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Is this a good space to compete in? There are zillions of sites like it, it's really easy to duplicate, and hard to make money off of? Nevertheless, best of luc

by Maro 16y ago

Is this a good space to compete in? There are zillions of sites like it, it's really easy to duplicate, and hard to make money off of? Nevertheless, best of luck to you.

naner 16y ago
I don't mean to be cynical but honestly to me this space is an analog to self-help books. Todo/notes/productivity apps probably can hook people for a few weeks but beyond that I imagine most people won't put forth the effort to keep up with it.
- ihodes 16y ago
  Me and a few other people use Things. I hear Omni has a good business going, as well. Simplenote, Evernote, & friends seem to be doing alright. There's always room for something better.
- makeramen 16y ago
  After using quite a few of these different systems myself and paying for many, I've found many people have the wrong philosophy. It's not about fitting your life to a system, but finding a system to complement your life. Most importantly, when your life changes, change systems. I constantly switch between different combinations of apps to keep my life in order based on what's going on in my life at the time.
- miketuritzin 16y ago
  Point taken, but a big aim of ours (I'm one of the founders) is to help people do what they're already doing in a better way. I was creating tons of Google Docs full of lists before I started using WorkFlowy. They were pretty unmanageable, but they were the best thing I had at the time.
  - naner 16y ago
    I hope you guys do well, it just seems like a risky area to get into.
gbelote 16y ago
My guess is yes. I think it's worth trying, at least. There may exist zillions of sites, but that in and of itself doesn't matter. If they can build a better product that can draw a large enough audience, that's important. I have personally looked around for tools like this, but haven't found anything that really kicks ass. Playing with their tool makes me optimistic -- they may be on to something. I don't think they have to worry much about duplication. Building the product isn't the hard part, getting users is. Not sure if they'll be successful here, but if they fail it'll probably not be because of a clone. Good point with the money, that almost certainly be tough. However if their product is useful enough and enough people use it they'll have an opportunity at making serious money.
chrisgoodrich 16y ago
I used to pay $10/month for Backpack by 37s. I'd gladly pay that $10 for this.
makeramen 16y ago
Short answer is YES. My app Noodles (see: makeramen.com) was just another todo list on the Android market, and somehow -to my surprise- gained some very solid traction. The amazing thing about the productivity software space is that everyone wants their app to do something different. It's also much more of a designer's space. I've seen countless apps that have all the "features," but the actual interface and interaction is so awkward you end up spending more time fighting the system than using it. As many people have noted about 37signals, people realize the benefits of software like this almost immediately, and will easily spend money on it. Contrast that with other social sites where people are just not culturally incline to pay for services that connect you with friends. But you start talking about productivity, and helping people work faster, better, and more efficiently, and they see benefits immediately, which means they'll reach for their wallets immediately as well.
resdirector 16y ago
To-do, organization and project management are glaring unsolved problems that humans have been trying to solve for the last 2 million years. Yes, zillions of sites. But none, yet, are satisfactory solutions. Yet.

by Maro 16y ago

Is this a good space to compete in? There are zillions of sites like it, it's really easy to duplicate, and hard to make money off of? Nevertheless, best of luck to you.

naner 16y ago

I don't mean to be cynical but honestly to me this space is an analog to self-help books. Todo/notes/productivity apps probably can hook people for a few weeks but beyond that I imagine most people won't put forth the effort to keep up with it.

ihodes 16y ago
Me and a few other people use Things. I hear Omni has a good business going, as well. Simplenote, Evernote, & friends seem to be doing alright. There's always room for something better.
makeramen 16y ago
After using quite a few of these different systems myself and paying for many, I've found many people have the wrong philosophy. It's not about fitting your life to a system, but finding a system to complement your life. Most importantly, when your life changes, change systems. I constantly switch between different combinations of apps to keep my life in order based on what's going on in my life at the time.
miketuritzin 16y ago
Point taken, but a big aim of ours (I'm one of the founders) is to help people do what they're already doing in a better way. I was creating tons of Google Docs full of lists before I started using WorkFlowy. They were pretty unmanageable, but they were the best thing I had at the time.
- naner 16y ago
  I hope you guys do well, it just seems like a risky area to get into.

gbelote 16y ago

My guess is yes. I think it's worth trying, at least. There may exist zillions of sites, but that in and of itself doesn't matter. If they can build a better product that can draw a large enough audience, that's important. I have personally looked around for tools like this, but haven't found anything that really kicks ass. Playing with their tool makes me optimistic -- they may be on to something. I don't think they have to worry much about duplication. Building the product isn't the hard part, getting users is. Not sure if they'll be successful here, but if they fail it'll probably not be because of a clone. Good point with the money, that almost certainly be tough. However if their product is useful enough and enough people use it they'll have an opportunity at making serious money.

chrisgoodrich 16y ago

I used to pay $10/month for Backpack by 37s. I'd gladly pay that $10 for this.

makeramen 16y ago

Short answer is YES. My app Noodles (see: makeramen.com) was just another todo list on the Android market, and somehow -to my surprise- gained some very solid traction. The amazing thing about the productivity software space is that everyone wants their app to do something different. It's also much more of a designer's space. I've seen countless apps that have all the "features," but the actual interface and interaction is so awkward you end up spending more time fighting the system than using it. As many people have noted about 37signals, people realize the benefits of software like this almost immediately, and will easily spend money on it. Contrast that with other social sites where people are just not culturally incline to pay for services that connect you with friends. But you start talking about productivity, and helping people work faster, better, and more efficiently, and they see benefits immediately, which means they'll reach for their wallets immediately as well.

resdirector 16y ago

To-do, organization and project management are glaring unsolved problems that humans have been trying to solve for the last 2 million years. Yes, zillions of sites. But none, yet, are satisfactory solutions. Yet.