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Ask HN: Review my startup, TeamDoList.com

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

#41

Post by bpatrianakos »

hgezim wrote: post #35
MicahWedemeyer wrote: post #32

Since you're calling it a startup as opposed to just a project, I have to ask about business model. How will you make money off this? I think you'll have a very, very difficult time monetizing this, as there are already dozens and dozens of free TODO apps. Unless you can carve out a die-hard niche that is 100% against signup and login forms, it will be difficult to compete with the others that are both free and easy…

Sigh You're absolutely right. I guess, if there is such a niche, which remains to be seen, I maybe could limit the number of lists they can have before upgrading to premium?! If anyone has ideas, I'm more than willing to listen.

Just build a cool app, make it the best you can, but don't quit your day job yet. As you go along and learn more about your users and the app starts to get a life or personality of its own then you'll probably be able to see a clear business model. I'm going to guess you haven't been working on this for more than a month or two so its very early to make any kind of judgement yet.

Just enjoy the ride and you'd be surprised what people will pay for. I don't care how many free todo apps are out there people will still pay for them. For examples, Things for Mac. Incredibly simple concept but its valuable enough that even I bought it a while back.

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

#42

Post by hgezim »

bpatrianakos wrote: post #40

I don't want to make you feel bad or rain on your parade but you must know there are hundreds of competing apps just like this. That's not to say yours can't be successful but if you'd like it to stand out you need to differentiate yourself somehow. Right now you've basically got a todo list app that lets you share lists via a public URL. It's very simple (that's neither good or bad, it just is). So considering how s…

You've raised some really great points. And no, this is not raining on my parade, I think this feedback is more like fertilizer :). So, thanks.

I guess since I use it and know the URL quite well, I didn't prioritize creating an account too high, but you're absolutely right.

Thanks so much for your thoughts.

P.S.: Any thoughts on how I can monetize this? Would you pay for a monthly subscription if there was a mobile app and all the convenience factors you've mentioned?

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

#43

Post by hgezim »

bashzor wrote: post #39

What problem does it solve? That's what you should ask yourself. It just looks like another to-do app to me, which I might even have developed myself in about fifteen minutes. Also as others have mentioned, this is more of a project than some startup.

Well, the idea came up when I was working on a project and we started using emails to manage our tasks. This became tedious and I thought about using Basecamp but was afraid that management would make a big deal out of it and not approve it. So, in a nutshell it's allows you to manage lists ad-hoc and then share them. That's it.

Thanks for the comment, though.

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

#44

Post by kt9 »

I like:

* that you built something. In a world full of talkers you're a doer! Kudos!

* I like the execution. I like the fact that you don't have to log in and can start creating a list right away.

I use emacs for pretty much everything (including todo lists) and I don't use any todo app (because I don't like switching out of emacs) so I'm not your target market. I wouldn't use this.

But please don't be discouraged, because not everyone is the same and there are people that would use this.

A couple of feature issues/feedback:

1. When I create a list and then come back to the page but forgot to save the link, I can't get back to my todo list. Maybe a way to know and save which lists I created would be great

2. If I create a list and go back and then try to create another one it doesn't add items. Maybe a bug?

Lastly keep plugging away. Even if you don't monetize this particular thing you're going to come across other problems that people will pay for. Ex: A todo list that allows you to add tasks and people that should do them and then tracks/nags that person to do it.

Good work. Keep going and thanks for sharing.

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

#45

Post by loumf »

Probably the worst thing you could do to this app is collect a bunch of features from us and start implementing them -- if you do that you'll probably add priority, user assignment, better authentication, sub-tasks and eventually be like the 1000 other shared to-do lists. If this is the direction you think is best -- probably it would be better to abandon this idea.

A different way is to keep doubling down on what you have --find a use-case where your perspective is required and all of those other things are not -- move very quickly along that vector until you have something that might not even be described as a shared to-do list.

Here's an idea of what I mean. This site seems well suited to ad-hoc teams, probably distributed (not sharing an intranet for example), informal, low-security conscious -- meaning their data is either public or they don't care if it becomes public. Perhaps short-lived -- definitely unregulated.

For this -- I'd consider to-do lists to be done -- what else does this team need? Apply your template (easy sharing, minimal, etc) to those: wiki, document store, schedule. But, always, always do it in the style you have here or even a more radical version of it (if possible). If no one wants that, then consider that there's no market for this.

But before doing any of this, I'd start measuring engagement and then getting yourself in front of the highly engaged and figuring out what they are doing -- you learn a lot more talking to consumers (those that are consuming the product) than people like us.

As for monetization -- ad-hoc teams will be hard to get money from, but a SaaS style subscription for repeat users would be the standard way, I think. To-do list is free, but other tools are an additional cost.

