Ask HN: Third world country, Internet company success stories? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Third world country, Internet company success stories?

#11

Post by fabiandesimone » Sat, Sep 24, 2011, 8:37 PM UTC

Well, I guess we would have first to define success...

I'm currently in private alpha with my Blackberry App. Is a panic button for Blackberry users in dangerous cities in Latin America (mainly).

I've been online for about 60 days, have done zero marketing, no push of the app and have around 300 active users. People seem to really like the app.

Twitter has been abuzz with people talking about it and in a few weeks I'm releasing the first "beta" version and will start charging for it. Lets see how that goes.

I'm starting my focus in Venezuela since I'm from there and know the market pretty well. The main problem is the government restrictions in my country to charge in a foreign country (in this case dollars) so I have to charge in the local currency, but there are no payment gateways... is very complicated.

All an all, I think the private alpha has been a success, so there you go :)

Re: Ask HN: Third world country, Internet company success stories?

#12

Post by ya3r » Sat, Sep 24, 2011, 9:18 PM UTC

kirchart wrote: post #9

I'm from Mexico .. my company is: Guali.com.mx. We do adwords assistance for company's in Mexico, we started this with $300usd 15 months ago and now we have around $8,000 usd on the bank and like 25 paying customers (each give us at leas 80usd each month) We also applied for "Startup Chile" Program and we got selected yesterday .. they will give us $40k on equality-free money. I'm 24 years old .. i started my project…

I'm from Iran.

I really liked your finishing sentence.

_if you want excuses you will find a lot, if you want a way to succeed .. guess what? .. you can find a lot to._

Re: Ask HN: Third world country, Internet company success stories?

#13

Post by ya3r » Sat, Sep 24, 2011, 9:25 PM UTC

sathishmanohar wrote: post #8

It would be easier to access your situation, if you tell your country.

I live in Iran/Tehran. Our situation in some what similar to other countries in Middle East, but worth. e.g we don't have paypal, EC2, google app engine, good Internet speeds, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Third world country, Internet company success stories?

#14

Post by kirchart » Sat, Sep 24, 2011, 9:36 PM UTC

ya3r wrote: post #12

kirchart wrote: post #9

I'm from Mexico .. my company is: Guali.com.mx. We do adwords assistance for company's in Mexico, we started this with $300usd 15 months ago and now we have around $8,000 usd on the bank and like 25 paying customers (each give us at leas 80usd each month) We also applied for "Startup Chile" Program and we got selected yesterday .. they will give us $40k on equality-free money. I'm 24 years old .. i started my project…

I'm from Iran. I really liked your finishing sentence. _if you want excuses you will find a lot, if you want a way to succeed .. guess what? .. you can find a lot to._

thanks man :) .. 100% true

Re: Ask HN: Third world country, Internet company success stories?

#15

Post by jibjab » Sun, Sep 25, 2011, 12:11 AM UTC

I know that visualwebsiteoptimizer.com is run from India.

Re: Ask HN: Third world country, Internet company success stories?

#16

Post by sathishmanohar » Sun, Sep 25, 2011, 5:09 AM UTC

kirchart wrote: post #9

I'm from Mexico .. my company is: Guali.com.mx. We do adwords assistance for company's in Mexico, we started this with $300usd 15 months ago and now we have around $8,000 usd on the bank and like 25 paying customers (each give us at leas 80usd each month) We also applied for "Startup Chile" Program and we got selected yesterday .. they will give us $40k on equality-free money. I'm 24 years old .. i started my project…

Thats great, perhaps you could write about your success story, how to get first customers, and how to retain them etc. It'll be useful for everybody, in your country and around the world..

Re: Ask HN: Third world country, Internet company success stories?

#17

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Re: Ask HN: Third world country, Internet company success stories?

#18

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Re: Ask HN: Third world country, Internet company success stories?

#19

Post by anujkk » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 5:15 AM UTC

sathishmanohar wrote: post #7

mailarchis wrote: post #2

Some of the successful internet companies in India 1. irctc.co.in - indian railways gov site to sell tickets online. largest amount of online transactions happen over here 2. naukri.com - jobs site 3. shaadi.com/ bharatmatrimony.com - matrimony site 4. redbus.in - online bus ticketing 5. bookmyshow.com - online movie ticketing 6. zomato.com/burrp.com - local search websites with reviews 7. makemytrip.com/yatra.com/cl…

While I use ticketing sites quite often. I have complete hatred for matrimony services. Sure, they are successful, and are profitable, But, they offend me ethically, sorting people by race, and weighing and matching by income? Sorry, I have no respect for them.

True but that's how arranged marriages work in India. Exceptions may exist but most parents here still look for match of same caste/sub-caste with high income levels.

Matrimonial sites just help people find brides and grooms in they way they want.