clean [+] easy to signup and start using The bad: [+] On Firefox 3.6, Windows XP (work computer) I can't see the upload button for photos [+] link upload sucessfull, text and photos no. Didn't have a video. Overall: Nice site but who would use it? Are you targeting bloggers? Tumblr and even Blogger provide me a lot more e.g. do you even support HTML tags and java script? What is your competitive advantage? Why would I use this over the multitude of other products with better features? How would you monitize this?
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoThanks for the feedback! I'll look into the bugs you mentioned. The advantage is, it helps you create a complete profile with full-fledged Photostream, Videostream and profile info, unlike tumblr and blogger.
- petervandijck 16y agoWhat do you mean by "Complete profile"? What is that?
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoI think I mean complete 'personal website' here. With all your content and information.
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoIf you look at my Sprred - http://kuldeep.sprred.com http://kuldeep.sprred.com, you'll get the brief idea and also see how its different than tumblr/blogger
- rakkhi 16y agoI don't really get this, other than being layed out in a nice minimalist way I can do all this on any blogging site. If it is social networking I can do all of it on Facebook - why would I use your site?
- rakkhi 16y ago"@rakkhi its a better personal website, better than having just a blog. You can show-off all your content and info in here, easily. Facebook profile is for your friends, it doesnt exactly serve as your personal website." No thats why I have my blog on blogger: http://www.rakkhis.com http://www.rakkhis.com It can do text, video, photos, links +++ a lot more On Facebook I can also put text, video, photos +++ it has all my friends. I can link to the two with likes and links but esentially they are for two different audiences so having them seperate is fine. Again why would I use your site more or less pay for it?
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoCan you put-up flickr like photostream, vimeo-like videstream on your personal website ie. your blogger. Does blogger provide better support for your photos and videos? As you mentioned facebook is for different audience. The comparison doesn't count.
- rakkhi 16y agoNot sure what you mean as a stream ... is do you mean like Flikr? well Flikr does that pretty well for me: http://www.flikr.com/rakkhi http://www.flikr.com/rakkhi Blogger, Posturous, Tumblr all can had video and photos. If I want a "stream" can I can add a gadget for that: e.g. http://www.bloggerbuster.com/2009/03/simple-flickr-photostream-widget-for.html http://www.bloggerbuster.com/2009/03/simple-flickr-photostre... http://google.about.com/od/youtube/ss/embed-share-YouTube-videos_3.htm http://google.about.com/od/youtube/ss/embed-share-YouTube-vi... You sound like a smart guy and a skilled developer I would seriously think again. Have a read of this: https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-startup-ideas-that-persistently-fail https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-startup-ideas-that-persi... Or don't and I wish you the best of luck
- petervandijck 16y agoWriting: "The easiest way to share your entire content." is not a good sentence. Better option: "The easiest way to share all your content." From a glance, I don't understand what the product does. From reading the boxes below, I kind of get that I can post by email, and some other stuff, but I still don't really get it. "More than a blog" -> so you provide a blog service with easy crossposting? I'm trying to understand the service, not easy. "Create a complete profile" -> So I can create some kind of Facebook-like profile? You need to improve the writing on the front page a lot, try to find a way to better explain it. Don't try to explain every feature on the homepage, but search for the one main thing that you are awesome/different at, and explain that. Good luck.
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoThanks, these are really good suggestions!
- cookiecaper 16y agoThese are my complaints too. I spent three seconds on the page before going back because I already know about a lot of "autoblogging" service and have no interest in them, and from what I read, that's all I think your product does. If it does something else or if it does something better, you should be explicit about it. I want to know right away, I don't want to be met with marketing-speak about how easy it is to "share my entire content", which is a very amorphous task. A better thing to say in that prime real estate would be "Email your content, see it on web page", or whatever it is you do, and then have the line about ease in a tertiary position somewhere, like a tagline instead of the main point of the thing.