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

#46

Post by johnmurch »

hgezim wrote: post #42
bpatrianakos wrote: post #40

I don't want to make you feel bad or rain on your parade but you must know there are hundreds of competing apps just like this. That's not to say yours can't be successful but if you'd like it to stand out you need to differentiate yourself somehow. Right now you've basically got a todo list app that lets you share lists via a public URL. It's very simple (that's neither good or bad, it just is). So considering how s…

You've raised some really great points. And no, this is not raining on my parade, I think this feedback is more like fertilizer :). So, thanks. I guess since I use it and know the URL quite well, I didn't prioritize creating an account too high, but you're absolutely right. Thanks so much for your thoughts. P.S.: Any thoughts on how I can monetize this? Would you pay for a monthly subscription if there was a mobile a…

A few thoughts on making $$$.

1. SAAS - Set the bar low and features high -> $2/month gets you private lists, dedicated subdomain, etc. Make it so cheap that people just buy it/signup. Might want to focus on "prepay 6 months for $12" - so users don't feel locked in. etc. Have more features with the premium model like email notifications/alerts/bigger teams

2. Affiliate Ads - Focus on future partners/affiliates - think of your product as a gateway drug to a bigger platform for doing/development. Push affiliate products that are targeted towards developers as well as bigger products like asana or basecamp. Try other products that every person needs (dollarshaveclub/birchbox.com)

3. Kinda crazy but wonder if you could do something like http://www.launchbit.com - if users signup with email and leverage http://www.fullcontact.com/developer/ or https://www.rapleaf.com/ you could break out users and serve up newsletters around productivity and do joint ventures with other companies to test drive their products. Since most likely your audiance will be startup/dev community.

Anyway - just some thoughts

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

#47

Post by hgezim »

johnmurch wrote: post #46
hgezim wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've raised some really great points. And no, this is not raining on my parade, I think this feedback is more like fertilizer :). So, thanks. I guess since I use it and know the URL quite well, I didn't prioritize creating an account too high, but you're absolutely right. Thanks so much for your thoughts. P.S.: Any thoughts on how I can monetize this? Would you pay for a monthly subscription if there was a mobile a…

A few thoughts on making $$$. 1. SAAS - Set the bar low and features high -> $2/month gets you private lists, dedicated subdomain, etc. Make it so cheap that people just buy it/signup. Might want to focus on "prepay 6 months for $12" - so users don't feel locked in. etc. Have more features with the premium model like email notifications/alerts/bigger teams 2. Affiliate Ads - Focus on future partners/affiliates - thin…

Very interesting ideas. I love it!

I might try going after 1. at first and see where it goes.

Anyone doing something similar and want to partner up with me? Maybe a complementary system, etc.

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

#48

Post by johnmurch »

johnmurch wrote: post #46
hgezim wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've raised some really great points. And no, this is not raining on my parade, I think this feedback is more like fertilizer :). So, thanks. I guess since I use it and know the URL quite well, I didn't prioritize creating an account too high, but you're absolutely right. Thanks so much for your thoughts. P.S.: Any thoughts on how I can monetize this? Would you pay for a monthly subscription if there was a mobile a…

A few thoughts on making $$$. 1. SAAS - Set the bar low and features high -> $2/month gets you private lists, dedicated subdomain, etc. Make it so cheap that people just buy it/signup. Might want to focus on "prepay 6 months for $12" - so users don't feel locked in. etc. Have more features with the premium model like email notifications/alerts/bigger teams 2. Affiliate Ads - Focus on future partners/affiliates - thin…

I gotta throw out these 2 other ideas as they relate as I have some working code on a similar problem but focused around small groups and daily tasks.

1. Take a look at http://15five.com/ - Just 4 to 5 questions, 15mins - extremely valuable. The problem is status updates. A todo list can fit into this space nicely when you have many teams (e.g. enterprise) and all need a update/email for each weekly sprint.

2. Todo Tonight - Many developers/hackers/etc have day time jobs, but then spend another 3 to 5 hours each night hacking on something. To better focus on their time - rather than send crap to an email each day - why not have a task/todo that is nighly. Speeds up the process - focuses on a simpler achievable tasks (did you complete last night, add notes, urls,etc.) The idea is it's a holding place for "STUFF" it relates to what you are working on.

Hit me up @johnmurch if you want to chat more

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

#49

Post by bashzor »

hgezim wrote: post #43
bashzor wrote: post #39

What problem does it solve? That's what you should ask yourself. It just looks like another to-do app to me, which I might even have developed myself in about fifteen minutes. Also as others have mentioned, this is more of a project than some startup.

Well, the idea came up when I was working on a project and we started using emails to manage our tasks. This became tedious and I thought about using Basecamp but was afraid that management would make a big deal out of it and not approve it. So, in a nutshell it's allows you to manage lists ad-hoc and then share them. That's it. Thanks for the comment, though.

Try Asana, also a collaborative to-do list but with many features. Not overly many features, just exactly the ones you need (or that was my experience anyway). Free also for business use up to 30 people, which is very reasonable I think.

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

#50

Post by hansy »

This is just a random thought, but I think you could avoid using some of the features mentioned by other users (e.g. deadlines, priorities) by limiting the scope of the list to weekly tasks.

Presumably this would limit the length of the lists, which in turn would eliminate the need for fancy features that might bloat the app.

If people want those other features (i.e. they are using the lists for serious planning and project management) you could then charge.

Just my 2 cents.

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