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Users You Don’t Want

themacro.com

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Re: Users You Don’t Want

#31

Post by emitstop »

pc86 wrote: post #19
the_watcher wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue here is that you open yourself up to lawsuits under the ADA.

To be clear there has only been a single case where a website was found to be financially liable for lack of accessibility (in CA). Jurisdiction certainly covers most startups, but it's a single state. For the other ~88% of Americans there is no relevant case law on the subject. If you run a website in North Carolina with $15k MRR accessibility is likely a waste of your time unless you're in a niche that is in some w…

It's only a matter of time though.

Re: Users You Don’t Want

#32

Post by dublinben »

quwert95 wrote: post #13

>In the case of Justin.tv, pivoting to serve video gamers was the right move. Our video game broadcasters always represented a small but consistent group of users. It tooks us 4-5 years to realize how important they were. This stuck out at me as an avid Twitch user/follower (and sometimes a streamer). I think they need to re-realize this. The pivot result (extra effort and focus in Twitch) is being re-pivoted with th…

Does it really matter what the content of the stream is, as long as it is bringing in viewers? They've built the Twitch brand around games, but it is also the largest streaming site of any kind.

Re: Users You Don’t Want

#33

Post by gautamdivgi »

GuiA wrote: post #20

> Now, what happens if someone with an infant or developmentally challenged teenager signs up? Their needs present an entirely new set of problems, problems that could be solved by a startup but not necessarily by ours. Remember you don’t have to pivot your business because a customer needs something that you don’t offer. If you open a restaurant, you bet that there are certain building codes you'll have to follow in…

This is a good point. Same with Uber. Most Cab companies are required to provide access to wheelchair bound and disabled members of society at no extra charge. Not sure if Uber has the same requirement - and if and when it starts moving cab's out of business it will definitely prove to be a problem.

Re: Users You Don’t Want

#34

Post by hacknat »

Most startups never make it past their first year, but for those that do I think this is the biggest problem they encounter. Especially if there's a sales team, the temptation to say yes to prospective customers is enormous.

A lot of founders get tripped up by needing to show hockey stick growth as soon as they can, because they're usually top performers that are used to knocking expectations set on them out of the park. Saying yes to lots of people is an easy way to show the hockey stick in the first year, but it'll turn into linear growth pretty quickly. Congratulations you now own a consulting company, and your product team is groaning under the weight of enormous technical debt.

Your company is probably going to die now, because you're top engineers probably hate your product and vision.

I don't blame people though, because there really isn't a full proof way to avoid this. Sure, anchor customers can help, but how do you know when you really have anchor customers and when you're just saying "yes" to lots of ideas? In the end, IMO, it's totally subjective (building a great product). You just have to have a sense for it and be willing to fail quickly.

In my experience the best founders actually don't take as much signaling, at least explicitly, from their customers as you would expect. They have a maniacal vision, and they are following it. Their customer help give form to the sculpture, but the basic outline is set. If real hockey stick growth follows, so be it.

Re: Users You Don’t Want

#35

Post by djyaz1200 »

A version of this problem I've seen is that often customers (particularly enterprise customers) want you to make solutions specific to their exact needs rather than the broad needs of their whole category. Even if they want the same problem addressed that you do they will want you to make the product suit their needs EXACTLY. That won't scale and backs you into being a services company instead of a product company. Strategies we've used to fight this are to listen to feedback from all users and only build what everyone agrees is needed, and also offer an API so we don't have to flat out say no. Instead with an API we can say, you're welcome to do whatever you'd like... Finally, when we do have to say something like "no" instead we just put a astronomical price tag on it and let the customer decide no for themselves. ...or maybe they'll say ok and then we'll know our thinking might be flawed if some feature is worth a hefty premium. Hope that's helpful to others!

Re: Users You Don’t Want

#36

Post by shocks »

GuiA wrote: post #20

> Now, what happens if someone with an infant or developmentally challenged teenager signs up? Their needs present an entirely new set of problems, problems that could be solved by a startup but not necessarily by ours. Remember you don’t have to pivot your business because a customer needs something that you don’t offer. If you open a restaurant, you bet that there are certain building codes you'll have to follow in…

> What happens to that segment of the population when/if Airbnb completely kills off hotels in a particular geographic location?

Someone makes Airbnb for folk with mobility problems and makes a killing.

Re: Users You Don’t Want

#37

Post by GuiA »

shocks wrote: post #36
GuiA wrote: post #20

> Now, what happens if someone with an infant or developmentally challenged teenager signs up? Their needs present an entirely new set of problems, problems that could be solved by a startup but not necessarily by ours. Remember you don’t have to pivot your business because a customer needs something that you don’t offer. If you open a restaurant, you bet that there are certain building codes you'll have to follow in…

> What happens to that segment of the population when/if Airbnb completely kills off hotels in a particular geographic location? Someone makes Airbnb for folk with mobility problems and makes a killing.

What if it's not profitable to do that on its own? The "free market takes care of everything" argument is an idealistic position, not something based in reality.

Re: Users You Don’t Want

#38

Post by [deleted] »

shocks wrote: post #36
GuiA wrote: post #20

> Now, what happens if someone with an infant or developmentally challenged teenager signs up? Their needs present an entirely new set of problems, problems that could be solved by a startup but not necessarily by ours. Remember you don’t have to pivot your business because a customer needs something that you don’t offer. If you open a restaurant, you bet that there are certain building codes you'll have to follow in…

> What happens to that segment of the population when/if Airbnb completely kills off hotels in a particular geographic location? Someone makes Airbnb for folk with mobility problems and makes a killing.

[deleted]

Re: Users You Don’t Want

#39

Post by rgbrgb »

We definitely experienced this starting Open Listings. We thought that to begin with we would only be serving the 2/3 of transactions made by experienced buyers, but it turns out that over half of the buyers we attract are first timers. In retrospect, this makes sense: our savings is appealing to young families, and first timers don't have attachments to the status quo of getting driven around by a realtor in a Cadillac. Rather than saying no, we embraced these clients and have retooled our product to be more educational and broadly accessible. It's working so far in terms of ramping up revenue, staying default alive, and we're stoked to make homebuying more affordable to people who really need it the most. Our finding is that first time buyers don't actually need more service but they do need slightly more education and reassurance, which we try to accomplish mostly through UI and documentation.

Re: Users You Don’t Want

#40

Post by vinceguidry »

emitstop wrote: post #31
pc86 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be clear there has only been a single case where a website was found to be financially liable for lack of accessibility (in CA). Jurisdiction certainly covers most startups, but it's a single state. For the other ~88% of Americans there is no relevant case law on the subject. If you run a website in North Carolina with $15k MRR accessibility is likely a waste of your time unless you're in a niche that is in some w…

It's only a matter of time though.

Maybe, maybe not. Being too far ahead of your time is just as bad as being late.
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