What it feels like to fail
aflanagan.com
What it feels like to fail
1–10 of 54 posts
Re: What it feels like to fail
#2"I thought I’d be the next YouTube"
As far as I know YouTube is far from being a financial success either...
Re: What it feels like to fail
#3"I thought I’d be the next YouTube" As far as I know YouTube is far from being a financial success either...
Yeah, but YouTube was bought by Google for $1.65 BILLION at a time that they had around 70 employees. So it was at least a financial success for the founders.
Re: What it feels like to fail
#4So... did you ever try a revenue model? Make some sort of premium account? I'm not speaking from any amount of experience, but you have 7000 users, you're about to throw in the towel on the business end of things anyway, I would think it's worth trying to come up with something.
Re: What it feels like to fail
#5So... did you ever try a revenue model? Make some sort of premium account? I'm not speaking from any amount of experience, but you have 7000 users, you're about to throw in the towel on the business end of things anyway, I would think it's worth trying to come up with something.
maybe it's a bit late, but i have to agree. try and put yourself back where you were a year ago, where 7000 users was a dream.
also, no offense but the name is godawful. there is simply NO way for my brain to remember it. ive seen it probably 5 or 6 times now and i still dont know how to say it, much less remember how to spell it to go back to the url.
thanks for sharing your story, but don't give up yet. a year aint that long to not be profitable.
Re: What it feels like to fail
#6As a member of a small group of friends, venturing into the possibility of our first start-up, seeing the failures of others can be really eye opening.
I suppose I haven't thought too much about a revenue source, however the first major thing we're going to do is an Android app... If you can call that major.
Re: What it feels like to fail
#7This is not what it feels like to fail. You've got an active, committed community of 7000 users - that is not even close to failure.
When I built Despammed.com in 1999, I peaked at around that. Donations were plenty to keep the site running and even paid for the mortgage once or twice when things were tight. You've got a much more committed community there, and while you're not going to be the next YouTube (because learning a language is hard, while watching TV is not), you've built a useful service that can run in perpetuity and that, my friend, is what success feels like.
I think you need to move on to your next idea; let Lenguajero run for a few years, try to think of a premium version of the service in some way, but mostly just let it ferment and grow organically, and get yourself engaged in something you'll find fun. Keep yourself moving.
Re: What it feels like to fail
#8So... did you ever try a revenue model? Make some sort of premium account? I'm not speaking from any amount of experience, but you have 7000 users, you're about to throw in the towel on the business end of things anyway, I would think it's worth trying to come up with something.
maybe it's a bit late, but i have to agree. try and put yourself back where you were a year ago, where 7000 users was a dream. also, no offense but the name is godawful. there is simply NO way for my brain to remember it. ive seen it probably 5 or 6 times now and i still dont know how to say it, much less remember how to spell it to go back to the url. thanks for sharing your story, but don't give up yet. a year aint…
I also feel that perhaps a name change (I have difficulty recalling it, even now) and a revenue model, perhaps capitalizing on the most loyal users, and word of mouth advertising, could really gear the website forward.
I wish I would have known about it when I was more into Spanish.
Re: What it feels like to fail
#9So... did you ever try a revenue model? Make some sort of premium account? I'm not speaking from any amount of experience, but you have 7000 users, you're about to throw in the towel on the business end of things anyway, I would think it's worth trying to come up with something.
maybe it's a bit late, but i have to agree. try and put yourself back where you were a year ago, where 7000 users was a dream. also, no offense but the name is godawful. there is simply NO way for my brain to remember it. ive seen it probably 5 or 6 times now and i still dont know how to say it, much less remember how to spell it to go back to the url. thanks for sharing your story, but don't give up yet. a year aint…
Lenguajero is a pretty bad name. It's easy to pronounce in Spanish (and is actually kind of witty) but is terrible in English if you don't know Spanish.
I'm the other co-founder of Lenguajero.
Re: What it feels like to fail
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
maybe it's a bit late, but i have to agree. try and put yourself back where you were a year ago, where 7000 users was a dream. also, no offense but the name is godawful. there is simply NO way for my brain to remember it. ive seen it probably 5 or 6 times now and i still dont know how to say it, much less remember how to spell it to go back to the url. thanks for sharing your story, but don't give up yet. a year aint…
Lenguajero is a pretty bad name. It's easy to pronounce in Spanish (and is actually kind of witty) but is terrible in English if you don't know Spanish. I'm the other co-founder of Lenguajero.
I'm having problems even beginning to imagine how I would pronounce Lenguajero. I definitely think you had a big naming problem and might want to consider persevering.