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I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#171

Post by s3graham »

mos1 wrote: post #152

A design thing that confused me a bit, 'plant more foo' was displayed very differently (lighter and italic) than 'plant foo'. I initially thought that there was nothing for those weeks. I don't want to say "I'd buy this if you made this change" because I live on a farm, but I would be a LOT less price sensitive if the seeds were described in a manner that made them sound more special. (even if I didn't know the varie…

+1 on the "fancier" sounding names/varieties being a good idea. Makes the comparison to random packages-of-99c-seeds more in your favour.

Nifty idea overall! But add me to the list of I-don't-have-a-zip-code.

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#172

Post by zain »

jmtulloss wrote: post #143
sourc3 wrote: post #106

This is a very cool idea! The graphics look extremely good. One little thing you can fix: when I clicked on the "Sign Up" link, I received an SSL certificate alert in the browser. This might prevent people from proceeding further. Good luck :)

I saw this too, and in chrome it's a pretty scary sign. It definitely makes me not want to put in my credit card info, which is that last thing a startup needs! A really cool idea though, best of luck to you!

Here's a screenshot of the scary sign in chrome: http://grab.by/4jd4

As you can see, it is indeed pretty scary. Definitely fix that.

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#173

Post by nandemo »

mixmax wrote: post #153

A lot of people from the US seem to forget that they're excluding the majority of customers by asking you to enter a zipcode that will only work in the US. It's incredibly annoying if you're part of that majority. With that said - good luck :-)

Being from outside US, I sympathize with that but:

1) It's a new service. It's reasonable to restrict your audience at first. Making it more international requires more work (shipping, billing, etc) which might end up being useless. It makes sense to test with domestic users first.

2) You should take a lot of care before shipping seeds internationally. Some countries (well, all countries I have flown to) have strict regulations on importing seeds and plants.

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#174

Post by ugh »

marcamillion wrote: post #136
daveambrose wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my favorite rooters I've seen inn a while!

rooters? Not quite sure I follow. Is that a pun on a hacker that usually gets root access to a box, but you are now referring to agriculture? I am not being a dick, but I seriously don't understand the comment.

Probably forgot a “b”. Ro-b-oters.

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#176

Post by rythie »

mixmax wrote: post #153

A lot of people from the US seem to forget that they're excluding the majority of customers by asking you to enter a zipcode that will only work in the US. It's incredibly annoying if you're part of that majority. With that said - good luck :-)

To see the next screen you could use the Whitehouse's Zip code: 20500

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#178

Post by whatusername »

eb0la wrote: post #170
whatusername wrote: post #50

Bring on the Internationalization (even if just of the planting calendar)

In this case internationalization is not trivial: you may have to deal not only witch different languages; but with different climate, plants, etc. (the UK or German climate is much different from the Spanish or Italian one). Focus now on making your business GREAT for the market near you, and later expand to other countries.

Different plants?

As to the climates - if you cover California, Arizona, Alaska, Nevada, Ohio, Maine then I would assume you would have most of the worlds climate types covered.

If I was running it - I would do exactly what you suggest though.. Make this awesome for the places you have data. (But if you have a tool that says my climate is the same as zipcode XXXXX (just 6 months out) - then I'd love the australian version)

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#179

Post by lena »

nandemo wrote: post #173
mixmax wrote: post #153

A lot of people from the US seem to forget that they're excluding the majority of customers by asking you to enter a zipcode that will only work in the US. It's incredibly annoying if you're part of that majority. With that said - good luck :-)

Being from outside US, I sympathize with that but: 1) It's a new service. It's reasonable to restrict your audience at first. Making it more international requires more work (shipping, billing, etc) which might end up being useless. It makes sense to test with domestic users first. 2) You should take a lot of care before shipping seeds internationally. Some countries (well, all countries I have flown to) have strict…

Totally agree with you that it makes a lot of sense for this kind of startup to focus on one country/region first. I do wish that startups would at least mention somewhere that they are aware of this. Something like "Sorry, US only for now" in the HN message, or a "I'm not in the US!" link on the frontpage with a message for international users, even if that message is simply that the company will focus on US customers only.
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