4 ms·

Review my Startup. Help a guy out.

11 points by pghimire 16y ago

With my own experience, and others, I always thought there is a market for a service where an otherwise socially awkward guy could ask a girl a question (about anything) and get genuine advice. I wanted to make the service paid, so the women actually had some incentive to spend some time crafting a thoughtful response. Also, wanted to make everything discreet, so that women did not need to hold anything back, and guys owned the responses they paid for. At the same time, wanted money to be very nominal so that anyone could use it - so thought $2 would be just right. I split a buck with the answer provider. Guys can request responses from multiple ladies (5 responses = $10). Guys have option to reject any reponse deemed unthoughtful and request refund. Income has been interesting so far. About 20 guys asked questions last month. Some of them requested multiple responses. October total $90. Through word of mouth, about 600 ladies have signed up so far to provide reponses. An email is fired every time a new request gets posted, ladies "reserve" the question and respond on a first-come-first-served basis and guys receive reponses within a few hours. I would like to get some suggestions from the HN community as to how to make it scalable? I know there is a market for a service like this but just haven't been able to get any traction. What can I change, improve? Or is this whole concept is just flawed and I should just "move on". Thank you for your feedback. Pete

tgrass 16y ago
Looks fun. Simplify the page though. 1. Use a real picture for the male/female on landing page. 2. Watch your kerning. On the guys_ladies.png the text could use some adjusting. (and the first instance of 'For' should be lowercase) 3. Remove the "Risk Free". I can't find the article, but I've read, and would agree, those labels lower one's trust in a site. 4. A stat breakdown of "your ladies" undermines trust even more. That is not "meeting the ladies" but getting to know their demographics. The idea is interesting, and I imagine the market could be good for it. How do you see incentivizing the right "ladies" ?
- pghimire 16y ago
  Thanks tgrass. 1. Great point. I will replace them. 2. I need to rework that image. 3. Good to learn about "Risk Free". I had no idea. 4. I never looked at it from that angle. What do you suggest I say / show as far as "Who are the ladies?" is concerned? Or do I even bother? I simply wanted to share the fact that there are real "ladies" involved with the site who will be responding. 5. At this point I do not have any filters set to incentivize the right ladies. Every question asked gets emailed out to all the ladies and I simply ask them to respond only if they can relate to the question. As the user base grows I can certainly allow the "Asker" to target by demographics, etc. => Any input on price structure and scalability? Thanks again. Appreciate your input.
  - tgrass 16y ago
    Re: 4. I would show profiles. Let the females write their profiles and showcase say a half dozen at a time. Additionally, I wouldn't call them "the ladies." It seems to cheapen them. If you're selling a more machismo site, see what Maxim is calling women in general these days. Realize that whatever label you use must appeal to both the men but also the women. Maybe be euphemistic, but not as vulgar as nuts and bolts. Your prices seem reasonable. You might consider having a level which is free, receiving an answer from a newbie, where a higher paid level could get a more thoughtful reply. That would allow new users to experience without commitment. I really want to stress that the idea looks good. The aesthetic execution is rough.
shiftpgdn 16y ago
Couple of things: 1. You ask for registration information far too quickly. You should allow the users to get a little more invested into what they're doing before prompting for registration/payment information. 2. Meet the ladies doesn't have any information on the actual women who would answer your questions. It's just generic pie charts. 3. PayPal only? :( 4. To the end user what sets this apart from Yahoo! answers? 5. No examples anywhere that I could find. Otherwise it's a clever idea and you're off to a pretty good start.
- pghimire 16y ago
  1. Agreed. Should probably engage users first. Will work on that. 2. I wanted to keep their info confidential and just show the demographics based on info provided. What do you think I should show? Should I even include "Meet the ladies" link? 3. Just testing the idea out. So for now, Paypal only, yes :) 4. To an interested user, I think confidentiality and a guarantee that someone will actually spend the time to fully study his question and respond thoughtfully (small monetary incentive). Moreover, the questions we are getting tend to be longer and very detailed. I don't think Yahoo Answers users will have the patience to study the question carefully and take the time to repond to every issues raised. 5. Good point. I will include some examples. => Any thought on pricing structure? => How about scalability, do you think take-off here is simply dependent on sheer number of users? Thank you for your feedback.
qbproger 16y ago
How do I know it's really a lady answering my question?
- pghimire 16y ago
  We'll that's a tough one :) I don't either. But when they sign up I clarify the intention of the service and make them agree to my terms. It's a simple system designed to help guys beased on honor system. If you have any suggestions, pls let me know.
egmike 16y ago
Just a thought, but maybe consider offering the ladies a bigger percentage? They're the ones doing the actual answering and you're taking 50%... Or, maybe increase the cost per question so that they get paid more (but still, you should probably give them a slightly bigger chunk). Just a suggestion though, maybe $1 is enough.
- pghimire 16y ago
  That would be fine with me. However, right now I am struggling to get traction among guys. Once it picks up, I can definitly implement various pricing structures. Just wanted to keep it simple for now. Thank you for your suggestion.
bcrawl 16y ago
I want to know if you really have these "ladies" who will answer these questions or is it just a mock up of what your plan is. Or in other words, is this a joke?
- pghimire 16y ago
  No this is not a joke:) I encourage you to spend two bucks and try the service yourself. May be you'll get a tip or two:)
gallerytungsten 16y ago
1. Site seems a bit slow. 2. "Meet the ladies" - I would expect to see some pictures. Graphs? That isn't cutting it. 3. I would expect to see some sample Q&A. You don't demonstrate any value, so I'm not compelled to sign up.
Jabbles 16y ago
This is a website, not a startup. Why is this better than Reddit relationships? http://en.reddit.com/r/relationships/ http://en.reddit.com/r/relationships/
- pghimire 16y ago
  Hi Jabbles, I did not even know that existed. Thanks for pointing that out. However, I am trying to take a slightly different approach and monetize it. If you have any suggestions, that would be great. Thanks.
jonschwartz 16y ago
I like the idea. I think with a little tweaking this could really take off. Here's my thoughts 1) For the front page, its a little right in your user's face that you're taking a 50% cut of the money. I would word that differently. Not sure exactly how. Maybe take out the bit about how much the ladies get paid and explain that in the signup process, or separate the "how it works" by gender on separate pages. Its just a little too "kimono wide open" on the financials. Also, "Just click here within the next 7 days for a full refund." should either be eliminated or reworded to say something to the effect of "You can get a refund within 7 days of getting a response." While we're on that subject, are you going to award the money to the lady regardless of whether it was rejected? If not, you should clearly state that. I don't think you do. You just say answer the question and get paid. There's nothing talking about the approval process being tied to the money. 2) The bullet points below the top box on the front page repeat a lot of the information that is in the top box. You don't need to repeat yourself. Consider combining those two spaces into one. 3) While "meet the ladies" is a whimsical title for that page, it doesn't actually deliver (as people have already stated). You're not actually introducing us, more telling us about demographics. Maybe "Who are the ladies?" is more accurate and consistent with the message of the page (I noticed you have a link titled exactly that which points to the same place...) 4) You need something to convince us to trust you. A demo of a question/answer? Screen shots perhaps? Testimonials would definitely go a long way. 5) The menus could stand to be cleaned up. Either you don't need the "login/register" links or you don't need the "guys ask a question" and "ladies answer a question" links. I would lean towards getting rid of the latter. That allows you to move buzz down to the footer (its not that important to have up at the top. The average user doesn't care how much you've been talked about... sorry. The "guys ask a question" link points to the login page. I'm not sure why the "ladies:..." doesn't also point to a login/register page. It should as well. Also, fix the capitalization on the text of the login page. You Don't Need To Capitalize Every Word Of A Sentence. 6) On the buzz page, get rid of the buzz in Spanish. The site is in English. Don't expect anyone to take the time to pop it into Google Translate or for a majority of people to know Spanish. Sorry this kinda jumps around alot and is probably a little too snarky. I hope this helps. Good Luck!

