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Ask HN: Review my startup, TeamDoList.com

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Re: Ask HN: Review my startup, TeamDoList.com

#11

Post by Avalaxy »

localhost3000 wrote: post #10
Avalaxy wrote: post #6

I'm sorry, but I'm really not interested in yet ANOTHER todo app/website/whatever. Please come up with something innovating. Creating the millionth TODO app and calling it a 'startup' is just not going to work. We have enough of these things. There's no need for it, and it certainly shouldn't be called a business, because it simply isn't. (the same goes for the thousands of project management apps, hour tracker apps,…

unnecessarily negative, belittling, and mean-spirited. has putting this person down made you feel better about yourself?

I really don't think it's "unnecessarily negative". I see so many people wasting their time by working on 'ideas' that aren't even real ideas. He could have used his time better doing something actually useful. A lot of programmers have a big tunnel vision. They want to create a 'startup' no matter what, and then they come up with a 'TODO list' and waste many months of their valuable time working on it, just to be disappointed when they realize there is no need for it.

You can be very kind and tell him that the idea is awesome and that he will become a millionaire, but please be a bit more realistic and just tell him the truth.

Re: Ask HN: Review my startup, TeamDoList.com

#12

Post by hgezim »

rgbrgb wrote: post #9

So the design is nice and I get that it's minimal. However, my impression is that teams want something a bit more full-featured. Have you looked at the competition much? I've been using Asana. I also liked Wunderlist for this kind of more minimal todo-list. How do you want to differentiate yourself? Right now the difference I see is that your lists are public and linkable, but I'm not sure that's something teams want…

Thank you for your feedback. I guess I see the key being ad-hoc tasks with someone you're loosely in a team with. Maybe a school project where the team is only very temporary. Or a shopping list, etc.

I initially created this to replace email task management which we ended up using for a project at work. What's what started this.

Do you think it's worth going the route of making myself more like Asana by adding features, etc?

Would you value being able to make a list on TeamDoList.com private?

Re: Ask HN: Review my startup, TeamDoList.com

#13

Post by ianpri »

Really nice execution. I think that the core feature that is apparent when using the app (simplicity) is going to be one of the downsides of using it in a team based environment:

1)How do I know if someone on my team has completed a task, if you send out email notifications,I might as well use email.

2)How do I make the lists private to just my team?

3)How do I assign a todo or know who ticked that a todo has been done?

Its these sort of things i'd be looking for, but then you're left with another generic (if nice looking) team based todo list.

Re: Ask HN: Review my startup, TeamDoList.com

#14

Post by hgezim »

Avalaxy wrote: post #6

I'm sorry, but I'm really not interested in yet ANOTHER todo app/website/whatever. Please come up with something innovating. Creating the millionth TODO app and calling it a 'startup' is just not going to work. We have enough of these things. There's no need for it, and it certainly shouldn't be called a business, because it simply isn't. (the same goes for the thousands of project management apps, hour tracker apps,…

I agree.

The reason I started this was because given all those tools out there, I had a team member send out an email with tasks for a project and the thread quickly exploded. This is how we were managing out tasks for that project. I'd be replying to the email with my updated tasks, and boom, I get another one that's already more up-to-date than the one I'm replying to. That's the itch I needed scratched.

I was going to propose Basecamp, etc. but I didn't think management would buy in because of the perceived complexity of signing up everyone, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Review my startup, TeamDoList.com

#15

Post by hgezim »

ianpri wrote: post #13

Really nice execution. I think that the core feature that is apparent when using the app (simplicity) is going to be one of the downsides of using it in a team based environment: 1)How do I know if someone on my team has completed a task, if you send out email notifications,I might as well use email. 2)How do I make the lists private to just my team? 3)How do I assign a todo or know who ticked that a todo has been do…

Wow, you raise some really good points. I left out the features like assigning tasks, making list private for sake of keeping it simple with the intention of seeing which way people want this to go. I guess I never thought that adding even just those things would make it just another team based todo list app.

