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Right now this is a tech demo. Looking for feedback on the idea itself. If I find I've hit a nerve (i.e. a problem others want solved) then I would like to mo

by raffi 18y ago

Right now this is a tech demo. Looking for feedback on the idea itself. If I find I've hit a nerve (i.e. a problem others want solved) then I would like to move forward with the business building route.

tstegart 18y ago
I think the idea as currently implemented would have low usage. Not that its not technically incredible, but I would put it into the category of a hobby site rather than a business. Its a fun thing to do, but people have many, many ways of finding different communities, and actually, its kind of fun to search through the different ones until you find something that fits you back. Are you a TechCrunch person, a YC person, a DIGG person? All of them? Its kind of an emotional thing to find a "community." In order to go from hobby site to business you'd need to get people to come back repeatedly, and searching for a new community just isn't something a person does often. The numbers for a business just aren't there. However, with any problems, there are always ideas for solutions. For example, if you really did want to turn this into a business, you'd have to solve the problems above. Find people who would search for related communities often, and who want to do it quickly and with good results. I think one idea would be to focus on your notion of promoting something. The people who do this for a job are PR or media placement people. They might need this sort of thing. When they have a client that wants to get the word out, or wants to advertise to their audience, one important consideration for a P.R. or media placement person usually is" "well, where can we find their audience?" A company might tell them, "well, this is where we usually go to tell people what our new product is." And a P.R. person could use your site and say "have you tried X, Y, or Z too?" So thats just an idea. Obviously, tuning the site to P.R. people and seeing if it makes sense is a lot of work, but thats really what separates a business from a hobby. This is exactly where you run into the classic hacker's dilemma (ok, its not classic, but it sounded like a nice phrase): turning your mad coding skills into something that people actually want. It can be a coding marvel, but until people actually want it, its not a business. It sounds like you have the skills down, you just need an idea. Apparently, around here they're a dime a dozen, so if you're here to build a business, your execution skills will come in handy.
- raffi 18y ago
  Thanks for the well thought out reply. I'll post the link to Sphinn.com (a Digg-like site for PR/Marketing folks) and get their take. Part of my goal getting involved here is to find potential partners. Has anyone used HN to do that?
  - tstegart 18y ago
    I assume so. People post stuff all the time looking for founders or new employees.

by raffi 18y ago

tstegart 18y ago

I think the idea as currently implemented would have low usage. Not that its not technically incredible, but I would put it into the category of a hobby site rather than a business. Its a fun thing to do, but people have many, many ways of finding different communities, and actually, its kind of fun to search through the different ones until you find something that fits you back. Are you a TechCrunch person, a YC person, a DIGG person? All of them? Its kind of an emotional thing to find a "community." In order to go from hobby site to business you'd need to get people to come back repeatedly, and searching for a new community just isn't something a person does often. The numbers for a business just aren't there. However, with any problems, there are always ideas for solutions. For example, if you really did want to turn this into a business, you'd have to solve the problems above. Find people who would search for related communities often, and who want to do it quickly and with good results. I think one idea would be to focus on your notion of promoting something. The people who do this for a job are PR or media placement people. They might need this sort of thing. When they have a client that wants to get the word out, or wants to advertise to their audience, one important consideration for a P.R. or media placement person usually is" "well, where can we find their audience?" A company might tell them, "well, this is where we usually go to tell people what our new product is." And a P.R. person could use your site and say "have you tried X, Y, or Z too?" So thats just an idea. Obviously, tuning the site to P.R. people and seeing if it makes sense is a lot of work, but thats really what separates a business from a hobby. This is exactly where you run into the classic hacker's dilemma (ok, its not classic, but it sounded like a nice phrase): turning your mad coding skills into something that people actually want. It can be a coding marvel, but until people actually want it, its not a business. It sounds like you have the skills down, you just need an idea. Apparently, around here they're a dime a dozen, so if you're here to build a business, your execution skills will come in handy.

raffi 18y ago
Thanks for the well thought out reply. I'll post the link to Sphinn.com (a Digg-like site for PR/Marketing folks) and get their take. Part of my goal getting involved here is to find potential partners. Has anyone used HN to do that?
- tstegart 18y ago
  I assume so. People post stuff all the time looking for founders or new employees.