Ask HN: Pet lovers review my startup

#1

Post by cjwake » Tue, Feb 28, 2012, 7:13 PM UTC

Spotwag launched publicly two weeks ago with v1. It is still very much a minimum viable product - functional, but with lots still on our plate. It is bootstrapped by my cofounder and I with the current design based on Twitter bootstrap, and Kim (my cofounder) handling development.

Coordinate help for your pet from people you already trust, quickly and easily with Spotwag. And never again feel pressure to leave your pet with a stranger. Spotwag makes asking for help, or offering it easy for everyone.

Spotwag was built using Facebook Connect, because we wanted to start with each pet owner's core group of trusted friends, and Facebook seemed a natural place to start. We collect very limited data from users, but use Facebook to make inviting friends easiest. We've already started to receive feedback on integrating signup via email, and it is something we plan to integrate in the near future.

We envision this being a single online source to manage your pet's needs, whether with friends or professionals. We started with this problem of finding help for your pet while you are away, because it's common to every pet owner, and the needs are real. It began as an "Airbnb for dogs," but after talking to a LOT of pet owners, we settled on this as a starting point. We learned that pet owners prefer to entrust their pets to friends, family and those they already know and trust, rather than strangers, whenever possible.

And we heard over and over from non-pet-owners that they really want to watch other's pets - many cannot have a pet of their own for whatever reason, and this gives them a chance to enjoy pet ownership without the same commitment. We exist to make those connections happen, and to remove the 'awkwardness' in asking for help, because as dog owners we know that it is NEVER easy or enjoyable to ask your friends for help with your pet.

We've already had several people make successful requests on Spotwag in preparation for SXSW next week. http://spotwag.com

Re: Ask HN: Pet lovers review my startup

#2

Post by kimsterv_again » Tue, Feb 28, 2012, 7:18 PM UTC

Link: http://spotwag.com

We're currently working on redesigning the entire site with real designers, but would love feedback on the idea, functionality etc.

Re: Ask HN: Pet lovers review my startup

#3

Post by benrequena » Tue, Feb 28, 2012, 7:40 PM UTC

Looks good and is a useful app I could see myself using. I created an account and attempted to add a pet (dog). I ran into my first hiccup when the form asked if my dog was small/medium/large, I assume my lab is a large breed, but adding weights as a guide text could have helped me come to a quicker decision.

Second roadblock came when I clicked the save button. I was given an error at the top of the page, but the page didn't scroll up so I didn't know the submission failed. Also the error message was generic and didn't give me an reason why there was an error. I assumed I didn't fill in a required field but opted to close the tab and write this comment instead of guessing.

Re: Ask HN: Pet lovers review my startup

#4

Post by TomGullen » Tue, Feb 28, 2012, 7:41 PM UTC

Looks like a good idea although I'm not your market. I don't think your monetising it as far as I can see at the moment, do you have plans for this in the future?

Re: Ask HN: Pet lovers review my startup

#5

Post by kimsterv_again » Tue, Feb 28, 2012, 7:43 PM UTC

benrequena wrote: post #3

Looks good and is a useful app I could see myself using. I created an account and attempted to add a pet (dog). I ran into my first hiccup when the form asked if my dog was small/medium/large, I assume my lab is a large breed, but adding weights as a guide text could have helped me come to a quicker decision. Second roadblock came when I clicked the save button. I was given an error at the top of the page, but the pa…

Awesome and thanks! Right now only name and photo are required. Good feedback on the form though. I'll add it to my list.

Re: Ask HN: Pet lovers review my startup

#6

Post by girlvinyl » Tue, Feb 28, 2012, 7:45 PM UTC

I think this is a great idea. I subscribe to r/dogs on reddit and you cannot imagine the amount of people who ask "should I get a dog?". The answer is generally "yes," but I advise them to make friends so they'll have a list of people to call on if they get stuck at work, etc. You're so right, there ARE a lot of people who can't have pets but would love to care for a dog for a weekend or take one out during the week for a quick walk. Many people enjoy dogs so much that they wouldn't mind doing this for free.

Re: Ask HN: Pet lovers review my startup

#7

Post by cjwake » Tue, Feb 28, 2012, 7:47 PM UTC

TomGullen wrote: post #4

Looks like a good idea although I'm not your market. I don't think your monetising it as far as I can see at the moment, do you have plans for this in the future?

Thanks for the note! No monetization right now - we wanted to make connections easy for people first, but we envision processing transactions. It can be weird passing money between friends, so we've thought about gifting, as well as credit card payments to remove the cash barrier for people. Eventually you'll be able to connect with friends of friends and professionals too, in which case we would handle the transaction between the pet owner and their choice caregiver.

Re: Ask HN: Pet lovers review my startup

#8

Post by bbaker » Tue, Feb 28, 2012, 7:48 PM UTC

I think it's great. Obviously it'll iterate as you work with more users, but it's already quite clean, and and serves a real but until now hidden need.

Re: Ask HN: Pet lovers review my startup

#9

Post by caixa » Tue, Feb 28, 2012, 7:48 PM UTC

I'd absolutely use this product.

As much as I'm sure it improves the listings, I'd recommend not making the photo required. First of all, other non-required info (such as pet type) seems more important, and second of all it requires digging through my photos. I'd be likely to add a photo when I'm looking for someone to catsit, but it was a deterrent for me to add the cat in the first place.

Re: Ask HN: Pet lovers review my startup

#10

Post by kimsterv_again » Tue, Feb 28, 2012, 7:49 PM UTC

girlvinyl wrote: post #6

I think this is a great idea. I subscribe to r/dogs on reddit and you cannot imagine the amount of people who ask "should I get a dog?". The answer is generally "yes," but I advise them to make friends so they'll have a list of people to call on if they get stuck at work, etc. You're so right, there ARE a lot of people who can't have pets but would love to care for a dog for a weekend or take one out during the week…

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, we were shocked ourselves when we started hearing how many non dog owners want to watch their friends dogs. One of the next features I want to build is letting people ASK to take your dog/pet. I have friends that have just asked to take mine to the park for the day.