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Y Combinator’s Anyvite Takes On Evite, Keeps Things Simple

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Re: Y Combinator’s Anyvite Takes On Evite, Keeps Things Simple

#31
post #11

Good luck on this but everyone I know just uses Facebook to coordinate events. Plus Facebook Mobile lets you keep updated even on the go.

For my last party invite, I tried using facebook but a lot of people balked at it. Pretty sure the reason was that it forces you to think that you need to sign up/log in and people just want to have an easy access to event time/address, and a yes/no button to rsvp.

I just created a test on anyvite and it was super easy and common-sense. Definitely preferrable to facebook in my opinion. Two comments though:

1. RSVP dropdown is smallish/hard to notice. 2. Background images stretch in an ugly way, at least on my work IE 1024 x 768.

Otherwise, a great site!

Re: Y Combinator’s Anyvite Takes On Evite, Keeps Things Simple

#33
post #21

How are you guys planning to get traction? This is a really crowded field, and adoption doesn't appear to be driven by rational behavior. For example, Invitastic ( http://invitastic.com ) is already a pretty darned good replacement for Evite, but nobody knows about it (no personal association; they just happen to be a local company in the space). Also, a few seconds of googling turned up this laundry list of pretende…

I've been using Google's calendar to send out invitations. How are these sites different? I.e. what's the point?

Re: Y Combinator’s Anyvite Takes On Evite, Keeps Things Simple

#34
post #18

Havent you guys checked purpleTrail.com It has even more features; please check out

Yeah, we have seen purpletrail. As the article said, we're going for simple and straightforward. We're also pretty big believers that "more features" does not mean something is better.

Similarly, have y'all seen mobaganda.com? It is doing the simple == better thing, as well. I notice you guys seem (I haven't actually used either site yet) to have a few more features. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

Re: Y Combinator’s Anyvite Takes On Evite, Keeps Things Simple

#35
post #11

Good luck on this but everyone I know just uses Facebook to coordinate events. Plus Facebook Mobile lets you keep updated even on the go.

This really depends on your specific group of friends.

For example, most of my friends do not use Facebook.

But all of my friends use email.

Re: Y Combinator’s Anyvite Takes On Evite, Keeps Things Simple

#36
post #5
post #3

Same people as Coordinatr: http://coordinatr.com/about ? The sites seem very similar.

Yeah, it's the next iteration of Coordinatr. Coordinatr has been a great proof of concept for us and very useful for gathering user feedback. With our YC launch, we've added a ton of features and have really tried to improve the user experience.

Congrats! I wasn't that excited about YAEK until I realized it was you guys that made it. Coordinatr was the best user experience I've had with software because of how receptive and responsive you were to the feedback I gave. I wish you the best of luck and I will be using AnyVite!

Re: Y Combinator’s Anyvite Takes On Evite, Keeps Things Simple

#37
post #21

How are you guys planning to get traction? This is a really crowded field, and adoption doesn't appear to be driven by rational behavior. For example, Invitastic ( http://invitastic.com ) is already a pretty darned good replacement for Evite, but nobody knows about it (no personal association; they just happen to be a local company in the space). Also, a few seconds of googling turned up this laundry list of pretende…

I definitely agree with this. I don't think anyone has yet figured out the X factor that has got evite all the traction. Maybe evite didn't even have an X factor (just luck and timing), but, certainly, any new players in the field need to have an edge somehow to succeed.

Re: Y Combinator’s Anyvite Takes On Evite, Keeps Things Simple

#39
post #11

Good luck on this but everyone I know just uses Facebook to coordinate events. Plus Facebook Mobile lets you keep updated even on the go.

We realize that Facebook is a dominant competitor in this market space and a lot of people use it for creating events, but there are still some people we've talked to who aren't entirely happy with it, as well as some market segments out there that aren't avid Facebook users.

How big is the addressable market? What you just described sounds pretty small.

"...still some people we've talked to who aren't entirely happy with it" This sounds like people that are slightly annoyed, and not really displeased enough to switch over to something else.

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