The power of traction always amazes me. There is nothing like watching your business gain a reputation and existence of its own outside of your idea of what your business is. Once you start getting traction you will always be surprised how easy it can be. But, getting to traction... that's the hard part.
Ask HN: Surprised by your revenue? Easier than you thought?
31–38 of 38 posts
Re: Ask HN: Surprised by your revenue? Easier than you thought?
#32This morning I shopped our idea to 20 potential users. Cold-called them. They have been extremely nice and supportive, but it's been 4-5 hours since I sent them links and I am sitting on the edge of my chair staring at a blank tail -f /var/log/access :-| -- Edit: They have come! it's been 50 minutes since I wrote the above and already got two beta users. My other startup went for 43 days before I got a 2nd client, an…
This might be harder for a B2C company as people won't be in front of computers as frequent, but try to get them logged in on a demo account when you talk to them on the phone.
Re: Ask HN: Surprised by your revenue? Easier than you thought?
#33I spent literally 35 minutes writing my first iPhone app and it's brought in over $4k in sales over the last two years. That works out to ~7k/hour. Alternatively, I've spent weeks or months on projects for zero revenue. The moral of the story is: there is only weak correlation (at best) between effort spent and revenue received. Entrepreneurs do not get paid by the hour.
Almost never fails. The apps you spend more time developing are the ones with the least success rate.
Re: Ask HN: Surprised by your revenue? Easier than you thought?
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
B2C = business-to-consumer. Contrast to B2B (business-to-business). Slightly confusing as he mentions his former employer as his first customer, I presume he means his boss in a personal capacity.
I read it different. Last start-up was b2b, and his former company was one of this first clients. This time (b2c) much easier to attract interest. I bit its an apples to oranges comparison though.
You understood well.
Re: Ask HN: Surprised by your revenue? Easier than you thought?
#35A little off topic, but you should know there's a better way than the Yellow Pages to find customers. The ReferenceUSA database will give you all the companies in a given area that fall under the entered NAICS code. Here's a small sample of the information you'll get: * Business Name * Address * Contact Information * Number of Employees * Number of PCs * Location Sales Volume (in dollars) * Credit Rating Score * Name…
I'd upvote you twice if I could for pointing out this amazing resource. I'm amazed I never knew about it.
Re: Ask HN: Surprised by your revenue? Easier than you thought?
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think that is the case for most good software. Many engineer-led companies think the engineering is the hard part, so get totally surprised by #1, to the point that their business fails. Of course, there is a name for #1. It is a name mocked and derided by engineers world-side: Marketing Learn it, love it, earn from it.
Spot on. Don't club me for saying this, but once I got my MBA, I was able to see tech products from more than just a nerd's eye view (I did my undegrad in CS)
Hehe.. anyone thats started a company here knows full well the importance of marketing... especially those who've failed =)
Re: Ask HN: Surprised by your revenue? Easier than you thought?
#37"Expect the worst, but hope for the best" is the advice I can give you.
I have the exact same thoughts as you and I truly believe that if you work as hard as you work before product launch, you can make it. I'm not sure whether this is true or not, but I see a lot of people getting excited during product creation and launch and the whole energy and excitement kinda goes away with time. You gotta endure on the slow days, too.
Although I hate to give pessimistic advice, check this link: http://goo.gl/MF7D - Rob Walling talks about that your focus shouldn't be to get rich on your first product, but to learn as much as you can.
Good luck!
Re: Ask HN: Surprised by your revenue? Easier than you thought?
#38Hey Paul,
I'm in NH too and run a very small niche app. I've got about 100 people using mine after 3 months. this is with very little marketing.
I was surprised at how difficult it was to get people to understand the benefits of my app, especially when it was for a very specific need. But once people understand they are more then willing to give it a try.
We are currently working on version 2.0 based on customer feedback and hope to finish/begin marketing the new version by the end of summer.
Let me know if you would ever want to meet up, its hard to find fellow web entrepreneurs in NH!