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The saddest “just ship it” story (2020)

kitze.io

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Re: The saddest “just ship it” story (2020)

#51

Post by cushychicken »

lbriner wrote: post #39
onion2k wrote: post #25

"Maybe this is actually obvious, but it's still a common mistake in startups so I'll say it - you don't have to believe your product is good to start selling; you just have to be better than not having the product. You don't even have to believe it's the best, or believe it's complete, or even like it. People will happily give you money for anything that makes their pain point slightly less painful." Me, 3 hours ago.…

I wouldn't quite agree that people will happily give you money for anything that makes their pain less. There is still oboarding friction, possible import issues, fear of vendor lock-in etc. I think it is something that is easy to describe in theory, "ship what people want", "pivot quickly" etc. but the truth is most of us think we have solved a problem with our product but as soon as the first customer says, "I woul…

>I wouldn't quite agree that people will happily give you money for anything that makes their pain less.

I think OP's point is that the customer is a better judge of "worth" in the sense of money spent vs pain reduced than you are.

It's impossible to do that worth test yourself. Expose to what you make to customers; see if they vote with their dollars.

Re: The saddest “just ship it” story (2020)

#55

Post by konschubert »

samatman wrote: post #29
konschubert wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question, how do you know whether it's your product or your marketing that sucks? For example, I tried twitter ads for my product [1] and I got zero sales after spending $50. What are good marketing strategies for niche hardware products? [1] https://www.invisible-computers.com/

Looks like it's sold out, which is a pity, I enjoy the design. You have a typo on the front page, 'eletronig' for 'electronic'.

I fixed the typo, thank you!

You can leave your email to be notified when it's back in stock.

Re: The saddest “just ship it” story (2020)

#57

Post by konschubert »

executive wrote: post #30
konschubert wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serious question, how do you know whether it's your product or your marketing that sucks? For example, I tried twitter ads for my product [1] and I got zero sales after spending $50. What are good marketing strategies for niche hardware products? [1] https://www.invisible-computers.com/

[1] looks like a hastily prepared landing page for a dropshipped AliExpress product. 1 photo, no video. Why only Google Calendar? How to 'use your phone to connect'? Is there a companion app? Why is contact page under Policies and labelled Imprint? Why 2 Privacy Policy links? About us section reads like boilerplate scam and links off-site to some random blog. Line height config looks ugly in bottom nav area. At least…

Hi, thank you for having a go over it! This is great feedback.

I find it really, really hard to take good pictures and even harder to take video. I am getting help with that and I hope the situation will improve.

yes, there is a companion app, should I make that more clear?

The contact page is labelled imprint because that's the law here in Germany... I could have an additional contact page though.

The two privacy policies are because one is for visitors of the website and one is for users of my product. Two totally different contexts, and I was unsure how to fuse them. Probably also something I should get help with.

I cut down on the about us section. But I agree this needs some work still...

Re: The saddest “just ship it” story (2020)

#58

Post by mcv »

When my oldest son was still young, I was working on my first Android game: a memory game about recognising letters, words, or anything. With a voice saying the letter, word, etc, so children would learn to match the symbol with the sound. I thought it would help my son learn to read, but before I knew it, he could read already. (At 4 or something. Never had to teach him a thing.) I lost my purpose and stopped working on it.

Years later, we had another child. Deep into his struggles with talking, and later reading, I finally remembered that unfinished app again. Didn't know where it was, didn't want to restart it, and really the ideal moment for my second son to start using it was 2 years ago, so I didn't even bother.

Re: The saddest “just ship it” story (2020)

#60

Post by simmo9000 »

frontman1988 wrote: post #18

Being a solo dev on some app/website is not really worth it these days. There was a time when you could single-handedly create a million dollar app in some niche. But now the competition has increased so much that you need VC money or atleast a team if you want to create any impact whatsoever.

I think this is a valid comment questioning where one puts their goalpost for their realisation of a funded MVP coming from their idea. The market has shifted alot from what it was 5 years ago... 10 years, 15, 20, 30...

Ideas are what has gotten humanity this far and I am happy to see technological advances, in product that makes me happy, that come from our Haxor within, so to speak.

It is a big ladder to climb between Idea and Product, one step at a time is the only way.

How would one possibly eat an elephant?

Tools are required, for catching, skinning, cooking blah blah... and help from folks can be another tool within your toolbox whilst you fly solo dev.

Is the statement that the elephant is now too big to catch? It is hard to find other hungry folk to help hunt a big thing? Where is the hunting ground? Where do you get helping from other hungry solo devs to kill an elephant with only your inputs of skill, effort and time?

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