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I have what is probably a zombie company. Here's the dilemma: I'm doing this alone, I really, really want this thing for my own personal use, and I have a ton o

by thebear 14y ago

I have what is probably a zombie company. Here's the dilemma: I'm doing this alone, I really, really want this thing for my own personal use, and I have a ton of feature requests. So now on the one hand, I enjoy working on this thing and I'm delighted to see the next feature being added. On the other hand, I'm condemned to look at my failed startup every day. How do I deal with that?

coopdog 14y ago
I'm in a similar boat (just newer), what I'm learning is to start getting it out there. Even if it's complex, work out your message and condense it to it's simplest form so that even if the product isn't done you can show people where it's going. Then try to find people who resonate with that message. If they really believe in your vision they'll sign up for beta, and start paying as useful features come online. But you have to communicate the essence of your vision first. I think the idea if polishing what you have so it's always usable before moving into new features is also pretty liberating, so you can show rather than tell where the vision is at today
olefoo 14y ago
Wait a second, who are you getting feature requests from? It sounds to me like you need to examine your market and talk to the people who are asking for things and figure out what problem you're solving for them. If people care enough to send you feature requests, then you need to look at what's driving them and how you can reach others like them. It sounds to me like your product is close enough to an unmet need that it's picking up signal, but that you haven't quite found the place to really dig in for the results.
- thebear 14y ago
  I was speaking a tad facetiously here: those feature requests come from myself. Seriously, I am an avid user of this thing who cannot live without it, and there are missing features that I absolutely want.
  - klibertp 14y ago
    I'm not a businessman, just a programmer, and a consumer, so what I think may be irrelevant, but... If you have a piece of something that already works for you, to the point that you cannot live without it, then you already have much, much more than most of the startups after a year of funding. Maybe you should hire someone who will be able to sell this thing, or make such a person a partner, if you are not capable of this yourself. But you should not, definitely, continue to make this thing only for yourself.

by thebear 14y ago

coopdog 14y ago

I'm in a similar boat (just newer), what I'm learning is to start getting it out there. Even if it's complex, work out your message and condense it to it's simplest form so that even if the product isn't done you can show people where it's going. Then try to find people who resonate with that message. If they really believe in your vision they'll sign up for beta, and start paying as useful features come online. But you have to communicate the essence of your vision first. I think the idea if polishing what you have so it's always usable before moving into new features is also pretty liberating, so you can show rather than tell where the vision is at today

olefoo 14y ago

Wait a second, who are you getting feature requests from? It sounds to me like you need to examine your market and talk to the people who are asking for things and figure out what problem you're solving for them. If people care enough to send you feature requests, then you need to look at what's driving them and how you can reach others like them. It sounds to me like your product is close enough to an unmet need that it's picking up signal, but that you haven't quite found the place to really dig in for the results.

thebear 14y ago
I was speaking a tad facetiously here: those feature requests come from myself. Seriously, I am an avid user of this thing who cannot live without it, and there are missing features that I absolutely want.
- klibertp 14y ago
  I'm not a businessman, just a programmer, and a consumer, so what I think may be irrelevant, but... If you have a piece of something that already works for you, to the point that you cannot live without it, then you already have much, much more than most of the startups after a year of funding. Maybe you should hire someone who will be able to sell this thing, or make such a person a partner, if you are not capable of this yourself. But you should not, definitely, continue to make this thing only for yourself.