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My Startup - A node.js cloud hosting platform

nodejscloud.com

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Re: My Startup - A node.js cloud hosting platform

#21

Post by thegoleffect »

jpcx01 wrote: post #14
azrealus wrote: post #10

Why do you think you got rejected? It seems like a really good idea.

Doesn't it seem a bit "me too"ish? Seems like a super crowded market with extremely capable competitors. Heroku was able to sneak in since they were the first company to offer a service like this for rails. With Joyent's amazing no.de platform, I can't imagine any business deciding to base their infrastructure on a tool that a couple developers just started and doesn't yet have stable funding or a proven business. Ju…

Not to mention the completely open source alternatives like http://getbeehive.com (which has been adapted to use Node.js already).

But on the other hand, Heroku doesn't solve every problem - here's hoping there is more room in the market!

Besides, one could argue that Google, Heroku, etc also sounded 'me-too'-ish.

Re: My Startup - A node.js cloud hosting platform

#22

Post by dreyfiz »

Your writing takes all the sex out of it-that doesn't give me a lot of confidence in your product. Heroku's copy is balls to the wall, yours is putting me to sleep. I'll give you a critique based on my own prejudices, for whatever it's worth:

Typos: "severs"; "your" should be "you're". Also, you have your own capitalization scheme for "Node.js Camp", perhaps for emphasis? "Meet up" is two words, not one.

Tone/confidence: Heroku's top billing is "rock-solid ruby platform". Yours is "a node.js cloud hosting platform". Heroku characterizes itself reassuringly as well as describing itself mechanically. "node.js cloud hosting platform" is a dead fish of a phrase.

"COMING SOON!" When-ish? Why shouldn't I just bounce off your page?

"Provision servers; build node.js apps; deploy!" Deathly boring copy. You can always tell when someone isn't smiling with their whole face, and the exclamation mark at the end is a fake smile. Compare the confidence of Sinatra's copy to the vague, insincerely jaunty feel of yours ("put this in your pipe/and smoke it". http://www.sinatrarb.com/

What is "provision servers"? Is it like dynos or EC2 instances? I don't understand what your technology is, and whether you're building a truly rich app platform like Heroku or just a thin layer of UI on top of EC2. Heroku really sells me on how cool their engineering is. Do you not talk about it because you have nothing cool to talk about? If you do, you should really start talking about what you're building.

"We provide simple, scalable, and powerful node.js hosting for node.js developers in the cloud." A vague, limp snoozefest.

"Developers should focus on hacking cool node.js applications, let us handle hosting, deployment, and scaling." This is insincere and it reads wrong. You sound like you're out of touch, trying to appeal to the cool kids with stilted language.

"Dedicated Cloud Servers": so is this actually an application platform? It doesn't sound like it.

"Git + SVN Integration": your target market probably isn't using svn.

Re: My Startup - A node.js cloud hosting platform

#23

Post by mwill »

My first thought was 'Looks nice, sounds dull' You need to make your service sound like it stands out from nodejitsu or heroku, even if you already have a more comprehensive service, it doesn't sound like you do. Crank the hype up to 11.

Aside from that its great to see another node.js hosting related startup on the scene, I hope to give you a try sometime in the future.

Re: My Startup - A node.js cloud hosting platform

#24

Post by 619Cloud »

dreyfiz wrote: post #22

Your writing takes all the sex out of it-that doesn't give me a lot of confidence in your product. Heroku's copy is balls to the wall, yours is putting me to sleep. I'll give you a critique based on my own prejudices, for whatever it's worth: Typos: "severs"; "your" should be "you're". Also, you have your own capitalization scheme for "Node.js Camp", perhaps for emphasis? "Meet up" is two words, not one. Tone/confide…

Thanks for pointing out the typos, fixed em up. Also, thanks for the feedback, you certainly have spot on comments. Writing marketing/copy text, is an art form, which I have not yet perfected, but still a work in progress.

Re: My Startup - A node.js cloud hosting platform

#26

Post by robinduckett »

Klonoar wrote: post #17

It's a nice page design and all, but on top of the solutions provided by Heroku and Joyent, there already exists NodeJitsu, which seems pretty solid. Are you offering anything different here? Seems like a bit of "me too" syndrome. http://nodejitsu.com/

I hate to be a buzzkill but none of these seem to have launched yet, are you in nodejitsu's private beta?

Re: My Startup - A node.js cloud hosting platform

#27

Post by joelg87 »

I wish you the best of luck, I think the success of Heroku certainly indicates something similar is needed for node.js (although perhaps they will do something there soon anyway..).

My main concern is your name. Heroku can move towards node.js because their name doesn't tie them to any single technology. You might want to change your name so you can consider other technologies.

Re: My Startup - A node.js cloud hosting platform

#28

Post by puredemo »

619Cloud wrote: post #24
dreyfiz wrote: post #22

Your writing takes all the sex out of it-that doesn't give me a lot of confidence in your product. Heroku's copy is balls to the wall, yours is putting me to sleep. I'll give you a critique based on my own prejudices, for whatever it's worth: Typos: "severs"; "your" should be "you're". Also, you have your own capitalization scheme for "Node.js Camp", perhaps for emphasis? "Meet up" is two words, not one. Tone/confide…

Thanks for pointing out the typos, fixed em up. Also, thanks for the feedback, you certainly have spot on comments. Writing marketing/copy text, is an art form, which I have not yet perfected, but still a work in progress.

You might look into getting a more brandable domain name as well. I registered trynode.com a couple weeks ago, for instance. There are plenty of strong names out there.

nodedemo.com, nodejump.com, nodegem.com, noderun.com -- all available.

Re: My Startup - A node.js cloud hosting platform

#29

Post by ericflo »

dreyfiz wrote: post #22

Your writing takes all the sex out of it-that doesn't give me a lot of confidence in your product. Heroku's copy is balls to the wall, yours is putting me to sleep. I'll give you a critique based on my own prejudices, for whatever it's worth: Typos: "severs"; "your" should be "you're". Also, you have your own capitalization scheme for "Node.js Camp", perhaps for emphasis? "Meet up" is two words, not one. Tone/confide…

Wow, I don't know how to say this other than that I disagree with almost every single thing you said. You're really advocating that he emulate the hubris, overzealous, wannabe cool tone of "put this in your pipe/and smoke it"?

Building a product like this doesn't mean cargo-culting the culture of other successful products in the space. It means building a solid technical foundation, a considerable amount of devops, an incessant focus on ease of deployment, and a few early success stories.

Re: My Startup - A node.js cloud hosting platform

#30

Post by Klonoar »

ericflo wrote: post #29
dreyfiz wrote: post #22

Your writing takes all the sex out of it-that doesn't give me a lot of confidence in your product. Heroku's copy is balls to the wall, yours is putting me to sleep. I'll give you a critique based on my own prejudices, for whatever it's worth: Typos: "severs"; "your" should be "you're". Also, you have your own capitalization scheme for "Node.js Camp", perhaps for emphasis? "Meet up" is two words, not one. Tone/confide…

Wow, I don't know how to say this other than that I disagree with almost every single thing you said. You're really advocating that he emulate the hubris, overzealous, wannabe cool tone of "put this in your pipe/and smoke it"? Building a product like this doesn't mean cargo-culting the culture of other successful products in the space. It means building a solid technical foundation, a considerable amount of devops, a…

For what it's worth, I actually agree with him. His edits actually entice me to give two shits about what the product potentially offers me.

You do understand how marketing works, right? Nobody ever said it's pretty.

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