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Show HN: Sobrr

sobrr.me

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Re: Show HN: Sobrr

#41

Post by micmac99 »

micmac99 wrote: post #40

I did not even click the link. All the comments alone made it very clear you did NOT use the services of a brand/marketing expert that could have helped clarify/define your brand. Your brand is sorely misunderstood. Why do startups refuse to hire professional design/branding people at the early stage? when we can help make your idea into a real winner?????? Sorry but come on, "It's too expensive" is totally not a goo…

OK...so I DID click on the link, and OK, I'll concede, maybe a professional designer MIGHT have worked on this, but it looks like some kind of nightclub/social "party" app. If that's not the intention your designer needs to go back to the drawing board and redefine this brand.

Re: Show HN: Sobrr

#42

Post by bkanber »

micmac99 wrote: post #40

I did not even click the link. All the comments alone made it very clear you did NOT use the services of a brand/marketing expert that could have helped clarify/define your brand. Your brand is sorely misunderstood. Why do startups refuse to hire professional design/branding people at the early stage? when we can help make your idea into a real winner?????? Sorry but come on, "It's too expensive" is totally not a goo…

Oh, come on -- you admit you didn't click the link but still assume that you have enough information to go by to criticize them? And start pushing your services on them?

This is a "Show HN" post. You're supposed to play with it, and then comment.

Re: Show HN: Sobrr

#43

Post by micmac99 »

beat wrote: post #25
fiatjaf wrote: post #18

Another photo sharing app? Really?

It's symptomatic of the industry. "Startups" are created by kids barely out of (or still in) college, with little real-world business experience, so they create what they understand - like photo sharing for drunken hookups. And investors are there to play on them, like lottery tickets for multimillionaires, just in case it's the next Snapchat or something. Hmm, has Snapchat found a revenue model yet?

+1

Branding is critical for any business. The "startup" industry needs to get that. I'm not convinced that it (as a whole) does. And that fact is both encouraging and shocking. Job security for me as a design/branding professional.

Re: Show HN: Sobrr

#44

Post by bkanber »

Lots of harsh criticism in here. I think you guys have done some great work. Innovation is made incrementally, and you guys have taken two different models and blended them. Sometimes that works very well, sometimes it doesn't.

I'm not going to try and predict what's going to happen to this app, but I would say that your biggest challenges will be in getting users to understand that Sobrr fills a different need of theirs -- if it is a need at all. With Facebook and SnapChat and Hinge and Tinder it'll be hard to separate yourselves from the crowd, but I'm wishing you luck.

Re: Show HN: Sobrr

#45

Post by gkoberger »

micmac99 wrote: post #40

I did not even click the link. All the comments alone made it very clear you did NOT use the services of a brand/marketing expert that could have helped clarify/define your brand. Your brand is sorely misunderstood. Why do startups refuse to hire professional design/branding people at the early stage? when we can help make your idea into a real winner?????? Sorry but come on, "It's too expensive" is totally not a goo…

The most important part of branding is empathy. Same goes for product management, usability, design, marketing and even programming. I don't think Sobrr would have been better off hiring you or your firm, given the lack of empathy displayed in your post.

Would you be willing to post some of your work, so we can get an idea of what you provide clients?

EDIT: Link to his portfolio was posted in a previous comment by him, for anyone interested.

Re: Show HN: Sobrr

#46

Post by micmac99 »

bkanber wrote: post #42
micmac99 wrote: post #40

I did not even click the link. All the comments alone made it very clear you did NOT use the services of a brand/marketing expert that could have helped clarify/define your brand. Your brand is sorely misunderstood. Why do startups refuse to hire professional design/branding people at the early stage? when we can help make your idea into a real winner?????? Sorry but come on, "It's too expensive" is totally not a goo…

Oh, come on -- you admit you didn't click the link but still assume that you have enough information to go by to criticize them? And start pushing your services on them? This is a "Show HN" post. You're supposed to play with it, and then comment.

I stand partially corrected, but sorry, I still stand 110% by the general idea behind my comments. I'm not "pushing" my services so much as pushing the concept of rigorously thinking an idea/concept through and testing it before rolling it out to the public (and getting other professionals involved in the process) - even if it is a "Show HN" post. When something is posted on any public forum you do open yourself up to criticism. My apologies if it's taken the wrong way, but startups DO need to consider this.

Re: Show HN: Sobrr

#48

Post by [deleted] »

TRUPPP wrote: post #10

I think this is a great app and an interesting idea, but one of the few projects where I could see the name being a problem for traction and success. A more generic name, which doesnt associate neccessarily with parties and drinking, would enable more people to take this app serious. And well, like for all social apps, I really hope that more plattforms are very close on your roadmap =) Why wasnt a web-based approach…

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Sobrr

#49

Post by spyder »

"Sobrr will make sure there is no evidence of your craziness. You will always be “sober” online."

The only way they can make it sure is that they don't allow you to post anything. Otherwise it's just the same lie that Snapchat started and less tech-savvy people may believe it (that nobody can save their photo that expires). I'm sure they quickly become sober when they see their "expired" photo spreading on the net.

To say something positive: I like the 24-hour friendship thing, because it makes sure there is only active "friends" in your list, and also forces a little more interaction:

"At the end of the 24th hour, you two will be cleared from each other’s friend list, unless both sides tapped “Keep.”"

Re: Show HN: Sobrr

#50

Post by jw_ »

I clicked on the link wondering how an app is supposed to help with sobriety. "Does it count days clean? Does it hook you up with somebody to talk to if you're having a compulsion to use?" Nope! It's yet another damn photosharing social network. Awesome. Now I can finally share my photos with people online. Thanks Sobrr.

I like how an app named Sobrr promotes itself with people drunkenly messing around half-naked, people at a concert, people at a bar. All the things I personally associate with my own sobriety!

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