4 ms·

What motivates one to expose all their internal business data? Call me an old fart, but I just don't get it... can someone please explain?

jey 17y ago
I doubt it's deliberate. Someone probably just wasn't too creative with the URL and didn't bother to put in any kind of authentication. I don't see this stats page mentioned on their front page nor their blog's first page.
- patio11 17y ago
  Nope, it is deliberate. The developer announced on the Business of Software forums that he was sharing it. Some of us around those parts do -- it answers what is far and away the most common question from newbies, provides for some external motivation, and satisfies a little bit of the human urge to know you're not totally alone in the endeavor.
- CitizenKane 17y ago
  He also talked about it here as well http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=971498 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=971498
vaksel 17y ago
they probably saw how well that worked for Balsamiq, and think it'll work for them too. I don't think it'll work as well, since they have a different business model.
- jv2222 17y ago
  Yes, I've been very motivated by balsamiq - but another big reason is because we talk about it weekly on our tech podcast http://techzinglive.com http://techzinglive.com - the main reason is because this is exactly the kind of data I wish I had been able to see when starting my earlier one man businesses
- rambow 17y ago
  bokep
patio11 17y ago
Your mileage may very well vary, but I also release most of my business statistics and have for years, so I think I can supply a bit of motivation here. 1) It provides an automatic hook to make people pay attention to you. This is the Purple Cow factor -- its so different than what people expect that it is remarkable in and of itself. I am convinced that a lot of the reason people read my blog in the early days, prior to me having any reputation for saying worthwhile things or writing in an engaging manner, was that "real public sales numbers" were as rare as hen's teeth in the industry. The kind of people paying attention to your are typically folks in your industry, who are very connected, have blogs and Twitter accounts, link to things they find interesting, do I have to paint you a picture? 2) It costs you nothing. What is the worst that can happen, somebody tries to Xerox your business and outcompete you by being you-er than you are? 3) You know how pg advises people to have a co-founder so they won't feel all alone in the world in the long, long slog that is running a business? Many of us cofounderless wretches have an intense urge coming from the monkey portion of our brains to show off what we've been doing (and I don't mean that in the pejorative sense). What is the point of spending 12 hours over a hot interpreter to solve a one-line bug if you can't lament about it to your buddies? Similarly, when you get the sense of elation at e.g. having two whole customers in one day, you want to share that with somebody, too. Preferably, somebody who understands -- and nobody understands these things better than your peers. (Friends, family, priests, and romantic interests are wonderful things to have in your life, but there is a distinct limit to their tolerance for "Guess what? Guess what? I got X uniques today due to my ongoing SEO efforts!")
- jimboyoungblood 17y ago
  Thanks for the insights. Much appreciated.

jey 17y ago

I doubt it's deliberate. Someone probably just wasn't too creative with the URL and didn't bother to put in any kind of authentication. I don't see this stats page mentioned on their front page nor their blog's first page.

patio11 17y ago
Nope, it is deliberate. The developer announced on the Business of Software forums that he was sharing it. Some of us around those parts do -- it answers what is far and away the most common question from newbies, provides for some external motivation, and satisfies a little bit of the human urge to know you're not totally alone in the endeavor.
CitizenKane 17y ago
He also talked about it here as well http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=971498 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=971498

vaksel 17y ago

they probably saw how well that worked for Balsamiq, and think it'll work for them too. I don't think it'll work as well, since they have a different business model.

jv2222 17y ago
Yes, I've been very motivated by balsamiq - but another big reason is because we talk about it weekly on our tech podcast http://techzinglive.com http://techzinglive.com - the main reason is because this is exactly the kind of data I wish I had been able to see when starting my earlier one man businesses
rambow 17y ago
bokep

patio11 17y ago

Your mileage may very well vary, but I also release most of my business statistics and have for years, so I think I can supply a bit of motivation here. 1) It provides an automatic hook to make people pay attention to you. This is the Purple Cow factor -- its so different than what people expect that it is remarkable in and of itself. I am convinced that a lot of the reason people read my blog in the early days, prior to me having any reputation for saying worthwhile things or writing in an engaging manner, was that "real public sales numbers" were as rare as hen's teeth in the industry. The kind of people paying attention to your are typically folks in your industry, who are very connected, have blogs and Twitter accounts, link to things they find interesting, do I have to paint you a picture? 2) It costs you nothing. What is the worst that can happen, somebody tries to Xerox your business and outcompete you by being you-er than you are? 3) You know how pg advises people to have a co-founder so they won't feel all alone in the world in the long, long slog that is running a business? Many of us cofounderless wretches have an intense urge coming from the monkey portion of our brains to show off what we've been doing (and I don't mean that in the pejorative sense). What is the point of spending 12 hours over a hot interpreter to solve a one-line bug if you can't lament about it to your buddies? Similarly, when you get the sense of elation at e.g. having two whole customers in one day, you want to share that with somebody, too. Preferably, somebody who understands -- and nobody understands these things better than your peers. (Friends, family, priests, and romantic interests are wonderful things to have in your life, but there is a distinct limit to their tolerance for "Guess what? Guess what? I got X uniques today due to my ongoing SEO efforts!")

jimboyoungblood 17y ago
Thanks for the insights. Much appreciated.