11 points by pghimire 16y ago

tgrass 16y ago

Looks fun. Simplify the page though. 1. Use a real picture for the male/female on landing page. 2. Watch your kerning. On the guys_ladies.png the text could use some adjusting. (and the first instance of 'For' should be lowercase) 3. Remove the "Risk Free". I can't find the article, but I've read, and would agree, those labels lower one's trust in a site. 4. A stat breakdown of "your ladies" undermines trust even more. That is not "meeting the ladies" but getting to know their demographics. The idea is interesting, and I imagine the market could be good for it. How do you see incentivizing the right "ladies" ?

pghimire 16y ago
Thanks tgrass. 1. Great point. I will replace them. 2. I need to rework that image. 3. Good to learn about "Risk Free". I had no idea. 4. I never looked at it from that angle. What do you suggest I say / show as far as "Who are the ladies?" is concerned? Or do I even bother? I simply wanted to share the fact that there are real "ladies" involved with the site who will be responding. 5. At this point I do not have any filters set to incentivize the right ladies. Every question asked gets emailed out to all the ladies and I simply ask them to respond only if they can relate to the question. As the user base grows I can certainly allow the "Asker" to target by demographics, etc. => Any input on price structure and scalability? Thanks again. Appreciate your input.
- tgrass 16y ago
  Re: 4. I would show profiles. Let the females write their profiles and showcase say a half dozen at a time. Additionally, I wouldn't call them "the ladies." It seems to cheapen them. If you're selling a more machismo site, see what Maxim is calling women in general these days. Realize that whatever label you use must appeal to both the men but also the women. Maybe be euphemistic, but not as vulgar as nuts and bolts. Your prices seem reasonable. You might consider having a level which is free, receiving an answer from a newbie, where a higher paid level could get a more thoughtful reply. That would allow new users to experience without commitment. I really want to stress that the idea looks good. The aesthetic execution is rough.

