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Ask HN: My site isn't sexy or social, but I'm very proud of it: what's next?

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Re: Ask HN: My site isn't sexy or social, but I'm very proud of it: what's next?

#11

Post by maxbrown »

hparra wrote: post #10
dmazin wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's interesting. Do you mean to allow tutors to track the success of their students? And thanks so much.

If your system is registering a C average for a student in Calculus perhaps your system can recommend a tutor. This is where referrals and sponsorships come in ($). Or perhaps someone in that same class. There's a social networking aspects right there. There's tons of interesting things you could do! I'm curious if anyone else thinks that charging for this may not be the best approach. Anyone? (Wait, you're in the bi…

College students may be the only demographic to consume more ramen noodles than bootstrapping start-up founders (willing to be proven wrong!).

They'll expect this to be free and most likely won't pay unless they see incredible added value. I really like the tutoring angle though - targeted tutoring referrals seems like a great way to monetize something like this.

Re: Ask HN: My site isn't sexy or social, but I'm very proud of it: what's next?

#12

Post by dmazin »

hparra wrote: post #10
dmazin wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's interesting. Do you mean to allow tutors to track the success of their students? And thanks so much.

If your system is registering a C average for a student in Calculus perhaps your system can recommend a tutor. This is where referrals and sponsorships come in ($). Or perhaps someone in that same class. There's a social networking aspects right there. There's tons of interesting things you could do! I'm curious if anyone else thinks that charging for this may not be the best approach. Anyone? (Wait, you're in the bi…

That's a pretty good idea, but I need a good user base before I can experiment with that, I think.

Traditional freemium may indeed not work for this. I've seen examples of freemium working for b2b services but charging customers, especially students, may really not work out. This is one of the things I've wanted to find out for a while now.

It's near the OC but worse: The Inland Empire.

Re: Ask HN: My site isn't sexy or social, but I'm very proud of it: what's next?

#13

Post by hparra »

dmazin wrote: post #12
hparra wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your system is registering a C average for a student in Calculus perhaps your system can recommend a tutor. This is where referrals and sponsorships come in ($). Or perhaps someone in that same class. There's a social networking aspects right there. There's tons of interesting things you could do! I'm curious if anyone else thinks that charging for this may not be the best approach. Anyone? (Wait, you're in the bi…

That's a pretty good idea, but I need a good user base before I can experiment with that, I think. Traditional freemium may indeed not work for this. I've seen examples of freemium working for b2b services but charging customers, especially students, may really not work out. This is one of the things I've wanted to find out for a while now. It's near the OC but worse: The Inland Empire.

We don't want any 909ers 'round here brah. :)

On another note: there is a ton of opportunity in web companies with a background in applied mathematics with all the data mining and social graphing and business statistics. Don't sell your degree short in this field. Do a little research into the major electives available to you and how they may apply to your own work.

You at UCR?

Re: Ask HN: My site isn't sexy or social, but I'm very proud of it: what's next?

#14

Post by michaelpinto »

1. I'd listen to some actual students and find out what the selling points are to them, and do some A/B headline testing ("Pain-free grade calculation" seems better than "Do you know what your grades are?")

2. That url is terrible — you need the words "grade tracker" in it: http://www.wolf-howl.com/seo/how-to-choose-a-new-domain/

3. You should allow a signup via Facebook (especially for college kids)

4. Maybe have a simple screenshot video instead of those stills?

Re: Ask HN: My site isn't sexy or social, but I'm very proud of it: what's next?

#16

Post by dmazin »

michaelpinto wrote: post #14

1. I'd listen to some actual students and find out what the selling points are to them, and do some A/B headline testing ("Pain-free grade calculation" seems better than "Do you know what your grades are?") 2. That url is terrible — you need the words "grade tracker" in it: http://www.wolf-howl.com/seo/how-to-choose-a-new-domain/ 3. You should allow a signup via Facebook (especially for college kids) 4. Maybe have a…

When I was starting out, I was so excited to do A/B testing. I was going to A/B every word on every page. The truth of the matter is, A/B is worthless when starting out because you need a hundred conversions or so for both A and B to have statistical significance. I'm getting less than 20 visits per day, but with a very good conversion rate, actually.

As for the URL - well, I'm not really into making a micro ISV/SEO-blatant site.

Facebook sign up - I really should have that.

I have personally never clicked a landing page video. I think the only example I know of it actually being a good decision is Dropbox. I want to see a description with images and text (something my page lacks, really).

Re: Ask HN: My site isn't sexy or social, but I'm very proud of it: what's next?

#17

Post by dmazin »

naithemilkman wrote: post #15

I think it looks sexy :) Why won't you mention your 200 hours? Conversation killer with the chicks?

Thanks! I really meant more that it's not a sexy idea. I don't mind the internal design myself, although it could of course be better.

To be honest, I'd been refusing to take this project seriously until it had some outside validation. Actually, I still don't call it a start up or business as it's neither registered nor has a revenue.

Re: Ask HN: My site isn't sexy or social, but I'm very proud of it: what's next?

#18

Post by dmazin »

hparra wrote: post #13
dmazin wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a pretty good idea, but I need a good user base before I can experiment with that, I think. Traditional freemium may indeed not work for this. I've seen examples of freemium working for b2b services but charging customers, especially students, may really not work out. This is one of the things I've wanted to find out for a while now. It's near the OC but worse: The Inland Empire.

We don't want any 909ers 'round here brah. :) On another note: there is a ton of opportunity in web companies with a background in applied mathematics with all the data mining and social graphing and business statistics. Don't sell your degree short in this field. Do a little research into the major electives available to you and how they may apply to your own work. You at UCR?

I'm aware of my degree's utility. In fact, my next idea may require a lot more math (graph theory, particularly, which is the case for most social stuff today). However, I like learning being for the sake of learning and don't mind pursuing a degree that I may not want to turn into a career - but if business doesn't work out, I can always go into academia or industry.

I'm not at UCR. I'll be moving to Berkeley next Fall.

Re: Ask HN: My site isn't sexy or social, but I'm very proud of it: what's next?

#19

Post by lylejohnson »

Thankfully, I am long past the point where I have to worry about my GPA. But there was absolutely a time in my life when I would have used something like this, had it been available.

I can tell you that my wife's a schoolteacher, and that her school system has a web-based system where parents can log in and check on their kids' grades. She has a lot of parents who check that site religiously. All that is to say that while it may not be a "sexy" site, you've definitely hit on a useful idea here. Good luck!

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