Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr • Hacker News Board

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#131

Post by theworst » Sun, Sep 07, 2014, 8:09 AM UTC

arghbleargh wrote: post #74

chvid wrote: post #51

I am reading thru this and it is a good, recommended read however I am getting slightly annoyed with academic attitude of the author. Like batman in the cartoon I want to slap him but not for "sloppy market research". But for using the term "market research" at all. (This is essientially the first and maybe the second point reiterated.) Suppose you were a cook with your own restaurant. How do you figure out what work…

Moreover, you don't even need to get to the "testing" step in a lot of cases. Are people going to like your spicy anchovy and cottage cheese pizza topped with ice cream? Answer: no. I didn't have to interact with a single customer to know that. Other ideas are not so obviously bad, but I feel like a lot of these failed startups would not have existed in the first place if the founders had been really honest with them…

All of your comment seems to have been covered by the author's article.

Sometimes you get positive feedback at a small scale that doesn't work in a larger sense. That was kinda one of the major points in the article.

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#132

Post by gnosek » Sun, Sep 07, 2014, 8:48 AM UTC

porker wrote: post #125

If anyone wants to hire a critic (per #4) I am your man! I find entrepreneurs don't like hanging out with me because I am "not positive" enough (you're meant to surround yourself with upbeat go-do people right?). However, this pessimism also translates to realism. I'm not always right, many times too pessimistic esp about new ideas, but many times right about why an idea isn't going to fly and where the weaknesses ar…

"An experienced optimist for hire" ;)

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#133

Post by gingerlime » Sun, Sep 07, 2014, 9:04 AM UTC

mswift42 wrote: post #12

gingerlime wrote: post #3

Funny, I just bumped into a startup[0] that seems to do the same thing, and looks like it received some funding[1]... I wonder how well these guys are going to do. [0] http://signup.marleyspoon.com/ - it's operational in germany at https://www.marleyspoon.de/ [1] $1.5M Seed according to https://angel.co/marley-spoon/

Cooking is much more a thing in Germany than in the UK, so it might just work.

I'm originally from Israel, but have lived in London for 9 years and now in Berlin in the last 3+ years. I can't say I notice a vast difference. Especially if I look at middle-class, educated, well-earning people, which this kind of service targets.

There could be some cultural difference, sure. But I think it's relatively small. Other factors, some mentioned on other comments, can come into play. For example:

* much easier way to order fresh groceries online in the UK (including Sunday delivery, 1 hr delivery slot, mobile apps etc)

* execution, execution, execution (I can't tell about the OP, but the founder of Marley Spoon is also a founder of Delivery-Hero, which is well-established in the fast-food delivery online market)

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#134

Post by taigeair » Sun, Sep 07, 2014, 9:04 AM UTC

kristiandupont wrote: post #112

bbarn wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

waving goodbye to my 82 HN points with this one Dude, you're obsessed with being a founder, more than you have vision/plan/reason/skill to actually be one. You have all of the lingo right, all of the right words, hell, your post here even knows how to speak to why you failed in a voice that will get the rest of this community to read it. Your company name even had an "r" at the end with a missing vowel! Reading your…

Wow, I think that's quite a low blow in response to what I found to be an honest and introspective post. And what's wrong with commenting in a new blog post? So what if it doesn't get upvoted, that just means that he won't get exposed to another round of this.

Yeah I agree. Everyone has different schedules and ways to do things. It's a better experience for me to read it as a well thought out response than individual comments sometimes.

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#135

Post by taigeair » Sun, Sep 07, 2014, 9:06 AM UTC

markdown wrote: post #104

An entrepreneur in New Zealand created such a service in March 2013. It's now worth $27m and is expanding into Australia. http://www.brw.com.au/p/business/mid-market/how_frustrated_c... http://www.myfoodbag.co.nz/

Seems like it could of worked..

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#136

Post by taigeair » Sun, Sep 07, 2014, 9:10 AM UTC

gingerlime wrote: post #133

mswift42 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cooking is much more a thing in Germany than in the UK, so it might just work.

I'm originally from Israel, but have lived in London for 9 years and now in Berlin in the last 3+ years. I can't say I notice a vast difference. Especially if I look at middle-class, educated, well-earning people, which this kind of service targets. There could be some cultural difference, sure. But I think it's relatively small. Other factors, some mentioned on other comments, can come into play. For example: * much…

I also am living in Berlin now and was wondering if you had some recommendations for online grocery deliveries?

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#137

Post by taigeair » Sun, Sep 07, 2014, 9:11 AM UTC

gingerlime wrote: post #133

mswift42 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cooking is much more a thing in Germany than in the UK, so it might just work.

I'm originally from Israel, but have lived in London for 9 years and now in Berlin in the last 3+ years. I can't say I notice a vast difference. Especially if I look at middle-class, educated, well-earning people, which this kind of service targets. There could be some cultural difference, sure. But I think it's relatively small. Other factors, some mentioned on other comments, can come into play. For example: * much…

What execution differences do you see?

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#138

Post by onlyfortoday » Sun, Sep 07, 2014, 9:27 AM UTC

sgdesign wrote: post #103

theseoafs wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Or did you just try to "solve a problem"? This comment misses the point. The first goal of a startup should be to solve a problem. Companies identify problems and offer solutions to customers. If you've started a company without having identified and solved a problem a lot of people face, you've already failed as a business. Trying to organize a "community of passionate members" should be considered incidental, par…

Well, there are countless successful products that don't "solve a problem". What problem do Call of Duty or League of Legends solve? What "problem" would the hypothetical iWatch solve? In other words, solving problems is great and all, but you can also make a great product that people just enjoy using, and let it grow organically. Of course, you could argue that any good product does solve a problem. But my point is…

of course all of duty solves a problem: entertainment

also why would people use a product they enjoy that doesn't solve a problem?

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#139

Post by jordanbrown » Sun, Sep 07, 2014, 10:48 AM UTC

chvid wrote: post #51

I am reading thru this and it is a good, recommended read however I am getting slightly annoyed with academic attitude of the author. Like batman in the cartoon I want to slap him but not for "sloppy market research". But for using the term "market research" at all. (This is essientially the first and maybe the second point reiterated.) Suppose you were a cook with your own restaurant. How do you figure out what work…

No joke, had someone on my team during startup weekend this weekend that could not let go of market research. It pretty much ruined the mural of the whole team.

Re: Lessons I learned from the failure of my first startup, Dinnr

#140

Post by checker659 » Sun, Sep 07, 2014, 11:00 AM UTC

jordanbrown wrote: post #139

chvid wrote: post #51

I am reading thru this and it is a good, recommended read however I am getting slightly annoyed with academic attitude of the author. Like batman in the cartoon I want to slap him but not for "sloppy market research". But for using the term "market research" at all. (This is essientially the first and maybe the second point reiterated.) Suppose you were a cook with your own restaurant. How do you figure out what work…

No joke, had someone on my team during startup weekend this weekend that could not let go of market research. It pretty much ruined the mural of the whole team.

What were you guys painting anyways? \s