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I also tried "Show HN" and Betali.st for my project - sideprojectors ( http://www.sideprojectors.com ). They are good starting points. I think Reddit also has a sub-reddit regarding startups. As a shameless plug, would you like to post your project on SideProjectors? :) I'm doing a private beta testing at the moment with a handful of users. It's a showcase/discovery too for side projects.
I tried a Show HN for one of my projects. It's now dead. For my latest, Fork the Cookbook ( http://forkthecookbook.com ) I actually approached bloggers and talked to them, one by one. It's a tedious task, but I absolutely refuse to buy ads except for quick tests.
What's dead? The project, or the Show HN post?
2. I made sure that I use write set of words and language to provoke few early users to share my beta website with their network - It was all about wordings.
3. The tweets and facebook messages that went out had similarly provoking wordings that made posts viral.
4. I launched beta version with very basic feature but started rolling out new things every 48-72 hours.
5. I used a real bad logo initially, people made fun of that logo on twitter - i used that as an opportunity to ask for help from twitter world - got 19 logo designs (some from designers at big ad agency, TV network) in my inbox in 24 hours or so.
6. I was super super quick in support - people were wow'ed by the speed at which me and my small team replied to support mails.
1 month later, we were @ 100K users and got acquired in 4th month of launch.
Hope this helps.
Although I love HN, the challenge I've found with places like Show HN, reddit/r/startup, betalist is that its sometimes not related to the product I'm selling so a)I'm trying to sell a product to the wrong target market and b)tech sites can often times be an echo chamber and the data you get isn't necessarily quantitative.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is a great way to get data, which is why I mentioned "except for quick tests". For actual growth, it's actually a pretty poor channel. A lot of time and energy will need to be spent optimizing ads, LP, CTA, etc. Time spent on funnel optimization can be better spent running tests elsewhere. I have personally found it to be far easier to pop a few emails and reply over the course of the day. People who are genuinely…
I think it really depends on the kind of product and your target market. Certain types of ads might not be worth the time and effort due to various factors. To provide a counterexample though, I'm working on a student planner (tabuleapp.com). Homework management is a surprisingly big pain point for students, and we've found that Facebook ads are an excellent way to reach our audience. Near the beginning of the semest…
As a designer:
* I love the expanding bottom bar and it's a very creative use of that space, you might have in your hands the new "Path menu" phenomenon.
* Your Path menu, on the other hand, could use a little bit more design effort.
* Item details is too busy / roughly designed that it looks busy, would benefit from a second look.
* Your logo on the other hand and above all, is quite awful. You might want to hire a real logo designer or illustrator to get that working.
* "Location" looks like the header of the details box as you're visually connecting them.
As a student:
* I like the idea, and I can immediately see the use case,
* but the intent is unclear in having "duration". Deadlines don't, and it feels like you're trying to replicate google calendar. Removing that ability would make it more clear that it's essentially a deadline app.
* I have different kinds of assignments, so for example this does not work very well for assignments other than those on paper.
* I want to be able to take a photo of the assignment sheet (there is almost always one) and attach it to the deadline.
* Better yet, do OCR on the sheet and fill the deadline for me. That's tricky, but not impossible to get 90% right.
* New Due Date is unclear. I'm not adding due dates, I'm adding assignments.
* There is no point in having a global class name search for a single user.
* It's unclear if the global names listed here are attached to specific universities. If yes, you're not showing me the uni name or allow me to search for it, if not, what's the point?
Here you go. If you need more feedback, reach me from HN profile, happy to give more. I'll be using your app.
1. I searched for journalists who have written about topics my startup was related to and shared my story and gave them sneak peek into beta version. That gave me some great visibility via blogs like thenextweb and mashable. 2. I made sure that I use write set of words and language to provoke few early users to share my beta website with their network - It was all about wordings. 3. The tweets and facebook messages t…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm sorry, but reading "I tried a Show HN for one of my projects. It's now dead." made me laugh so hard I spit out my tea. You owe me new boxers, sir. And some burn cream.
I wish people(hackers) would spend same amount of time building and marketing/selling their idea. Unfortunately, i think its human nature, it is always easy to start with the fun part, and give up when the steps need to be taken become uninteresting/difficult. Hackers love creating stuff, but when it comes to the selling that idea to their potential users, they dont have enough energy. Hackers vs entrepreneurs?
Think of it as a recreational activity, along with spending time with family, reading books, watching movies...
I tried a Show HN for one of my projects. It's now dead. For my latest, Fork the Cookbook ( http://forkthecookbook.com ) I actually approached bloggers and talked to them, one by one. It's a tedious task, but I absolutely refuse to buy ads except for quick tests.
I'm curious as well as to why you don't want to buy ads. It's a great way to quickly get data without wasting your time on "a tedious task."
1-to-1 communication is the best way to learn about your potential customers in the beginning. And once you need to learn about them quantitatively, it'll become easier to use adds, because you know the pain points but also the wording of your customers.