4 ms·
I went to juwo.com when you first posted here and thought "huh, that's kind of funny that there's nowhere where you can actually use the product..." You're com
by jwecker 20y ago
I went to juwo.com when you first posted here and thought "huh, that's kind of funny that there's nowhere where you can actually use the product..." You're competition is going to have a chance to copy your ideas at some point or another anyway- it's a simple fact of business- even if you do have a patent. And no amount of miraculous outside funding will help that. Take a risk [ http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/01/death_by_riskav.html ].
Get the product into as many people's hands as quickly as possible, as massively as possible. If there's a chance that some hacker is willing to do some of the work to make it work with other media formats, then for heaven's sake open source the product (or part of it like pg said). What do you have to lose? You're product is more than just a list of features. Believe it or not, many people will not do a point-by-point comparison of your product with other products- there's the coolness factor, loyalty to you and your company, the subtle touches of your product, the way you support it and it's users, the vision you have of how it can be used to enrich someone's life, how frequently you respond and update it, etc. etc.
None of that will matter if no one is using it. Start a following. It may fail either way- that's got to be part of the reason you still have a day job, but it has absolutely no chance of success if no one is using it and spreading the word about it.
- juwo 20y agojwecker: I had a demo page up that I took down upon other people's advice. I just returned from an enterpreneur meeting here in Kansas City and a wise man with 6 startups under his belt told me when I said I am considering giving it away, "Dont give it away because then it's gone". But then contrast it with, "Cast your bread upon the waters and after many days, they shall return to you".
- jwecker 20y agoI don't understand his logic. It's catchy, but it means nothing. The only time that would make sense if there is a very small finite market for your product- for example- if there are only 50 people on the planet who will pay for your product and there's a reasonable chance they'll know where to find it, then yah, don't give it away. When is that ever true, though? When you sell nuclear submarine technology to 1st world governments? It sounds like you've put a lot of sweat and guts into this. I would suggest you read http://gettingreal.37signals.com/toc.php (it applies even if yours isn't a web app) and Crossing the Chasm http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060517123 which goes into the mechanics of your market. If you took down the demo because it made your product look bad because it was incomplete, complete a smaller subset. If you took it down because someone said someone would steal your idea, welcome to startups- know that they'll steal it and move on and do it better.
- juwo 20y agoI really appreciate the advice from you all. To those who posted on this page, I can send you the demos, an executive summary and competitive matrix - if you are interested. IMHO juwo is a useful everyday tool. However, you would have to give me your word that (sorry, I dont know how to put it diplomatically) you will not rip off any new ideas. In return, perhaps, I can share a percentage of any profit from juwo - for a certain time eg. 1 year with those who will help out with concrete help. There is a lot of money in it if it catches on. Think of youtube using it for their audio/video. Feel free to email me anil AT juwo DOT com. thanks, Anil Philip
- juwo 20y agoreleased! http://juwo.com http://juwo.com Please provide your feedback - via email or the newer thread I started