shiftpgdn 16y ago

Couple of things: 1. You ask for registration information far too quickly. You should allow the users to get a little more invested into what they're doing before prompting for registration/payment information. 2. Meet the ladies doesn't have any information on the actual women who would answer your questions. It's just generic pie charts. 3. PayPal only? :( 4. To the end user what sets this apart from Yahoo! answers? 5. No examples anywhere that I could find. Otherwise it's a clever idea and you're off to a pretty good start.

pghimire 16y ago
1. Agreed. Should probably engage users first. Will work on that. 2. I wanted to keep their info confidential and just show the demographics based on info provided. What do you think I should show? Should I even include "Meet the ladies" link? 3. Just testing the idea out. So for now, Paypal only, yes :) 4. To an interested user, I think confidentiality and a guarantee that someone will actually spend the time to fully study his question and respond thoughtfully (small monetary incentive). Moreover, the questions we are getting tend to be longer and very detailed. I don't think Yahoo Answers users will have the patience to study the question carefully and take the time to repond to every issues raised. 5. Good point. I will include some examples. => Any thought on pricing structure? => How about scalability, do you think take-off here is simply dependent on sheer number of users? Thank you for your feedback.

qbproger 16y ago

How do I know it's really a lady answering my question?

pghimire 16y ago
We'll that's a tough one :) I don't either. But when they sign up I clarify the intention of the service and make them agree to my terms. It's a simple system designed to help guys beased on honor system. If you have any suggestions, pls let me know.

egmike 16y ago

Just a thought, but maybe consider offering the ladies a bigger percentage? They're the ones doing the actual answering and you're taking 50%... Or, maybe increase the cost per question so that they get paid more (but still, you should probably give them a slightly bigger chunk). Just a suggestion though, maybe $1 is enough.

pghimire 16y ago
That would be fine with me. However, right now I am struggling to get traction among guys. Once it picks up, I can definitly implement various pricing structures. Just wanted to keep it simple for now. Thank you for your suggestion.

bcrawl 16y ago

I want to know if you really have these "ladies" who will answer these questions or is it just a mock up of what your plan is. Or in other words, is this a joke?

pghimire 16y ago
No this is not a joke:) I encourage you to spend two bucks and try the service yourself. May be you'll get a tip or two:)

gallerytungsten 16y ago

1. Site seems a bit slow. 2. "Meet the ladies" - I would expect to see some pictures. Graphs? That isn't cutting it. 3. I would expect to see some sample Q&A. You don't demonstrate any value, so I'm not compelled to sign up.

Jabbles 16y ago

This is a website, not a startup. Why is this better than Reddit relationships? http://en.reddit.com/r/relationships/ http://en.reddit.com/r/relationships/

pghimire 16y ago
Hi Jabbles, I did not even know that existed. Thanks for pointing that out. However, I am trying to take a slightly different approach and monetize it. If you have any suggestions, that would be great. Thanks.

jonschwartz 16y ago

I like the idea. I think with a little tweaking this could really take off. Here's my thoughts 1) For the front page, its a little right in your user's face that you're taking a 50% cut of the money. I would word that differently. Not sure exactly how. Maybe take out the bit about how much the ladies get paid and explain that in the signup process, or separate the "how it works" by gender on separate pages. Its just a little too "kimono wide open" on the financials. Also, "Just click here within the next 7 days for a full refund." should either be eliminated or reworded to say something to the effect of "You can get a refund within 7 days of getting a response." While we're on that subject, are you going to award the money to the lady regardless of whether it was rejected? If not, you should clearly state that. I don't think you do. You just say answer the question and get paid. There's nothing talking about the approval process being tied to the money. 2) The bullet points below the top box on the front page repeat a lot of the information that is in the top box. You don't need to repeat yourself. Consider combining those two spaces into one. 3) While "meet the ladies" is a whimsical title for that page, it doesn't actually deliver (as people have already stated). You're not actually introducing us, more telling us about demographics. Maybe "Who are the ladies?" is more accurate and consistent with the message of the page (I noticed you have a link titled exactly that which points to the same place...) 4) You need something to convince us to trust you. A demo of a question/answer? Screen shots perhaps? Testimonials would definitely go a long way. 5) The menus could stand to be cleaned up. Either you don't need the "login/register" links or you don't need the "guys ask a question" and "ladies answer a question" links. I would lean towards getting rid of the latter. That allows you to move buzz down to the footer (its not that important to have up at the top. The average user doesn't care how much you've been talked about... sorry. The "guys ask a question" link points to the login page. I'm not sure why the "ladies:..." doesn't also point to a login/register page. It should as well. Also, fix the capitalization on the text of the login page. You Don't Need To Capitalize Every Word Of A Sentence. 6) On the buzz page, get rid of the buzz in Spanish. The site is in English. Don't expect anyone to take the time to pop it into Google Translate or for a majority of people to know Spanish. Sorry this kinda jumps around alot and is probably a little too snarky. I hope this helps. Good Luck!