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoThanks for the feedback. May be it just me, but it's not that unclear what service is. It's your Blog+Photostream+Videostream. It might be confusing cause its something of a new concept and you seem to have caught the usual/known features like Autoposting and email posting, but that's not where we defferentiate ourseleves.
- swatermasysk 16y agoOverall it does look nice and kind of feels like a mix of Tumblr and Posterous. Not sure if you asking for advice, so feel free to ignore. IMO, it feels like you are trying to hard to compete on features. For me, a better approach (ie, one that would pull me away from the other services) would be to focus on usability and simplicity. Examples: Uploads - Why not just one screen? (note: Upload Text definitely tripped me up since my first though was "I have to upload a file") Tags/Future post dates - not features folks really need (IMO of course :) After Posting - I would expect to see my content right away. Instead I have to click around to find it Viewing my Sprred - Not sure why there is a home and blog tab. Feels like there should be a single tab Name - I will never be able to say check me out on Sprred out loud without spelling it. Apologies if this this overly negative. It is generally easier to pick out things you don't like.
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoThanks for the feedback! I learned a thing or two :) If you are asking why two tabs 'home' and 'blog', so Sprred is not just a blog, its your blog + photostream + videostream. And we also plan to add updates from Sprred you follow under home tab
- Ben_Dean 16y ago14
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoSorry, if it sounds like a dumb question. What is 14?
- roryokane 16y agoYou asked people to “rate your startup”, so I think that 14 was his jokey numerical rating.
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoHeres my Sprred - http://kuldeep.sprred.com http://kuldeep.sprred.com. you can also see how its different than tumblr/blogger
- rubypay 16y agoI really like the look of your Sprred, however it's not loading very quickly. What language and hosting setup are you running?
- kuldeep_kap 16y agonginx-php-mysql-ec2-s3
- rubypay 16y agoAre you doing a lot of on-the-fly processing of the images? Seems like they're the reason the site is slow. I think things could be improved with better caching (server and client side with http headers).
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoyupp, you got it. We are looking for better solution here. Thanks!
- arethuza 16y agoPainfully slow here too - Firefox 3.6.9 (Firebug installed). [The pages seem OK-ish but the images are very slow]
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoThese are really hamster-powered, whatever we could afford :)
- hsarvell 16y agoWell at least for me it was quite obvious what the site is all about without much effort. Good luck!
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoThanks. This helps :)
- hopeless 16y agoI think I'm going to make it my job to ask the following question every time someone announces their "startup" or "business" on HN: Where's the money? Seriously, if it's a startup business then their must be an expected revenue stream. If not just saying this as a pedant but as a consumer it's something I consider whenever I'm about to invest time/content in a new site. If there's no business then there's not much chance you'll be around in a year and all my investment will be wasted. It's one reason I pay for sites like Smugmug instead of choosing free alternatives.
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoWell, it wont stay free for long. Paid themes, extra storage and premium features are coming soon.
- msy 16y agoI'm sorry but this feels like a me-too amalgamation of a grab-bag of other services, a little bit of Tumblr, a sprinkling of Posterous, a dash of Flavors.me but without the secret sauce of any of them - the social elements of Tumblr, the beauty and editing tools of Flavors.me or the rah-rah early users of Posterous. I don't see a USP. It's also achingly slow.
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoVery helpful feedback. Thanks!
- kno 16y agoHow can that feedback be helpful to you? he is just saying your service should not exist. I think instead of bending down and take it and being nice you should prove him wrong by arguing the WHY USE of your product.
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoI hate to disagree. I dont think he means the servive simply shouldn't exist. From most of the feedback 'Im getting here, indicates I need to convey my message/usp more clearly. Very few are complaining about the service, after what they are seeing on signing-up. PS. Our USP is 'Create a complete personal website'. Sprred is more than a blog, it's your blog+photostream+videostream.
