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Show HN: I built a thing

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Re: Show HN: I built a thing

#41

Post by lftl »

ssebro wrote: post #37
dglassan wrote: post #12

You shouldn't be marketing this towards consumers. If you and your friend had this problem with the apartment gate then I'm sure more people at your apartment have to deal with it also. Why don't you talk to your apartment complex and see if they'd be interested to use it as a service for their tenants? You should be marketing this towards apartment complex properties, not consumers living in apartment complexes.

It's usually easier to sell to someone who's experiencing a pain than it is to an upstream provider. In other words, if it was a big enough issue that you built something to fix it, and your apartment complex hasn't fixed it themselves, you probably aren't going to suddenly convince them to buy in (since they don't see the pain, or don't care). Sell pain killers to people in pain.

It's more work, but you can convince the upstream provider that their customer's pain is actually causing them pain.

I would try to find a larger complex to use as a case study. Set everything up for free for them, and check their retention rate before and after the install. 1 month less of an empty apartment probably pays for your product, and if you're anything over that it's a no-brainer from the complex owner's perspective.

Re: Show HN: I built a thing

#42

Post by ssebro »

xlance wrote: post #38
dglassan wrote: post #12

You shouldn't be marketing this towards consumers. If you and your friend had this problem with the apartment gate then I'm sure more people at your apartment have to deal with it also. Why don't you talk to your apartment complex and see if they'd be interested to use it as a service for their tenants? You should be marketing this towards apartment complex properties, not consumers living in apartment complexes.

Or even better, the distributor of the system itself.

If you try to sell this to the distributor, either they'll clone it, buy it outright or ignore it.

Re: Show HN: I built a thing

#43

Post by eagsalazar2 »

Why wouldn't you just (1) get a local google voice number, (2) forward it to your cell, (3) ask who it is (yay security!), (4) press 9 (or not). I'm honestly not getting the value here.

I'm also totally not getting how the security aspect of this is being glossed over. To the suggestion that apartment owners/managers would be interested, why would they put up a security gate then install a system that allows it to be bypassed by anyone with your phone number?? I actually bet if you told your apartment manager he would demand you immediately disable it, not pay you to give it to your neighbors.

Re: Show HN: I built a thing

#44

Post by andr3w321 »

eagsalazar2 wrote: post #43

Why wouldn't you just (1) get a local google voice number, (2) forward it to your cell, (3) ask who it is (yay security!), (4) press 9 (or not). I'm honestly not getting the value here. I'm also totally not getting how the security aspect of this is being glossed over. To the suggestion that apartment owners/managers would be interested, why would they put up a security gate then install a system that allows it to be…

I tried this when I had this problem. All the local google voice numbers for my area code were taken so I was SOL.

Re: Show HN: I built a thing

#45

Post by philip1209 »

eagsalazar2 wrote: post #43

Why wouldn't you just (1) get a local google voice number, (2) forward it to your cell, (3) ask who it is (yay security!), (4) press 9 (or not). I'm honestly not getting the value here. I'm also totally not getting how the security aspect of this is being glossed over. To the suggestion that apartment owners/managers would be interested, why would they put up a security gate then install a system that allows it to be…

My problem: I have a google voice number I am attached to. I moved into an apartment where I need to provide a local phone number for the door system. However, I cannot have multiple google voice accounts attached to my cell phone - therefore I can't forward those incoming calls from the new number to my cell.

Re: Show HN: I built a thing

#47

Post by datamart »

philip1209 wrote: post #45
eagsalazar2 wrote: post #43

Why wouldn't you just (1) get a local google voice number, (2) forward it to your cell, (3) ask who it is (yay security!), (4) press 9 (or not). I'm honestly not getting the value here. I'm also totally not getting how the security aspect of this is being glossed over. To the suggestion that apartment owners/managers would be interested, why would they put up a security gate then install a system that allows it to be…

My problem: I have a google voice number I am attached to. I moved into an apartment where I need to provide a local phone number for the door system. However, I cannot have multiple google voice accounts attached to my cell phone - therefore I can't forward those incoming calls from the new number to my cell.

If you set your phone type as "Home" in your Google Voice settings instead of "Mobile", you can attach it to another Google Voice number. I currently do this with my front door callbox, and it works like a charm. I think the limit may be two Google Voice numbers to "Home" real-world phone number, though.

One caveat: Text messages will only be sent to phones listed as "Mobile". But I just get my text messages via the Google Voice app anyway, so this is actually a benefit to me (no duplicated texts).

Re: Show HN: I built a thing

#48

Post by Evbn »

hansy wrote: post #22

Market this to the management of every apartment complex with a gate. Have them spread your app to their individual resident base. Your marketing copy has to change a little because you are now targeting management to be your distribution channel. You could say something like our app reduces the line in front of the gate because it makes it easier for trusted outsiders to enter the community. Or if you think it's eas…

Shared buildings explicitly forbid this sort of remote-unlock functionality, for obvious reasons.

Re: Show HN: I built a thing

#49

Post by imglorp »

I think you need a better domain name. QuestionsThree is a fun name, but it conveys no information. How about something like this:

  * openmydooor.com
  * buzzmein.com
  * apartmentbuzzer.com
etc
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