Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#181

Post by gtsop » Fri, Apr 09, 2021, 8:47 AM UTC

I understand the problem you are trying to solve and if I was still working for my former emploeyer I would probably spend some more time to download it and evaluate it. However I don't have the motivation to do it now.

Having said that, the thing that is missing that would satisfy my personal needs is some form of quick demo so I can understand why it is easier to use your product over excel. Maybe a short gif or video, maybe a few screenshots of a workflow. Even though I don't need this software right now, I would be interested in getting more information on how it works without having to download it and test it myself, because I might need it in the future or I could recommend it to someone who has an excel problem. Right now I can't recommend it because I didn't really understand the solution by looking at the splash page

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#182

Post by d--b » Fri, Apr 09, 2021, 8:51 AM UTC

gtsop wrote: post #181

I understand the problem you are trying to solve and if I was still working for my former emploeyer I would probably spend some more time to download it and evaluate it. However I don't have the motivation to do it now. Having said that, the thing that is missing that would satisfy my personal needs is some form of quick demo so I can understand why it is easier to use your product over excel. Maybe a short gif or vi…

Fair enough. Thanks for the feedback

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#183

Post by WJW » Fri, Apr 09, 2021, 8:53 AM UTC

shalmanese wrote: post #138

There's a reason this Justin Kan quote has become famous to the point of being a meme: "First time founders are obsessed with product. Second time founders are obsessed with distribution." You just learnt through bitter experience that distribution is the far harder problem to solve. You need to figure out who this thing is useful for, what is a way to get it in front of them and then how to adapt your product to get…

I think there should be an addendum to that quote that "third time founders are obsessed with runway management and getting money for their products". Companies die because they run out of money and you ignore your balance sheet at your own peril.

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#184

Post by d--b » Fri, Apr 09, 2021, 8:53 AM UTC

TriNetra wrote: post #169

Ok, you have hit the reality of most startup enthusiasts. Most of us when starting are without much connections and of course no big marketing budgets. How to go from here? If you truly believe it solves a real problem, then proceed. First we need some customers and serve them individually on this tool. One customer at a time; each one will give you amazing joy because you were giving up on it. One nice way for this…

Very cool practical advice, thanks a lot!

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#185

Post by d--b » Fri, Apr 09, 2021, 8:54 AM UTC

raspasov wrote: post #177

d--b wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that was unexpected... Ugh... Clearly, the product's not ready, the message's not ready. A bit of a missed opportunity there. Maybe in a couple of months when I have ironed out the wrinkles people saw here.

Link to the product? I don't care if it's not ready, I want to look at it :).

Thanks it's here: https://www.jigdev.com

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#186

Post by disordinary » Fri, Apr 09, 2021, 8:55 AM UTC

The fact that you've got a comment on the front page of hacker news about your products lack of awareness, yet you don't say what the product is or link to it explains a lot.

You need to hustle more. This is a huge opportunity to get it in front of hundreds of people.

Edit: I had to search through the page to find a link to your app. You need to make it more obvious.

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#187

Post by d--b » Fri, Apr 09, 2021, 8:57 AM UTC

cixinlui wrote: post #178

d--b wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes I do realize that. Yet, there is no good reason why expert excel users couldn't pick up some coding. I've seen several econ graduates teach themselves F# to be able to run reports. I've seen interns learning pretty complex VBA stuff. Young people know more and more some programming. On the other hand, there is no good reason why developers shouldn't make business reports. Developers know where the data is, they k…

If you think that there is 'no good reason' why excel users couldn't pick up some coding, and 'no good reason' why developers shouldn't make business reports, you should think about those questions harder, and try to understand what the reason actually is , not worrying about whether it's good or bad. Your not understanding why people do something is not going to make them stop doing it.

My opinion is that people do what they do because they don't have the choice. As in because my tool is not on their radar. Obviously optimistic from me, but I am launching a product, I have to be!

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#188

Post by elitan » Fri, Apr 09, 2021, 8:57 AM UTC

Product and distribution are usually two distinct things in business. We've all learned this the hard way.

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#189

Post by tlarkworthy » Fri, Apr 09, 2021, 9:01 AM UTC

Oh I saw your original thread on Observable https://talk.observablehq.com/t/observable-based-dashboard-a...

Currently I don't think you add enough value over the existing observable platform to entertain the thought of switching runtimes.

Anyone who is not familiar with observeable will need a ton of literature to explain the reactive runtime concept.

I feel like entrepreneur who see a successful product and thinks "how can I beat that" are framing wrong. If you look at a product and think, that's great, how can I add to it you will find more success.

I am also building on observable, but I am not trying to direct people off the ecosystem. I want to make observable better and add to their success and perhaps capture some value off the delta of the combined improvement.

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#190

Post by Wowfunhappy » Fri, Apr 09, 2021, 9:02 AM UTC

disordinary wrote: post #186

The fact that you've got a comment on the front page of hacker news about your products lack of awareness, yet you don't say what the product is or link to it explains a lot. You need to hustle more. This is a huge opportunity to get it in front of hundreds of people. Edit: I had to search through the page to find a link to your app. You need to make it more obvious.

I don’t know, if OP had included it I would have been suspicious this whole post was just an excuse to push the app. Not mentioning it made the question genuine.

A bit of a catch 22...