4 ms·

Dissection of a viral launch

44 points by Facens 15y ago

Facens 15y ago
Something quite interesting that I forgot to disclose is how Facebook and Twitter performed, one compared to the other. I expected Facebook to be more effective, and it was, but the percentage of users coming from FB was just slightly greater.
niklas_a 15y ago
Yuck! I really don't like these kinds of schemes. People should share/follow because they actually like a product, not because they want to get early access to a product. If your product is truly viral within its core user base those users will tweet and talk about the product anyway.
- lrm242 15y ago
  There's nothing wrong with giving the engine a little jump start. That jump start might be enough to get something truly amazing going. However, if the product sucks no harm done--no amount of jump starting will help.
  - Facens 15y ago
    Thanks for the reply, it's exactly my opinion
- Facens 15y ago
  Ok but the real point is: how do you get the first thousand people to know about your product? That's the hard part, and a viral system can help there. If there's a bad product behind, I think that it'll end up being a failure anyway, and in the end the product is surely what really matters.
- breathesalt 15y ago
  You're right, it's hard here to tell if their product is driving the growth or if it's their marketing. It would be nice if iubenda does something similar a few months after they exit private beta to show us what numbers are real and what is just success theater.
  - Facens 15y ago
    I will surely disclose more in the next future, granted. About what's real, I think that it's mostly the need. I read every tweet that comes on the "iubenda" search, and frequently look to the profile of the user behind. Most of the times the user is a web designer, which proves that people subscribe because they feel the need. Moreover, I interview almost every beta tester that we invite, and again I get people really passionate about the product. I think that the marketing-driven risk is mitigated by the fact that the product is explained very well on the website, and people signup only if in need of the product.
Facens 15y ago
Another point is that Online wins on Offline, definitely. Offline events or press can lead to social proof, but they don't drive subscriptions.
Silhouette 15y ago
This seems an awfully risky way to get this sort of business off the ground. Privacy policies are one of those convenience things. If you don't have to write one yourself and outsourcing it saves precious time and money, great. However, if you do, it's hardly the end of the world: it's going to take you a few hours to write at most and not a huge amount of money for a lawyer to review it. You're hardly going to wait around to launch your entire project because someone didn't want to let you use their pet social experiment^W^Wprivacy policy generator tool. Moreover, there are plenty of free alternatives from reputable sources already available[1] if you just want something to make sure you're covered legally and need it Right Now. And of course, once you've done one, chances are you know enough to do any future ones yourself anyway. My guess is that if these guys really do only have 200 or so active users but 2,700 or so on their waiting list, they are blowing a massive opportunity and going to waste most of those 2,700 by missing the train. Their service is a quick-and-easy thing, and they are making it hard. I notice that the one thing obviously missing from their "Launch by the numbers" summary is an indication of whether all those numbers are worth any real money. [1] For example, in the UK, Business Link provide this sample: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1076142085&type=RESOURCES http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=10...
- Facens 15y ago
  Thank you for this comment. I wrote a comment on HN before, about privacy policies and why current solutions suck. Here's the link: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2911830 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2911830 The reason why we didn't launch the product yet, is that we are not ready. We are working really hard with our beta testers to improve it, and to solve some of the problems you mentioned too. Now, instead of a bunch of useless words, can I ask you to watch a demo of what we're about to launch? Skip if you want, but take a look at the real product and tell me what you think: http://f.cl.ly/items/3Q2600072w2w3a0V3B3B/Screeny%20Video%2025-ott-2011%2015.18.08.mov http://f.cl.ly/items/3Q2600072w2w3a0V3B3B/Screeny%20Video%20...
  - Silhouette 15y ago
    I did read your post and watch your video. It's an interesting idea. FWIW, if you had an interface like that to generate a quick template as a starting point for a privacy policy, which I could then download to customise for my own business needs, and it was available for a modest fee per use, then that would be interesting. However, I wouldn't be interested in any sort of ongoing relationship/subscription deal. I'd see this as a one-off job. If the service were cheap/easy enough, it's a one-off job I might come back to do again for any new sites or policy updates later, though. The result would absolutely have to be some sort of text document or HTML+CSS package that I could download and modify myself, not a link back to your site. This policy has legal implications in Europe, as I'm sure you're aware, and having it hosted by third parties so my users are seeing something beyond my direct control would be a deal-breaker. The UI itself looks very clean and easy to use, if you could only fix the lag/endless spinners that seem to come up all the time. To me, those would make it painful to come back and use over and over again, even if I used it once to get a starting point for my first privacy policy. I stand by my earlier view of your launch process, though: This sort of service could have value I would pay for if it were relatively cheap (compared to my time and any legal fees it saves) and something I could just use instantly when I needed it. However, there's no way I would mess around waiting for it, and all that silliness with forced viral marketing looks like a social experiment rather than a service that's there to benefit me as a paying customer. Perhaps you've decided that this doesn't matter if you're not planning to continue with that approach once you've launched and are open to everyone?
qeorge 15y ago
Really nice post, and a great product idea. Looks like you're off to a great start. One thing though - the name. It means nothing to me, I can't spell it, and I'm going to forget it. Perhaps something more direct like YourPrivacyPolicy.com would be better?
- Facens 15y ago
  YourPrivacyPolicy.com will never ever be a brand :)
  - qeorge 15y ago
    Touche. Still, I think you can do better on the name. :)
rookhack 15y ago
Very impressed by the launch page. It actually got me to go through the whole process of Tweeting, Facebooking(?), and sharing. I'll definitely look into the privacy policy service when I get in, myself and some of my clients might have use for it. On another note, have you thought about commercializing the Viral Launch software? Seems you did a much better job than Launchrock, and I know I'd pay for it...
- Facens 15y ago
  lol, you're not the first to ask it ^^