- kno 16y agoI have learned something over few years building tools for my startup and friends. You should identify constructive feedbacks and the one designed to tell everyone: stay away from this product. You should make an effort to respond vigorously to the latter so it does not suck out all the oxygen out of your product existence. Your response here tells everyone: yeah his right you should come back when I have made the magic work according to this guy. What you don’t know is that the guy will criticize you anyway because he is actually criticizing your existence. My take is you should not let that happen.
- tkahn6 16y agoThe landing page reminds me of http://zombo.com/ http://zombo.com/
- danlove 16y agoBased purely upon the homepage, I can't tell what the product is other than the fact it seems a "me too" product, essentially an amalgamation of other services. Having a link to an example profile may help explain the product better. Maybe get rid of the fading tag lines, add in some images of the service and a better description.
- hajrice 16y agoI like the idea of having a central placeholder for all my information online, but I think you came in a bit late. Here are my thoughts after 2 minutes of using your service. * Name: I would seriously consider renaming. Sprred is a bit hard to remember...think about the average Joe. Spread? Spred? Spread? etc. Your competitors are on you at that(Posterous, Tumblr, ...) * Design: I like the overall look and feel, it's pretty user friendly and the registration is a very quick and easy process. Perhaps add a 1-->2-->3 step slider instead of just changing the text. Something like "1) Register your blog in 5 seconds; 2) Email us; 3) There is no step 3, we take care of the rest". +1 on design. * Concept: I've seen a lot of these websites, and when I see Yet Another ... I always think to myself "oh this is going to suck." Reason being is that you dont really show me how you're different from the rest. Give me a good reason, solve my problem, do it better than Posterous and I'll be your user. * Suggestions? The app seems a bit slow for me. * When I first login, I get a billion of actions, simplify it for me so that I dont have to both AutoPost on Facebook/Twitter..heck, I dont even know what autopost is. Tell me how it's awesome and why I should use it. * The form on the right where it says "Enter your full name" is bad UX. It'd be much better if it were focused right on me(perhaps on the left, underneath the "Welcome to Sprred"). Oh and congrats on launching it, it's all about itterations, take the feedback you get from people, parse it and iterate. Good luck!
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoGreat Suggestion! Thanks for your time and energy!
- js123b 16y agoHow long did it take you to build?
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoWell, this is our second product. First one was redanyway.com. We've been working independently since more than two years.
- roryokane 16y agoI think the front page needs a link to a sample blog-stream-whatever-it-is. All I can guess from the front page is that Sprred is like Posterous (which I don’t use), but with supposedly better support for pictures and video. Alternatively, an overview video like someone else mentioned would work too. Even a screenshot of a sample site would help.
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoI think you are got how its different from Posterous. Now, we are definitely putting up a sample site!
- desigooner 16y agoThe slideshow on the left talking about the selling points doesn't work for me. That means that I have to wait to know what they are and yet, I don't know how long I have to wait before I know them all. I'd assume most users are not that patient. Also, the 3 boxes at the bottom could be a little higher so that I have everything visible at a glance on 1 single page. You'd be better off having a select list of features that really define your product and have a find out more link that explains them a bit more in detail on a following page. Also, a nice demo page would go a long way.
- brosephius 16y agothe "slideshow" of changing descriptive text is (in my opinion) a poor design. when I first saw the page it seemed very bare and I couldn't really figure out what this thing is, and then a few seconds later I noticed the text changed. I don't want to sit and wait for the transitions to read about the service, nor do I need meaningless statements like "create a complete profile!". instead, put in some concise but descriptive copy explaining the service and it's advantages so I know what it is right away.
- sullichin 16y agoI like the interface. I agree that "The easiest way to share your entire content" is an awkward sentence. Also, I would suggest making the "Blog + Photostream + Videostream" bit more prominent on the homepage because it's probably the fastest way to explain what the site is, yet it's not the first thing I see on the welcome page by a long shot. Nitpicking here, but I also don't really like how the "red" in Sprred is red in the logo. The site is very clean but the logo could be better. Seems like a cool service.
- kuldeep_kap 16y agoThanks! I agree with most of what you want to say. I think you got the point with our service.