In terms of updates, if or when I create a mobile app, you'd get those updates on the mobile. For now, I could add a notification system so if you leave a tap open, or go back to your list, you'd get all the updates.

Any other ideas to possibly make this viable?

Once again, I really appreciate the thoughtful feedback.

Re: Ask HN: Review my startup, TeamDoList.com

#16

Post by j45 »

Avalaxy wrote: post #6

I'm sorry, but I'm really not interested in yet ANOTHER todo app/website/whatever. Please come up with something innovating. Creating the millionth TODO app and calling it a 'startup' is just not going to work. We have enough of these things. There's no need for it, and it certainly shouldn't be called a business, because it simply isn't. (the same goes for the thousands of project management apps, hour tracker apps,…

He did call out a hypothesis and kept the first version no frills...

I agree that a Todo list is common, but noone has solved it for everyone either, just like personal schedules, i still try out multiple solutions regularly.

Re: Ask HN: Review my startup, TeamDoList.com

#17

Post by troebr »

Avalaxy wrote: post #6

I'm sorry, but I'm really not interested in yet ANOTHER todo app/website/whatever. Please come up with something innovating. Creating the millionth TODO app and calling it a 'startup' is just not going to work. We have enough of these things. There's no need for it, and it certainly shouldn't be called a business, because it simply isn't. (the same goes for the thousands of project management apps, hour tracker apps,…

I agree that the main issue is calling it a startup. But I see nothing wrong with redoing something existing. I've been working on something similar just for the sake of having something to code on, and trying out a couple framework/technologies.

Re: Ask HN: Review my startup, TeamDoList.com

#18

Post by anil_mamede »

Avalaxy wrote: post #11
localhost3000 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

unnecessarily negative, belittling, and mean-spirited. has putting this person down made you feel better about yourself?

I really don't think it's "unnecessarily negative". I see so many people wasting their time by working on 'ideas' that aren't even real ideas. He could have used his time better doing something actually useful. A lot of programmers have a big tunnel vision. They want to create a 'startup' no matter what, and then they come up with a 'TODO list' and waste many months of their valuable time working on it, just to be di…

> A lot of programmers have a big tunnel vision. They want to create a 'startup' no matter what

But it is not the programmer's fault. Many incubators preach that everyone must have an ideia, no matter how awful it is.

Re: Ask HN: Review my startup, TeamDoList.com

#20

Post by localhost3000 »

Avalaxy wrote: post #11
localhost3000 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

unnecessarily negative, belittling, and mean-spirited. has putting this person down made you feel better about yourself?

I really don't think it's "unnecessarily negative". I see so many people wasting their time by working on 'ideas' that aren't even real ideas. He could have used his time better doing something actually useful. A lot of programmers have a big tunnel vision. They want to create a 'startup' no matter what, and then they come up with a 'TODO list' and waste many months of their valuable time working on it, just to be di…

the guy asked for feedback on his product, not his life decisions. to make the leap is presumptuous, pompous, and, yes, unnecessarily negative. there are polite ways of giving negative feedback, for instance you might have said: "hey thanks for posting. looks like you've done a good job putting it together. i worry that there isn't a market for it, though, given all the competition that currently exists and people's general inability to monetize these sorts of products. maybe use this as a jumping off point for something else?" instead, your original comment is full of vitriol and, in one fell swoop, you've managed to put down the creators of "thousands of project management apps, hour tracker apps, wannabe social networks, twitter sentiment tools, accounting apps, photo filter apps, a/b testing websites, etc." you, sir, must surely be without flaw to make such broad and sweeping generalizations about your fellow community members.

it continues to amaze how certain members of this community cannot recognize the vast chasm of constructive criticism that lies between the extremes of '[telling] him that the idea is awesome and that he will become a millionaire' and telling him he has wasted his time working on an idea that "isn't even a real idea" (and we won't even address the absurdity of that last sentence...).

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