44 points by Facens 15y ago

Something quite interesting that I forgot to disclose is how Facebook and Twitter performed, one compared to the other. I expected Facebook to be more effective, and it was, but the percentage of users coming from FB was just slightly greater.

niklas_a 15y ago

Yuck! I really don't like these kinds of schemes. People should share/follow because they actually like a product, not because they want to get early access to a product. If your product is truly viral within its core user base those users will tweet and talk about the product anyway.

lrm242 15y ago
There's nothing wrong with giving the engine a little jump start. That jump start might be enough to get something truly amazing going. However, if the product sucks no harm done--no amount of jump starting will help.
- Facens 15y ago
  Thanks for the reply, it's exactly my opinion
Facens 15y ago
Ok but the real point is: how do you get the first thousand people to know about your product? That's the hard part, and a viral system can help there. If there's a bad product behind, I think that it'll end up being a failure anyway, and in the end the product is surely what really matters.
breathesalt 15y ago
You're right, it's hard here to tell if their product is driving the growth or if it's their marketing. It would be nice if iubenda does something similar a few months after they exit private beta to show us what numbers are real and what is just success theater.
- Facens 15y ago
  I will surely disclose more in the next future, granted. About what's real, I think that it's mostly the need. I read every tweet that comes on the "iubenda" search, and frequently look to the profile of the user behind. Most of the times the user is a web designer, which proves that people subscribe because they feel the need. Moreover, I interview almost every beta tester that we invite, and again I get people really passionate about the product. I think that the marketing-driven risk is mitigated by the fact that the product is explained very well on the website, and people signup only if in need of the product.

Facens 15y ago

Another point is that Online wins on Offline, definitely. Offline events or press can lead to social proof, but they don't drive subscriptions.

Silhouette 15y ago

This seems an awfully risky way to get this sort of business off the ground. Privacy policies are one of those convenience things. If you don't have to write one yourself and outsourcing it saves precious time and money, great. However, if you do, it's hardly the end of the world: it's going to take you a few hours to write at most and not a huge amount of money for a lawyer to review it. You're hardly going to wait around to launch your entire project because someone didn't want to let you use their pet social experiment^W^Wprivacy policy generator tool. Moreover, there are plenty of free alternatives from reputable sources already available[1] if you just want something to make sure you're covered legally and need it Right Now. And of course, once you've done one, chances are you know enough to do any future ones yourself anyway. My guess is that if these guys really do only have 200 or so active users but 2,700 or so on their waiting list, they are blowing a massive opportunity and going to waste most of those 2,700 by missing the train. Their service is a quick-and-easy thing, and they are making it hard. I notice that the one thing obviously missing from their "Launch by the numbers" summary is an indication of whether all those numbers are worth any real money. [1] For example, in the UK, Business Link provide this sample: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1076142085&type=RESOURCES http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=10...

Facens 15y ago
Thank you for this comment. I wrote a comment on HN before, about privacy policies and why current solutions suck. Here's the link: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2911830 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2911830 The reason why we didn't launch the product yet, is that we are not ready. We are working really hard with our beta testers to improve it, and to solve some of the problems you mentioned too. Now, instead of a bunch of useless words, can I ask you to watch a demo of what we're about to launch? Skip if you want, but take a look at the real product and tell me what you think: http://f.cl.ly/items/3Q2600072w2w3a0V3B3B/Screeny%20Video%2025-ott-2011%2015.18.08.mov http://f.cl.ly/items/3Q2600072w2w3a0V3B3B/Screeny%20Video%20...
- Silhouette 15y ago
  I did read your post and watch your video. It's an interesting idea. FWIW, if you had an interface like that to generate a quick template as a starting point for a privacy policy, which I could then download to customise for my own business needs, and it was available for a modest fee per use, then that would be interesting. However, I wouldn't be interested in any sort of ongoing relationship/subscription deal. I'd see this as a one-off job. If the service were cheap/easy enough, it's a one-off job I might come back to do again for any new sites or policy updates later, though. The result would absolutely have to be some sort of text document or HTML+CSS package that I could download and modify myself, not a link back to your site. This policy has legal implications in Europe, as I'm sure you're aware, and having it hosted by third parties so my users are seeing something beyond my direct control would be a deal-breaker. The UI itself looks very clean and easy to use, if you could only fix the lag/endless spinners that seem to come up all the time. To me, those would make it painful to come back and use over and over again, even if I used it once to get a starting point for my first privacy policy. I stand by my earlier view of your launch process, though: This sort of service could have value I would pay for if it were relatively cheap (compared to my time and any legal fees it saves) and something I could just use instantly when I needed it. However, there's no way I would mess around waiting for it, and all that silliness with forced viral marketing looks like a social experiment rather than a service that's there to benefit me as a paying customer. Perhaps you've decided that this doesn't matter if you're not planning to continue with that approach once you've launched and are open to everyone?

qeorge 15y ago

Really nice post, and a great product idea. Looks like you're off to a great start. One thing though - the name. It means nothing to me, I can't spell it, and I'm going to forget it. Perhaps something more direct like YourPrivacyPolicy.com would be better?

Facens 15y ago
YourPrivacyPolicy.com will never ever be a brand :)
- qeorge 15y ago
  Touche. Still, I think you can do better on the name. :)

rookhack 15y ago

Very impressed by the launch page. It actually got me to go through the whole process of Tweeting, Facebooking(?), and sharing. I'll definitely look into the privacy policy service when I get in, myself and some of my clients might have use for it. On another note, have you thought about commercializing the Viral Launch software? Seems you did a much better job than Launchrock, and I know I'd pay for it...

Facens 15y ago
lol, you're not the first to ask it ^^