3 ms·

I'm the person who has been quoted. The person whom I addressed that was going to run a business selling access to a commenting feature. https://news.ycombinat

I'm the person who has been quoted. The person whom I addressed that was going to run a business selling access to a commenting feature. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22209411 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22209411 The competition for that feature is free comments via Facebook so anyone who does not want to spend money has that ability. The other set of "competitors" is accessed for free via open source software that one can install. As soon as the person signs up a first client, he or she would have to provide the service for some period of time. Just shutting it down won't be an option. Any and all businesses are a pain in the ass to operate. Say that in order for this "business" to be viable in the eyes of the person running it ( not profitable, just viable ) it would need to eick out $500/mo in revenue. To do that at $5.00/mo he would need to get 100 customers. That's a very tall order because the competition is free and price sensitive customers are going to go to a free service (facebook) or they are going to go to whatever service that shows up that will underprice the OP. There's however another group of potential customers. They are people who for some reason need a problem of commenting solved and are willing to pay for it. Not a lot. But a some reasonable amount of money. What's reasonable? Well, a dinner for 2 in major cities is the USA is going to run you about $120. People who go out in those cities 4-10 times a month are the same people who have a daily Starbucks/La Colombe/Joe's Coffee/Pete's Coffee habit. They could make the coffee at home for $0.25 a cup just like they could make a dinner at home for $3/per person. Instead they choose to spend money not on the cheapest option but on option that simply solves their problem. They demonstrate it by buying Starbucks coffee and going out to dinner twice or three times a week. It is much easier to find 5 of people who spend $100/mo on Starbucks who need to have commenting problem solved and convince them to spend $100/mo on it than to find 100 people who would spend $5/mo who think that spending $100/mo on solving their problem is too much. Why? Because the second group has already demonstrated that $100/mo is an expense they are willing to take.

detaro 7y ago
I fully agree with the notion (go for a more premium market - even though I'm sure you could have a long discussion what's the right market and price point here, e.g. $100 seems a bit much for a lot of the "professional blogger" market), but I'm not sure framing a business expense in terms of daily coffee is a good comparison to communicate its value. Are your customers likely to be the kind of people that go out multiple times a month in expensive cities? Some of your customers are small outfits (single person, or side-project of multiple people), a group of people where I'd expect "daily expensive coffee" is seen as more frivolous then spending the same on a sensible business expense. And larger businesses don't think in those terms at all when budgeting, but much more in risk, saved employee hours, saved money spent on contractors handling the same thing, ... The "nice meal" analogy might work slightly better here, but also always has the risk of seeming out of touch for people from other regions.
sukilot 7y ago
> Well, a dinner for 2 in major cities is the USA is going to run you about $120. Not for the vast majority of people.
- notyourday 7y ago
  https://www.zagat.com/b/48.56-what-can-you-get-for-nycs-average-meal-cost https://www.zagat.com/b/48.56-what-can-you-get-for-nycs-aver... That's from 2013. The vast majority of people are not potential customers for a small SaaS startup charging money for "it would be nice to have" service.
war1025 7y ago
> People who go out in those cities 4-10 times a month are the same people who have a daily Starbucks/La Colombe/Joe's Coffee/Pete's Coffee habit I have a daily coffee habit precisely because it's significantly cheaper than having an eating out habit, while providing me with the same or better satisfaction.

detaro 7y ago

I fully agree with the notion (go for a more premium market - even though I'm sure you could have a long discussion what's the right market and price point here, e.g. $100 seems a bit much for a lot of the "professional blogger" market), but I'm not sure framing a business expense in terms of daily coffee is a good comparison to communicate its value. Are your customers likely to be the kind of people that go out multiple times a month in expensive cities? Some of your customers are small outfits (single person, or side-project of multiple people), a group of people where I'd expect "daily expensive coffee" is seen as more frivolous then spending the same on a sensible business expense. And larger businesses don't think in those terms at all when budgeting, but much more in risk, saved employee hours, saved money spent on contractors handling the same thing, ... The "nice meal" analogy might work slightly better here, but also always has the risk of seeming out of touch for people from other regions.

sukilot 7y ago

> Well, a dinner for 2 in major cities is the USA is going to run you about $120. Not for the vast majority of people.

notyourday 7y ago
https://www.zagat.com/b/48.56-what-can-you-get-for-nycs-average-meal-cost https://www.zagat.com/b/48.56-what-can-you-get-for-nycs-aver... That's from 2013. The vast majority of people are not potential customers for a small SaaS startup charging money for "it would be nice to have" service.

war1025 7y ago

> People who go out in those cities 4-10 times a month are the same people who have a daily Starbucks/La Colombe/Joe's Coffee/Pete's Coffee habit I have a daily coffee habit precisely because it's significantly cheaper than having an eating out habit, while providing me with the same or better satisfaction.