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I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#112

Post by Pahalial »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #74
bshep wrote: post #48

I get: "Ooops. Something went wrong. The right people have been notified of the details, and we'll do our best to fix the issue right away." after signing up and if I try to sign in. My username is the same as here so check it out if you have a chance. NOTE: I'm just asking for help why am I being voted down?

I checked into it, and the problem is that SproutRobot doesn't have weather data for Puerto Rico yet, so things are broken for you. I'm sorry about that... the site should've handled that more gracefully. Support for places outside of the continental U.S. is definitely on the todo list but it will be a while. If you follow @sproutrobot on twitter, you'll be sure to get the announcement when we get Puerto Rico in ther…

Since this seems so ideal for my parents and I'm sure others out there who aren't terribly fond of twitter, let me recommend something like the following:

"Oops! SproutRobot doesn't seem to know where that is just yet. It's learning countries quite fast though, so if you tell us your email, we'll be sure to let you know when you should come back!"

To elaborate a bit: starting with a single country is very much understandable, but the assumption that one lives in the continental US is a frustration we encounter daily on the english-speaking web. This way you get them invested into wanting this service by getting their zip code (bonus: instantly gauging most interested international locale) and the promise of just tacking on one's email to eventually get to use it should be "just right" for most users. This is as opposed to geoIP blocking at the homepage level, which really makes me never want to visit those sites again.

Edit: Depending on how much you intend to anthropomorphize the robot, maybe change the copy to "visiting countries" or some such.

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#116

Post by po »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #82
po wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As for option c just raise the price until you're willing to do it. :-) Or find a place nearby that stocks everything you need and pay a neighborhood kid to run down and buy whatever you need whenever an order like that comes in. The buyer is purchasing your expertise to pick the right stuff.

I pick one millllion dolllars. Seriously though, the bottleneck right now is my attention, not funding. Although I'll think about it some more when I'm doing my next planning session. :)

OK then, put 1 million dollars as an option on the form. Maybe you'll get lucky and can become someone's private gardener instead of being an entrepreneur. :-D

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#119

Post by tjmc »

cubicle67 wrote: post #34

If you could extend this to Australia, I'd sign up in a heartbeat

Not feasible without Australian distribution centres unfortunately - all the seeds would be seized by customs. Even inter-state transfers are quarantined in some cases (you can't take fruit into WA for example).

Add to that multiple, totally different climates and plant species and it's essentially a separate business in another country. Good opportunity for a partner site though!

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