4 ms·

Start super niche and expand in concentric circles, I guess. It's tough because people don't exactly look for new houses every single day so coming up in their

by 55555 11y ago

Start super niche and expand in concentric circles, I guess. It's tough because people don't exactly look for new houses every single day so coming up in their brain as the app/site of choice when they do need a new house/apt is difficult. I would hate to do a "better apartment finder" startup in this space (airbnb excluded). I think craigslist grew pretty slowly over the course of a decade, right? Not sure there's a recipe for overtaking them quickly that doesn't involve using their data/userbase in one form or another.

prawn 11y ago
You might almost need to loss lead for years, paying people in some fashion to bring content. e.g., dress up listings similar to the way Airbnb sends out their photographer to shoot your place professionally, or Uber is subsidising drivers to establish a foothold. If you did car sales (as a bad example), you could handle the entire process for customers - sending out a photographer, building the listing and researching an appropriate list price. Wear the costs until you have the brand established and can start to make money. That would probably be attractive to people who don't have time or aren't confident enough to do it all themselves.
- git-fucked 11y ago
  Part of what attracts people to places like craigslist/gumtree is that you do it all yourself, though - it's easy to just take a couple of photos and provide a few details to advertise a car or house sale without a third party. If I wanted to have professionals take care of it I'd go to a sales garage or an estate agent.
  - prawn 11y ago
    People do it themselves because the garage or agent charges a fee. I'm saying that to tackle an incumbent, you could offer that service (and better) for free to win customers across. I disagree that it's easy to take decent photos and then deal with a sales process (fielding calls, negotiating, etc). I have dozens of things I could sell but don't because it's too much effort and I don't have time.
- extc 11y ago
  https://www.beepi.com/ https://www.beepi.com/

by 55555 11y ago

prawn 11y ago

You might almost need to loss lead for years, paying people in some fashion to bring content. e.g., dress up listings similar to the way Airbnb sends out their photographer to shoot your place professionally, or Uber is subsidising drivers to establish a foothold. If you did car sales (as a bad example), you could handle the entire process for customers - sending out a photographer, building the listing and researching an appropriate list price. Wear the costs until you have the brand established and can start to make money. That would probably be attractive to people who don't have time or aren't confident enough to do it all themselves.

git-fucked 11y ago
Part of what attracts people to places like craigslist/gumtree is that you do it all yourself, though - it's easy to just take a couple of photos and provide a few details to advertise a car or house sale without a third party. If I wanted to have professionals take care of it I'd go to a sales garage or an estate agent.
- prawn 11y ago
  People do it themselves because the garage or agent charges a fee. I'm saying that to tackle an incumbent, you could offer that service (and better) for free to win customers across. I disagree that it's easy to take decent photos and then deal with a sales process (fielding calls, negotiating, etc). I have dozens of things I could sell but don't because it's too much effort and I don't have time.
extc 11y ago
https://www.beepi.com/ https://www.beepi.com/