4 ms·

I'm sitting here running the 200th uptime monitoring service, laughing at the notion you have to be first to ship a solution to a problem. Build something good

I'm sitting here running the 200th uptime monitoring service, laughing at the notion you have to be first to ship a solution to a problem. Build something good, that people want, and iterate rapidly as feedback comes in.

quickthrower2 4y ago
I think an uptime monitoring service will be my back up idea. It is like a pizza business, you can always find people who want pizza and who will rave about your pizza. Dominos and Pizza Hut are not a problem.
- jamil7 4y ago
  That's a good analogy, there are some pieces of software that are used by so many people that there's always room for a slightly different spin on it. Look at notes apps for example.
- jmstfv 4y ago
  As someone who built and sold an uptime monitoring service - don't*. You will have a hard time attracting customers as most common marketing channels are very saturated. *unless you're going to approach it from a unique angle AND have access to a customer base; even then, it won't be a walk in the park
  - quickthrower2 4y ago
    Yeah, now that you say that it sounds a bit like starting a pizza restaurant I guess: hard work. Probably harder as the Pizza restaurant has physical presence and proximity, where as online, it is more democratic: we are all equally shouting into the void for attention.
asadlionpk 4y ago
If I may ask: how did you get your early users? and what kind of money is this making? (thanks for writing the blog posts, I will also read them later).
ZephyrBlu 4y ago
It seems a bit rich to say that when your SaaS has <$5k in lifetime revenue. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30427048 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30427048 I'd say it's even contrary to "laughing at the notion you have to be the first to ship a solution to a problem".
- rozenmd 4y ago
  Why?
  - ZephyrBlu 4y ago
    Because the GP said "most markets are large enough to accommodate several businesses", but I don't see enough evidence that it's true in your case yet given your lifetime revenue so it's really odd to see you emphatically agree with the GP's assertion and provide your own business as an example.
    - rozenmd 4y ago
      There's over 200 players in this market, and I've made over 4k so far off a couple hours a day before work (i.e, my main marketing channel is shitposting on twitter) - that's not accommodating several businesses?
efreak 4y ago
I'm actually quite liking the looks of your service, and I'll probably start using it soon. I have only a few suggestions for additional features: 1. Check for open ports, to allow for non-websites (is my ssh server running) 2. icmp ping. (My ssh server is inaccessible. Is my networking/router down, or is it just my computer/program crash) 3. RSS feed for each defined check. This would allow integration with other services like IFTT. 4. Push notifications. First party or via other services; I personally send Pushbullet notifications for stuff via [1] (and currently looking at [2]), previously with npm and bash scripts; Pushover is fairly similar, and I've seen a newish offering called Pushkeep. Generalized webhooks might also work (I believe Pushbullet can be used this way, not sure about others). [1]: https://github.com/GustavoKatel/pushbullet-cli https://github.com/GustavoKatel/pushbullet-cli python [2]: https://github.com/CaptnCodr/pushbullet-cli https://github.com/CaptnCodr/pushbullet-cli f#

quickthrower2 4y ago

I think an uptime monitoring service will be my back up idea. It is like a pizza business, you can always find people who want pizza and who will rave about your pizza. Dominos and Pizza Hut are not a problem.

jamil7 4y ago
That's a good analogy, there are some pieces of software that are used by so many people that there's always room for a slightly different spin on it. Look at notes apps for example.
jmstfv 4y ago
As someone who built and sold an uptime monitoring service - don't*. You will have a hard time attracting customers as most common marketing channels are very saturated. *unless you're going to approach it from a unique angle AND have access to a customer base; even then, it won't be a walk in the park
- quickthrower2 4y ago
  Yeah, now that you say that it sounds a bit like starting a pizza restaurant I guess: hard work. Probably harder as the Pizza restaurant has physical presence and proximity, where as online, it is more democratic: we are all equally shouting into the void for attention.

asadlionpk 4y ago

If I may ask: how did you get your early users? and what kind of money is this making? (thanks for writing the blog posts, I will also read them later).

ZephyrBlu 4y ago

It seems a bit rich to say that when your SaaS has <$5k in lifetime revenue. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30427048 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30427048 I'd say it's even contrary to "laughing at the notion you have to be the first to ship a solution to a problem".

rozenmd 4y ago
Why?
- ZephyrBlu 4y ago
  Because the GP said "most markets are large enough to accommodate several businesses", but I don't see enough evidence that it's true in your case yet given your lifetime revenue so it's really odd to see you emphatically agree with the GP's assertion and provide your own business as an example.
  - rozenmd 4y ago
    There's over 200 players in this market, and I've made over 4k so far off a couple hours a day before work (i.e, my main marketing channel is shitposting on twitter) - that's not accommodating several businesses?

efreak 4y ago

I'm actually quite liking the looks of your service, and I'll probably start using it soon. I have only a few suggestions for additional features: 1. Check for open ports, to allow for non-websites (is my ssh server running) 2. icmp ping. (My ssh server is inaccessible. Is my networking/router down, or is it just my computer/program crash) 3. RSS feed for each defined check. This would allow integration with other services like IFTT. 4. Push notifications. First party or via other services; I personally send Pushbullet notifications for stuff via [1] (and currently looking at [2]), previously with npm and bash scripts; Pushover is fairly similar, and I've seen a newish offering called Pushkeep. Generalized webhooks might also work (I believe Pushbullet can be used this way, not sure about others). [1]: https://github.com/GustavoKatel/pushbullet-cli https://github.com/GustavoKatel/pushbullet-cli python [2]: https://github.com/CaptnCodr/pushbullet-cli https://github.com/CaptnCodr/pushbullet-cli f#