What hackers don’t know about business • Hacker News Board

Re: What hackers don’t know about business

#21

Post by tagx » Tue, Aug 07, 2012, 4:41 AM UTC

rkaplan wrote: post #20

I think the name "Filepicker.io" is severely limiting. When I hear "Filepicker.io", I think "easy-to-use library for handling user file uploads." That is rather narrower than their description of the service on their blog: "Filepicker.io helps developers connect to their users' content." Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoy the Filepicker.io blog. I have never used their product, but from their website, API docs, an…

We've realized that now and are in the process of changing our name. I'd love to chat with you about what you think of some of our ideas

Re: What hackers don’t know about business

#22

Post by drivebyacct2 » Tue, Aug 07, 2012, 5:04 AM UTC

This is why some schools are taking new approaches to integrating business and computer science curriculum. Their graduates leave understanding business basics, have worked in teams and even for clients on contracted projects.

Re: What hackers don’t know about business

#23

Post by kephra » Tue, Aug 07, 2012, 5:12 AM UTC

tagx wrote: post #21

rkaplan wrote: post #20

I think the name "Filepicker.io" is severely limiting. When I hear "Filepicker.io", I think "easy-to-use library for handling user file uploads." That is rather narrower than their description of the service on their blog: "Filepicker.io helps developers connect to their users' content." Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoy the Filepicker.io blog. I have never used their product, but from their website, API docs, an…

We've realized that now and are in the process of changing our name. I'd love to chat with you about what you think of some of our ideas

I'm not your customer (because I prefer own root servers over cloud services, and even prefer housing over hosting) - but I think you might stick with your name, because:

1. its a known (brand) name 2. it tells where your product is strong

But I suggest to change the Enterprise pricing tag:

1. Don't tell a price for enterprise. Enterprise customers have a high COCA, so price is always negotiation. 2. Offer enterprise features = Your services runs at their servers, under their control, not as a SaaS, but as a normal enterprise software that comes with installation support, consulting, ...

Re: What hackers don’t know about business

#24

Post by brettcvz » Tue, Aug 07, 2012, 5:15 AM UTC

oinksoft wrote: post #15

Maybe somebody can translate the last paragraph into English for me. I read the preceding paragraph several times and I'm coming up empty: Based on our experiences at Filepicker.io we learned that it is important to delineate the differences when planning initiatives that drive growth, the amount of resources needed and the profile of team members required to drive the initiatives. While we're going for pompous title…

Sorry, I agree probably not the best-written paragraph.

Essentially:

* There are distinct focus-areas on the business side, just as there are on the coding side

* Identifying the differences helps us figure out what to do, when, and how

Re: What hackers don’t know about business

#25

Post by robertpateii » Tue, Aug 07, 2012, 5:16 AM UTC

oinksoft wrote: post #15

Maybe somebody can translate the last paragraph into English for me. I read the preceding paragraph several times and I'm coming up empty: Based on our experiences at Filepicker.io we learned that it is important to delineate the differences when planning initiatives that drive growth, the amount of resources needed and the profile of team members required to drive the initiatives. While we're going for pompous title…

"Understand the differences between these things, and don't mash them all together. They each have unique requirements."

Re: What hackers don’t know about business

#26

Post by allstruck » Tue, Aug 07, 2012, 5:21 AM UTC

I couldn't get past this sentence: "If it costs you more to get a customer then you can possible make from them, your business is going to fail."

Seriously learn some English man.

The worst part about this is you're arguing that programmers should learn business directly after stating that you argue about business managers not needing to learn programming... Seriously where is your logic sir?

Maybe you can write an article about why you think business managers do not need to learn programming (something I would agree with as a programmer), and make sure you have it edited before posting.

Re: What hackers don’t know about business

#27

Post by ananddass » Tue, Aug 07, 2012, 5:38 AM UTC

robertpateii wrote: post #25

oinksoft wrote: post #15

Maybe somebody can translate the last paragraph into English for me. I read the preceding paragraph several times and I'm coming up empty: Based on our experiences at Filepicker.io we learned that it is important to delineate the differences when planning initiatives that drive growth, the amount of resources needed and the profile of team members required to drive the initiatives. While we're going for pompous title…

"Understand the differences between these things, and don't mash them all together. They each have unique requirements."

Very true. As startups with limited time and resources I tend to stick everything into the "lets figure out how to grow-lets do blogs, sell to larger customers, plan distribution hacks etc." It is important to decompose the business bucket and pick things that matter to my specific kind of business.

Re: What hackers don’t know about business

#28

Post by yobbobandana » Tue, Aug 07, 2012, 5:38 AM UTC

mindcrime wrote: post #4

Marketing is about getting the word out. Think about ads and blog posts. That just sounds like advertising & PR. There is a lot more to marketing. To crib the definition from Wikipedia (which sounds pretty close to the one I learned): Marketing is "the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and so…

Under a section labelled "Not understanding the differences", too.

Re: What hackers don’t know about business

#29

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 07, 2012, 5:43 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: What hackers don’t know about business

#30

Post by ananddass » Tue, Aug 07, 2012, 5:57 AM UTC

dglassan wrote: post #17

mindcrime wrote: post #4

Marketing is about getting the word out. Think about ads and blog posts. That just sounds like advertising & PR. There is a lot more to marketing. To crib the definition from Wikipedia (which sounds pretty close to the one I learned): Marketing is "the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and so…

Getting the word out is only a fraction of what marketing actually is. Marketing involves: - defining who your customer is (demographics, income, etc.) - gathering feedback from the customer through surveys - using that information to iterate on products/launch new products that solve your customers pain points (if half your customers are left handed this will tell you that you need to design your product for left ha…

So traditional marketing 101 is geared towards larger companies with lesser operating uncertainity and more resources.

As a startup, the key question that helps prioritize between everything you mentioned is "what activities are hygiene activities, versus what are growth enhancers?". Defining your customer, gathering feedback, iterating on product and packaging all fall under hygiene activities. Meaning-if you dont get them right they will hurt your ability to grow. Pricing the product right and the rest of biz dev, marketing and sales activities are focused on enhancing growth. In a startup, the center of gravity for the hygiene activity is the product team (of course this depends on the type of startups). Thus, the job of the non product folks is getting the product found and getting folks to use the product.