I thought most badges are simply printed from the event registration data and I would have certainly expected the events you listed to have had badges already upon arrival, so I'm curious as to why they didn't have the badges printed already. But it's certainly a great story of how something they developed in order to promote what they thought was their main product ended up becoming the main product.
How we fed ourselves for a year & sold a startup...with only 300 lines of code
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Re: How we fed ourselves for a year & sold a startup...with only 300 lines of code
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because HN used to be above that linkbait BS. The story is interesting and useful and stands up on its own without having to resort to "in only 300 lines!!!".
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I would have upvoted it if it wasn't for the hyperbole. It was a good story, with a crappy title. So I didn't upvote.
I get tired of everything ;)
Re: How we fed ourselves for a year & sold a startup...with only 300 lines of code
#33I love stories like these! Thanks for sharing!
Re: How we fed ourselves for a year & sold a startup...with only 300 lines of code
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
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Because HN used to be above that linkbait BS. The story is interesting and useful and stands up on its own without having to resort to "in only 300 lines!!!".
Why is it every community ever is awesome until that third person joins? Then suddenly it's all about how things "used to be".
Are linkbait BS titles the cancer that is killing /HN?
Re: How we fed ourselves for a year & sold a startup...with only 300 lines of code
#35I thought most badges are simply printed from the event registration data and I would have certainly expected the events you listed to have had badges already upon arrival, so I'm curious as to why they didn't have the badges printed already. But it's certainly a great story of how something they developed in order to promote what they thought was their main product ended up becoming the main product.
A bunch of events were like that. We proved that our name badge system could verify tickets, print badges, and handle name errors and changes faster than someone using pre-made badges. It almost ran it self (one person could manage 3 kiosks at the bigger events). After the first run, it always proves its worth.
Re: How we fed ourselves for a year & sold a startup...with only 300 lines of code
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because HN used to be above that linkbait BS. The story is interesting and useful and stands up on its own without having to resort to "in only 300 lines!!!".
Why is it every community ever is awesome until that third person joins? Then suddenly it's all about how things "used to be". Are linkbait BS titles the cancer that is killing /HN?
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Re: How we fed ourselves for a year & sold a startup...with only 300 lines of code
#37I reached the end of this story and thought, "These guys have not fully learned the lesson of product failure. Nor have they learned to recognize product success." You made a product no one wanted, and in order to market it, you stumbled onto a product that lots of people wanted in a market where billions of dollars are spent each year (we spend about 10 grand a year on conferences, and we're a tiny company with a ti…
I reached the end of this story and thought, "they're following their heart and building something they'll personally use every day." ("We’re really excited about this app because it’s very useful to our daily life.")
Some things are more important than commercial success, and taking the exit door when presented with a base hit or standup double, especially when it's a product your heart's not in, doesn't sound like that bad of a choice to me. I'm in a very similar situation atm.
Re: How we fed ourselves for a year & sold a startup...with only 300 lines of code
#38For the people wanting to know what the badge-printing setup looked like, I think these pictures show it:
Re: How we fed ourselves for a year & sold a startup...with only 300 lines of code
#39I reached the end of this story and thought, "These guys have not fully learned the lesson of product failure. Nor have they learned to recognize product success." You made a product no one wanted, and in order to market it, you stumbled onto a product that lots of people wanted in a market where billions of dollars are spent each year (we spend about 10 grand a year on conferences, and we're a tiny company with a ti…
I think a distinction between your argument and the OP's motivation is that it isn't money he wants - its to work on something he loves doing.
It may have started with a mobile app, and he found some tangential success with printing name badges at conferences. But nowhere in your response addresses that maybe the OP didn't want to print name badges for a living. He sold his company which he wasn't truly passionate about which enabled him to do something he was passionate about. Sounds like a success story to me.
Not everyone's motivations are the same, and when that's the case we end up with criticisms that aren't focused on the essence of what is being told.
Re: How we fed ourselves for a year & sold a startup...with only 300 lines of code
#40This is the best longform copywriting I have ever seen! I'm happy to be advertised to in this way. I especially like the "priority access" part.
The View app does look amazing - seems to basically be local advertising/information signage on your phone, as Philip K Dick predicted/feared, but (hopefully) more useful than typical ads (can you find ways to keep it that way?)
Suggestions: the example messages are great, but show them a little longer, maybe proportional to their length (I couldn't quite read some of them); and maybe somehow make your tag more concrete and specific (maybe 'what you need to know about where you are' - danger signs, like your "tow zone" one sum it up). Maybe something about "signs"?