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Solo.im – A single founder peer group

solo.im

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Re: Solo.im – A single founder peer group

#21

Post by soneca »

oscargrouch wrote: post #19
soneca wrote: post #7

I am a single founder and I was really tempted to apply. But I decided I won't. I read all the copy, it is interesting. I went all the way filling the form, until the last question before the submit button. And there it was, the one question that made me (i) stop, (ii) wonder if this was for me and (iii) decide it wasn´t. (i) What made me stop? The field was asking my Google+ account. They say the community will run…

Soneca, i've saw in the other thread about stackoverflow that you are from Brazil.. i'm also trying to bootstrap a thing on my own.. and i'm brazilian too.. So maybe we can start this open group.. with two? maybe add more people later? i dont know if i will help you out.. maybe i give you bad ideas.. rsrs.. who knows?! but at least we can try??!

sure, my email is on my profile. Let's talk about it...

Re: Solo.im – A single founder peer group

#22

Post by drcode »

gregormck wrote: post #12
crazygringo wrote: post #5

I love the idea, but there needs to be more information. Where is this geographically? Are there separate SF and NY groups? Additional ones? Do they meet in person? How often? Or is this all via webcam and e-mail? Is this more mentoring or support? More one-on-one or group? What kind of a time commitment are we talking about? Is the 150-member limit per geographic area, or global? Why 150, if it's all groups of 4-8 a…

* Mastermind groups are run on Skype or Google Hangouts * It's a global group * We have group owners (volunteers) who start groups and organise them to suit their goals and timezones * It's mostly a tech / web audience * It's more support and accountability than mentoring * Mastermind groups are run bi-weekly (depends on the group owner). We're looking to introduce weekly mastermind groups on specific subjects i.e. P…

I think your idea has enormous potential, don't screw it up :-)

To quote General Rumsfeld, a solo founder usually has a lot of "unknown unknowns" because a single human being is likely to have a lot of skill gaps that they themselves are not fully aware of.

Many solo founders could probably see an order of magnitude in the success of their products if a bunch of peers give suggestions like "Dude, this page needs a link for tweeting your completed images" or "You need a call for action on this page" or "This font makes your web page look like it was created in 1998"

The dynamic of a startup is very different when you have 2-3 founders, in that case it is probably better to work as a team to try and resolve these types of problems, but for a solo founder a semi-confidential outside opinion could be valuable.

Asking "real-world friends" about these types of things doesn't really work most of the time because they may not understand startup tech and because polite society usually follows the rule "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all."

Re: Solo.im – A single founder peer group

#23

Post by wj »

gregormck wrote: post #3

Good points and you are correct (I'm the creator of solo.im) The group is full of founders who all have different experiences and knowledge to pass on. "Quality" can be subject for sure, but I believe founders can help other founders regardless of where they are in the process of starting / running a business. The big thing is contribution. solo.im / mastermind groups is just one thing of many you can get involved in…

I applied about three weeks ago but haven't heard anything as to whether I was accepted. I'm sure you have a backlog of applications so I'm not sweating it but would love to hear one way or another soon!

Re: Solo.im – A single founder peer group

#25

Post by kevg »

Thanks for making this. I signed up and entered a pretty long answer to "Tell us more about your business / idea." After I confirmed my email, I reviewed my answers, and that answer was cut off (looks like at 255 characters). I recommend adding a maxlength to input boxes that have limits and noting those limits on the page.

Re: Solo.im – A single founder peer group

#26

Post by ngpio »

soneca wrote: post #7

I am a single founder and I was really tempted to apply. But I decided I won't. I read all the copy, it is interesting. I went all the way filling the form, until the last question before the submit button. And there it was, the one question that made me (i) stop, (ii) wonder if this was for me and (iii) decide it wasn´t. (i) What made me stop? The field was asking my Google+ account. They say the community will run…

> The whole thing started to look like a random selection disguised as an exclusive elite fancy club.

In starting a few "exclusive elite fancy" internet clubs over the past decade, I've noticed that random selection is usually sufficient for an initial batch of members. The trick is to quickly grab a chunk of those first members and invite them to think on what membership criteria will best serve the community.

> What made me stop? The field was asking my Google+ account. They say the community will run on it, that is optional for now, but I will have to have one. As I don't have and don't one, I stopped right there to think if it would be worthy.

I agree that Google+ is an annoying barrier to entry. A private subreddit is my first choice for these sorts of things, but it would probably be a bit limiting in this scenario. Higher bandwidth communication between individuals with strict, human identities is clearly desired, and Google+ is designed specifically for this.

If I were looking to start a limited-entry online community today, I'd probably start with a Gazelle[1] instance and build off of it as necessary.

[1] http://whatcd.github.io/Gazelle/

Re: Solo.im – A single founder peer group

#27

Post by beat »

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. As a solo founder, I know my biggest concern with any online community is time/reward ratio. I've cut myself off from several online communities to buy more time for my work. (I stick with HN and Quora because the reward level is very high)

Re: Solo.im – A single founder peer group

#29

Post by ronaldx »

DenisM wrote: post #10
soneca wrote: post #7

I am a single founder and I was really tempted to apply. But I decided I won't. I read all the copy, it is interesting. I went all the way filling the form, until the last question before the submit button. And there it was, the one question that made me (i) stop, (ii) wonder if this was for me and (iii) decide it wasn´t. (i) What made me stop? The field was asking my Google+ account. They say the community will run…

As a single founder with experience I feel compelled to give you an advice: the biggest danger you're facing is worrying about the wrong things. When you get company you can talk abou things you are worried about, and having talked it out loud you get a better grip on it, and even some feedback. When you're all by yourself, you might start worrying about something that's not worth the attention, or even get obsesses…

The choice of login provider is one of a few consequential things - for most tech services, it's extremely important to minimise friction and get people to use your service.

If you've decided on Google+ as your login provider, your bounce-out rate is going to be particularly high, for several reasons including the parent poster's point. That could still be the right decision for you, but it's worth worrying about.

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